1 Paisa - Shah Alam II Ratlam

Ratlam was a small Rajput princely state in Malwa whose rulers nominally acknowledged Mughal suzerainty long after the empire had ceased to function as a coherent political entity. Coins struck in Shah Alam II's name were issued across dozens of such states simultaneously — the emperor's name lending a fiction of legitimacy to local rulers who were, in practice, operating independently under Maratha pressure or British influence.

The forty-year attribution window reflects genuine uncertainty about issue dates, a chronic problem with Ratlam copper given inconsistent die dating practices at the mint.