Ranjit Dev ruled Jammu as a tributary chief under Mughal suzerainty, but by the time these rupees were struck the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II exercised authority in name only — his court had been under Maratha protection since 1771, and real power across the subcontinent was fragmenting rapidly. Issuing coinage in the emperor's name remained a political formality, a gesture of nominal legitimacy rather than any functional imperial relationship.
Ranjit Dev ruled Jammu as a tributary chief under Mughal suzerainty, but by the time these rupees were struck the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II exercised authority in name only — his court had been under Maratha protection since 1771, and real power across the subcontinent was fragmenting rapidly. Issuing coinage in the emperor's name remained a political formality, a gesture of nominal legitimacy rather than any functional imperial relationship.
Ranjit Dev died in 1782, mid-series.