Chamba was among the smaller hill states of the Punjab Himalayas, nominally under Sikh suzerainty before the First Anglo-Sikh War delivered the region into the expanding orbit of the East India Company. This paisa was struck under Raja Shri Singh, who ruled Chamba from 1844 to 1870 and navigated the transition from Lahore Darbar influence to British paramountcy without significant conflict. Local copper coinage in these hill states was notoriously inconsistent in weight and fabric, struck on hand-cut flans with dies that wore quickly and were recut irregularly — KM#10 exists in enough variation to suggest no standardized production discipline.
Chamba was among the smaller hill states of the Punjab Himalayas, nominally under Sikh suzerainty before the First Anglo-Sikh War delivered the region into the expanding orbit of the East India Company. This paisa was struck under Raja Shri Singh, who ruled Chamba from 1844 to 1870 and navigated the transition from Lahore Darbar influence to British paramountcy without significant conflict. Local copper coinage in these hill states was notoriously inconsistent in weight and fabric, struck on hand-cut flans with dies that wore quickly and were recut irregularly — KM#10 exists in enough variation to suggest no standardized production discipline.