Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Rupee - Akbar Agra Mint, Kalima Type
| Issuer | Mughal Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1566 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Rupee |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse field is entirely occupied by the Kalima Tayyiba (Islamic declaration of faith) rendered in bold, deeply struck Naskh calligraphy. The central legend reads 'La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah' (There is no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God), occupying the primary field. Below the central legend, the names of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali — are inscribed in two lines, a distinctive feature of the Sunni Kalima type introduced under Akbar. The entire inscription is enclosed within a plain linear border, with no figurative imagery, consistent with Islamic numismatic tradition. The die is characteristically irregular in shape, reflecting the hand-hammered production technique of the Mughal mint. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله أبو بكر، عمر، عثمان، علي |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This issue belongs to the early standardization of Mughal silver coinage under Akbar, whose monetary reforms from the 1560s onward established the rupee as a durable trans-regional currency. The Kalima type — bearing the Islamic declaration of faith — was among the first rupee designs Akbar authorized, though he would later controversially suppress Quranic inscriptions on coinage during his heterodox religious experiments of the 1580s, making these earlier pieces the orthodox baseline against which his later departures were measured.
Agra was one of the primary imperial mints throughout Akbar's reign, operating under strict weight standards enforced by the imperial assay system.