1 Pie - Shah Jahan Begam

Shah Jahan Begam ruled Bhopal for over three decades, one of four consecutive women to govern the state — an almost singular dynastic succession in 19th-century South Asia. She was a capable administrator who cultivated British favor while maintaining genuine autonomy, and her coinage reflects that dual positioning: issued under her own name, not a regent's, in a period when most princely states were tightening their monetary ties to Calcutta. By 1888, the colonial pressure to abandon local copper issues entirely was already building.