2 1/2 Kori - George V [Khengarji III]

Kutch maintained its own coinage well into the twentieth century under the oversight of Khengarji III, who ruled the state from 1876 until his death in 1942 — one of the longest princely reigns in British Indian history. The dual-authority nature of this issue, acknowledging both the local darbar and the British crown, reflects the precise constitutional arrangement of a salute state: internally autonomous, externally subordinate. The British government periodically pressured princely mints to conform to imperial weight and fineness standards, and Kutch's .937 fine silver was a deliberate local standard that resisted full metrication.