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1 Rupee - Shah Alam II [Madho Rao]
| Issuer | Gwalior, Princely state of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1893-1897 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Rupee |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears multi-line Nastaliq Arabic legends filling the central field, with the mint name 'Ujjain Dar-ul-fath' and the formula 'sana julus zarb' (struck in the regnal year) appearing at the bottom. A horizontal line divides the field into upper and lower registers, consistent with late Mughal-style rupee coinage. The regnal year (RY) appears as part of the mint and dating formula. Decorative dotted ornaments are visible in the margins. |
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| Additional information |
Gwalior's silver rupees of this period present a deliberate fiction: they were struck in the name of the long-dead Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, who had died in 1806, nearly a century before these coins were minted. The practice was purely political cover — princely states under British paramountcy continued issuing coins under Mughal imperial names to sidestep direct confrontation with colonial monetary authority, even as the empire itself had ceased to exist after 1857.
The Madho Rao attribution identifies the actual ruler: Madho Rao Scindia, who acceded in 1886 at age eight under a British-appointed regency.