Nazrana Paisa - Vikramajit Mahendra Under Shah Alam II

Orchha's nazrana issues were presentation coins — not struck for circulation but offered as formal gifts during ceremonial occasions, typically at durbars or in recognition of political submission to a superior authority. By 1797, Orchha was navigating the collapsing fiction of Mughal suzerainty under Shah Alam II, whose authority had been effectively reduced to a cipher following his blinding by Ghulam Qadir in 1788. Invoking his regnal name on a local copper nazrana was as much a political gesture as a religious one — affirming legitimacy through a ruler who had almost none left to give.