1. ) The Rupees of Ahmedabad in the name of the Mughal Emperors.
By Amit Mehta (Gujarat)
========================================
A budding Numismatist, Amit Mehta is an engineer by qualification and an industrialist by profession. A keen student of history, he started collecting coins early in life, starting with the hammered coins of the Mughals, Princely States and the British East India Company. The coins of the Mughal mints and the numerous Princely states located in the state of Gujarat fascinate him the most and he studies them in details.
In his endevour to spread awareness on Indian coins he has been researching the missing information on the coins on the subjects he takes a fancy to. He has succeeded in highlighting coins on which very little was known earlier. Amongst these were the coins of the ‘Nawabs of Bharuch’ – on which he has recently penned an article. He is also actively working on cataloguing the coins of various states in Gujarat, on which very little is yet known and published. He contributes articles in the souvenirs of various numismatic clubs / Coin societies and makes presentations at the meetings of the Oriental Numismatic Society – South Asia, of which he is a member as well as other coin clubs and societies to spread awareness on the subject so dear to his heart.
His exhibit “The Rupees of Ahmedabad mint issued in the name of the Mughal Rulers” has won him the Rolling ‘S M Shukla Shield’ for the best exhibit at the Mumbai Coin Society annual fair held in Mumbai from 20th to 22nd September, 2019. His exhibit displayed the coins of Ahmedabad which were issued in the name of the Mughal Rulers from Akbar to Muhammad Akbar II, when the area was under direct Mughal administration as well as under the Marathas, Gaekwads of Baroda and the British administration.
He has co-authored a book titled “The Heritage of Gujarat through Coins – The Princely States of Chhota Udepur, Devgadh Baria, Lunavada and Sunth” all located in the erstwhile Rewa Kantha States Agency of the Bombay Presidency. This book catalogues coins of many rulers whose coins were never before published and corrects a number of erroneous listings in the widely referred catalogues.
This is a recording of the ZOOM webinar under the aegis of the Mumbai Coin Society where I presented an overview of the Silver Rupees of Ahmedabad issued in the name of the Mughal Emperors.
The coinage covered starts with the first Rupees issued in the name of Akbar in AH 980 / 1573 AD and then highlights the different types / varieties of the rupees issued for the next almost 250 years till the mint was closed in AH 1252 / 1833 AD. This period of history covers the coinage issued under the direct Mughal Rule, the Maratha (Peshwa) rule; the Gaekwad era and the British East India Company.
Hope you enjoy the video and do write in with comments or suggestions.
