100 Rupees

P#43 spans the first decade-plus of Reserve Bank note-issuing authority following independence, a period when the RBI was working through the awkward transition from the colonial currency framework inherited from the Government of India series. The 100 Rupee denomination was the highest in general circulation at the time, and these notes passed through the signatures of three successive governors — C.D. Deshmukh, B. Rama Rau, and H.V.R. Iengar — making governorship the primary collecting variable within the type.

Pakistan's separation in 1947 created an immediate complication: undivided British India notes remained legal tender in both successor states briefly, and the RBI issued currency on behalf of Pakistan until the State Bank of Pakistan assumed control in mid-1948. By the time P#43 entered production, that arrangement had already ended.