RUPEE. 



The E»ft India Company have adhered to it as nearly as pof- 

 iible ; but the monies of fome of the native princes, which 

 are of a high degree of finenefs, are fubjeft to frequent al- 

 terations ; fo that affayers and money-brokers, under the ap- 

 pellations of " fhroffs, are appointed to fet a value upon the 

 different coins that are offered in payment. 



The principal money of account in India is the " current 

 rupee," to which real coins are reduced before they are en- 

 tered into books of accounts. This redu&ion is performed 

 by adding to the fpecies a certain per-centage, called the 

 " Batta," and varying according to the value of the coins, 

 and alfo to the rate of exchange. 



In Bengal, or Calcutta, accounts are kept in current ru- 

 pees ; each rupee being divided into 16 annas, and each 

 anna into 12 pice. The Eall India Company, however, keep 

 their accounts in ficca rupees, annas, and pice, which bear 

 a batta of 16 per cent, againfl current rupees, annas, and 

 pice ; and in their public and financial ftatements, which 

 arc fubmitted to parliament, each fum of ficca rupees is re- 

 duced to current rupees, by adding to it this batta ; and the 

 current rupee is then reckoned at 2s. fterling. The Bengal 

 coins, ftruck at the Calcutta mint, are ficca rupees, called 

 alfo filver rupees, and gold mohurs, fometimes called gold 

 rupees ; 16 of the former being, by regulation, to pafs for 

 one of the latter. Thirty-two punns, or 2560 cowries, are 

 generally reckoned for a current rupee ; but the value of 

 cowries fluctuates, nor are they confidered as a legal tender 

 above 'he value of 1 anna piece, without mutual confent of 

 parties. A lack of rupees is a fum of 100,000, and a 

 crore is 100 lacks, or 10,000,000 of rupees. 



The ficca rupee is to weigh 1 ficca, correfponding to 

 179' Englifh grains, and to be noz. 15 dwt. fine; thus it 

 fhoulti contain 175.927 grains of fine filver, and its value 

 is 2\\d. fterling, or, more accurately, 24.566^/. Thefe 

 rupees were formerly called ficca, only during the firft year 

 after their coinage, when the batta they bore on current ru- 

 pees was 1 6 per cent. ; the fecond year this was reduced to 

 1 3 ; and the third and following years, the batta was 1 1 

 per cent. They were then called " fonaut" or " funat" rupees. 

 But by way of abolifhing this diftinftion, all the rupees coined 

 of late years by the Ea(l India Company have been dated 

 the 19th fun, that is, the 19th year of the Mogul empe- 

 ror's reign ; and thus all the rupees of the above weight and 

 finenefs are confidered of equal value, in whatever year they 

 may have been coined. 



According to thefe regulations, the current rupee is 

 worth 21.177^., valuing filver according to the mint price 

 in England ; but the market price in India is generally much 

 higher, making this rupee worth is. nearly, and the ficca 

 rupee about is. 6d. In the Company's books, 243 current 

 mpees are valued at 100 dollars. 



In the upper provinces of Bengal, there is another rupee, 

 ftruck at the Ferruckabad mint, which weighs 173 grains, 

 and contains 165.215 grains of pure filver; and therefore 

 its fterling value is 23^. nearly. 



The filver coins at Madras or Fort St. George are " Ar- 

 cot" rupees. Each of thefe weighs 176.4 grains, and con- 

 tains 166.477 grains of fine filver ; and therefore its fterling 

 value is 23^/. It is divided into 12 annas and 192 pice, like 

 the other rupees. 



At Bombay accounts are kept in rupees ; each rupee being 

 divided into four quarters, and each quarter into 100 reas. 

 The rupee is alfo divided into 16 annas. An urdee is two 

 reas ; a doreca, 6 reas ; a dooganey, or fingle pice, 4 reas ; 

 a fuddea, or double pice, 8 reas. A paunchea is 5 ru- 

 pees, and a gold mohur, 15 rupees. The annas and reas 

 are only imaginary monies. 



The coins of Bombay are the mohur, or gold rupee ; the 



filver rupee and its half ; alfo the double and fingle pice, 

 the urdee, and doreca, which are copper coins, with a mix- 

 ture of tin or lead. The old Bombay rupee was the fame 

 as that formerly coined at Surat under the Mogul : it weighed 

 178.314 Englifh grains, and contained 1.24 per cent, of al- 

 loy. It was agreed that both fhould circulate at an equal 

 value, and the coin be kept to its exaft ftandard of weight 

 and finenefs. At length, in 1X00, the Company found it 

 expedient to order the Surat rupee, which had been debafed 

 by an augmentation of alloy, to be ftruck at Bombay ; 

 and fince that period, the rupees of both places have been 

 kept at an equal value, weighing 179 Englifh grains, and 

 containing 164.74 grains of fine filver, which anfwer to 

 1 1 oz. 1 dwt. fine ; and thus they are worth 23^. fterling. 



In the Company's financial accounts, which are fub- 

 mitted to parliament, the Bombay rupee is reckoned at 

 2s. 3*/., and then it bears a batta of 16 per cent, againfl cur- 

 rent rupees, though in the tables the batta is ftated at 10 per 

 cent. It was fettled in l8co that the mohur fhould be of 

 the fame weight and finenefs as the filver rupee, and that it 

 fhould pafs for 15 fuch rspees. 



At Anjengo, on the Malabar coafl, a filver rupee is worth, 

 7 old fanams, or 6 new ones, called gallon fanams : the 

 fanam is 12 pice, or 16 vis ; and a pice 4 budgerooks : 

 all thefe are real coins. In the Company's accounts, an 

 Anjengo fanam is reckoned to be worth ^ths of a Calicut 

 fanam, or -fth of a Surat rupee, which gives its intrinfic va- 

 lue about 4^ d. fterling. At Calicut, 5 fanams are commonly- 

 reckoned for one rupee. The fanam is a fmall gold coin, 

 with a confiderable alloy of filver and copper, and the tar 

 (V^thof the fanam) is a fmall filver coin. The Calicut fa- 

 nams have been found, by affays made at Bombay, to con- 

 tain 52A parts of gold, 29 of filver, and 17^ of copper. 

 They are worth 6d. fterling. At Cambay, on the Mala- 

 bar coafl, accounts are kept in rupees of 48 pezas. The 

 rupee is worth about 2s. fterling. A Venetian fequin paffes 

 here for 5 rupees; a Perfian abafii for i T ' T rupee; and a 

 Perfian mamoodi for 24 pezas. At Cochin, accounts are 

 kept in rupees of 16 annas. Thefe are reckoned of equal 

 value to the Surat rupees. Accounts are alfo kept in fanams, 

 20 of which are generally reckoned for a rupee. 



At Mangalore, accounts are generally kept in fultanny pa- 

 godas, rupees, and annas ; the pagoda being 4 rupees, and 

 the rupee 16 annas. At Mafulipatam, accounts are kept in 

 pagodas, rupees, and annas. The pagoda is 3^ filver rupees, 

 and the rupee 16 annas. The coins are gold rupees, weighing 

 1714- Englifh grains, about 23!- carats fine, and worth 

 il. 10s. fterling ; pagodas of nearly the value of the flar 

 pagoda of Madras ; and filver rupees, 24^ of which weigh 

 a feer, or 4293 Englifh grains, and the finenefs of thefe 

 rupees is noz. 125 dwt. The value is, therefore, 23^. 

 fterling. 



The coins of the Myfore country are gold mohurs, 

 pafliug for 4 pagodas ; fultany pagodas, and other pagodas, 

 all pafliug for 13 fanams ; and alfo fultany fanams and can- 

 tery fanams, two fmall gold coins of bafe alloy. Alfo ful- 

 tany rupees, and rajah rupees, 26 of which pafs for 7 ful- 

 tany pagodas ; copper dudus, called by the Englifll dubs : 

 260 dudus are the market price for a fultany pagoda. The 

 fhroffs, in exchanging copper for gold or filver, pay at the 

 rate of 234 dudus for a pagoda; but in changing gold and 

 filver for copper, they receive 240 ; whilll the price fixed 

 by government is 182 dudus per pagoda. The fultany 

 rupee weighs 177 grains, and is 11 oz. 5^ dwt. fine; and 

 is therefore worth 233V. fterling nearly. 



At Pondicherry, accounts are kept in pagodas of 24 fa- 

 nams, and the fanam is fubdivided into 60 cafh. The coins 

 are gold pagodas, and filver rupees and fanams, mentioned 

 o, unde 



