Shah Alam II spent much of his reign as a pensioner of whoever held Delhi — the Marathas, then the British following Patparganj in 1803. The Allahabad mint issues from 1784–1786 fall within his period of Maratha-controlled custody, after his disastrous alliance with the Rohillas had already cost him any practical authority. Allahabad itself had been ceded to the Nawab of Oudh by the British under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, making even the question of whose coin this functionally was a matter of considerable ambiguity.
The regnal years on Mughal rupees of this period frequently diverge from calendar reality — mint officials continued striking in the emperor's name regardless of who controlled the treasury.
Shah Alam II spent much of his reign as a pensioner of whoever held Delhi — the Marathas, then the British following Patparganj in 1803. The Allahabad mint issues from 1784–1786 fall within his period of Maratha-controlled custody, after his disastrous alliance with the Rohillas had already cost him any practical authority. Allahabad itself had been ceded to the Nawab of Oudh by the British under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, making even the question of whose coin this functionally was a matter of considerable ambiguity.
The regnal years on Mughal rupees of this period frequently diverge from calendar reality — mint officials continued striking in the emperor's name regardless of who controlled the treasury.