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1 Rupee - Shah Alam II Lucknow mint
| Issuer | Awadh |
|---|---|
| Year | 1759-1806 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Hammered silver flan bearing the royal Persian-script legend in bold, sweeping calligraphy across the field, reading 'Sikka Mubarak Shah Alam Bahadur' (the auspicious coin of Shah Alam Bahadur). The inscription is arranged in characteristic Mughal-style divided panels across the coin face, with decorative flourishes typical of late Mughal hammered coinage. The legend is executed in fluid Nasta'liq script, filling the field with minimal peripheral border ornament. The surface shows the characteristic irregular flan shape and slight die-shift typical of hand-struck issues of this series. |
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| Obverse lettering | سکه مبارک شاه عالم بهادر |
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| Additional information |
Shah Alam II was the Mughal emperor in whose name Awadh's nawabs struck coinage throughout this period, a fiction of imperial authority maintained long after real Mughal power had collapsed. The Lucknow mint operated under the Nawabs of Awadh — among the wealthiest rulers in 18th-century India — who used nominal Mughal regnal attribution partly as political cover and partly because bazaar acceptance depended on it. By the 1780s, Shah Alam II had been blinded by Ghulam Qadir and was effectively a British-protected pensioner in Delhi, yet his name continued to authenticate coinage across northern India.