36 



Notes on Indian Currencies. 



[NO. 1, NEW SERIES, 



Delhi, to which in a foot note is added, " Ferishta* states that at 

 " this time there was no silver coinage in the Carnatic : and Colo- 

 " nel Briggs observes that the same was true to a certain extent 

 " till very lately : the common coin was the pagoda and there was 

 " a small coin called a gold fanam, as low in value as a sixpence." 



Dow in his history, describing the distracted state of the coun- 

 try under Mahommed Toglak's rule, ascribes it to a number of rea- 

 sons, and amongst others to " the king following the Chinese 

 " custom of issuing paper upon the Emperor's credit for ready 



1325 1351 ad" mone y' an( ^ to str ^ km g a copper coin which he 

 " issued and made current by a decree at an imagi- 

 " nary value." He also adds, " that the merchants made their pay- 

 " ments in copper to the poor manufacturers, at the same time that 

 " they themselves received silver and gold for their export. There 

 i: was also much villainy practised at the mint : for apremiumto those 

 " who had the management of it, the merchants had their coin struck 

 " considerably below the legal value. But the great source of the 

 " misfortunes consequent upon the debasement of the coin, was the 

 " known instability of Government. Afterwards the Emperor to 

 " ease the minds of the people was obliged to call in the copper 

 " currency." 



In Ferishta's history of the Deccan, mention is made in many 

 places of money, as for instance, in his account of the Bhamenee 

 dynasty founded by Zuffir Khan in 1347, he says — " Coins were 

 " struck, impressed with his titles of Sultan Alia ad Dien Houssun 

 " Raujah Bhamenee." Also at page 17, he adds, "the gold and 

 " silver coins of the Bhamenee Sultans were of square form, and 

 " different value, having on one side the creed of testimony,! and 

 " the names of the four holy friends. J On the other was the sove- 

 " reign title, and year of his reign. The Hindu bankers at the in- 

 " stigation of the roies of Beejanuggur and Telingana melting all 

 " which fell into their hands that the coins of the infidels might alone 



* Who wrote a history of the Mogul Emperors and some other works at the 

 latter end of the 16th Century. 



f There is no God hut God and Mahommed is his Prophet. 



% Mahommed, Ali, Abouhekker and Omar. 



