88 
C. J. Rodgers— On the Coins of the Sikhs. 
[No. 1 , 
Fig. 32, PI. VI is a Multan rupee of the year 1899 S. The rupees of 
Amritsar are the only ones which have the double year on them. Those 
of Multan and Lahore have only one year on them. This rupee has on 
the reverse, together with the leaf, a thorn mark. On the obverse is a 
lily. The Lahore and Multan rupees, as a rule, follow the type of the 
coins of 1857 A. S. in their inscriptions. 
There were gold coins struck also by Ran jit Singh. I give one in 
PI. IX, fig. 74. Its inscriptions will at once be recognized. 
We will now go on to the Gurmukhi and other coins of the Sikhs. 
Guru=teacher, mukhi = mouth. Hence Gurmukhi = language of the 
Guru, which is the Panjabi of the people. The characters in which the 
language is written are of Sanskrit origin. 
Fig. 33, PI. VII is a gold coin weighing 167 grs. It has on it, in 
Gurmukhi, the obverse of fig. 1, PI. V. But the reverse is “ Wdh Guru 
ji , Wall Guru ji , Wall Guru jif the religious cry of the Sikhs. It 
has no date on it and no mint. It is the only one I have ever seen in 
gold in Gurmukhi. Its weight indicates that it is a regular mohur and 
not a medal. 
Fig. 34, pi VII is a silver coin in Gurmukhi, weight 115 grs. Obverse 
as on obverse of 33. “ Deg, tegh, fatli, nasrat i he darang ydfdt aj Ndnak 
Guru Gohind Singh.” 
Rev. “ Jarh i Kashmir i Sri Akdl Purukh ji. Year 189—On 
the obverse is a sword crossing a shield, on the reverse is the leaff. “ Sri 
Akdl Purukh ji” is the commencement of the “ Akdl Astut ” a hymn in 
praise of the Timeless one, which hymn follows the Japji in Guru Gobind’s 
Granth. The words mean “ hail, timeless Divinity.” 
These two Gurmukhi coins are in my cabinet. I got the gold one in 
Ludiana and the silver one in Lahore. I have as yet seen no others in any 
cabinet or museum. 
The rest of the coins on PI. VII require but scant notice. They are 
all of copper and are chiefly remarkable for their great weight and bold 
execution and extreme rarity. They are not old. There are full dates on 
two ; both the same 1885. Nos. 35 and 37 are probably of the same date 
or near it. The hexagonal ones I thought had been hammered into that 
shape after coinage. But this is impossible. Since drawing the plate 
I have got another weighing 322 grs. There may be more. 1 had to pay 
a rupee each for these large ones, as I find the Sikhs worship them. They 
contain full inscriptions and the name of Nanak, and that is all a real 
Sikh wants. The broad Muhammadan rupees of Akbar fetch a large price 
* See Introduction to Trumpp’s Granth. Footnote, p. xc. 
f Kashmir was conquered by Ranjit in 1819 A. D. = 1876 S. So this coin was 
struck some time after the conquest. 
