Rupee - Sikandar Ali Khan

Malerkotla was the only Muslim-ruled princely state in the Punjab, founded by a descendant of the Afghan Sherwani dynasty in the late 15th century. Sikandar Ali Khan's reign coincided almost exactly with the period in which the British Crown — following the 1858 transfer of power from the East India Company — was systematically pressuring smaller states to abandon independent coinage in favor of British India rupees. That Malerkotla continued striking through 1871 reflects the state's tenacious insistence on its minting rights, which were among the last exercised in the Punjab before the privilege was extinguished entirely.