Shah Jahan's final regnal years, 1657–1658, coincided with the war of succession among his four sons that effectively ended his rule. Aurangzeb imprisoned his father at Agra Fort in 1658, where Shah Jahan remained until his death in 1666. Coins struck at Surat in this window were produced under an administration already fracturing — Surat itself, the empire's most lucrative port and primary conduit for European trade silver, continued minting with bureaucratic inertia even as the throne was being contested by force.
The Surat mint drew heavily on bullion arriving through the East India Company and Dutch VOC trade settlements, making its output unusually dependent on foreign commerce.
Shah Jahan's final regnal years, 1657–1658, coincided with the war of succession among his four sons that effectively ended his rule. Aurangzeb imprisoned his father at Agra Fort in 1658, where Shah Jahan remained until his death in 1666. Coins struck at Surat in this window were produced under an administration already fracturing — Surat itself, the empire's most lucrative port and primary conduit for European trade silver, continued minting with bureaucratic inertia even as the throne was being contested by force.
The Surat mint drew heavily on bullion arriving through the East India Company and Dutch VOC trade settlements, making its output unusually dependent on foreign commerce.