Catalog
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| Issuer | Gwalior, Princely state of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1886 |
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| Value | 1 Rupee |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field divided into quadrants by a cross-shaped framework, bearing the Persian/Urdu legend of the Mughal imperial name 'Shah Alam' in flowing Nastaliq calligraphy. The upper register contains the royal name distributed across two compartments, while the lower register carries the mint name legend. A decorative arrangement of raised pellets fills the upper-left quadrant, serving as an ornamental device characteristic of Gwalior princely coinage struck in the name of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | شاه عالم |
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| Additional information |
Gwalior's rupees of this period were struck in the name of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II long after the Mughal empire had effectively ceased to exist — a legal fiction maintained by Indian princely states well into the nineteenth century to assert continuity and legitimacy. The bracketed attribution to Madho Rao refers to the regent Dinkar Rao's administrative successor period under the Scindia dynasty, as the actual Gwalior darbar operated independently of any meaningful Mughal authority for decades by this point.
By 1886, British India was actively pressing princely mints toward standardization, and Gwalior's independent coinage survived only a few more years before the state transitioned to imperial rupees.