Jodhpur – 19 gun state

This part of the catalogue is based on the book: Marwar, Johdpur State, History and Coinage, by Jan Lingen. IIRNS Publications, Mumbai, 2012

History. (Erskine K.D., Rajputana Gazetteers, Volume IIa, The Mewar Residency. Ajmer, 1908.)

Jodhpur was by far the largest state in Rajputana and was named after its capital, which was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha. The state was sometimes called Marwar, although in earlier times this term had referred to a much larger area covering about half of Rajputana.

Rulers

Rao Jodha (1444-88)

Rao Satal (1488-91)

Suja or Suraj Mal (1491- )

Ganga

Rao Maldeo (1532-62 or 69)

Chandra Sen

Raja Udai Singh (1581-95)

Raja Sur Singh (1595-1620)

Raja Gaj Singh (1620-38)

Maharaja Jaswant Singh I (1638-78)

Maharaja Ajit Singh (1679-1724)

Maharaja Abhai Singh (1724-50)

Maharaja Ram Singh (1750-52)

Maharaja Bakht Singh (1752-53)

Maharaja Bijai Singh (1753-93)

Maharaja Bhim Singh (1793-1803)

Maharaja Man Singh (1803-43)

Maharaja Takht Singh (1843-73)

Maharaja Jaswant Singh II (1873-95)

Maharaja Sardar Singh (1895- )

Coinage (taken verbatim from Erskine p 142-143)

The earliest Jodhpur coins of which there is any mention are the copper pieces issued by Amar Singh, the elder brother of Maharaja Jaswant Singh I, at Nagaur in the seventeenth century, and called after him Amar Shahi. They were without impress on one surface, while on the other they bore an inscription in Persian characters within a square border; the average weight was 255 grains. Next come the coins of Maharaja Ajit Singh, believed to have been minted at Ajmer in or about 1721; it is not known of what metal they were made, and specimens, if they exist at all, are very rare. In the time of Maharaja Bijai Singh (1753-93) a mint was established at Pali, and the coins struck there (and subsequently at other places) were called Bijai Shahi; they consisted of gold, silver and copper pieces. Lastly. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, silver coins, known as Iktisanda, were minted at Kuchawan. In addition to the Bijai Shahi and Iktisanda, the following issues of other states were current in Marwar during the nineteenth century and are still to be found: (i) the Akhai Shahi of Jaisalmer (in the western districts); (ii) the Jhar Shahi of Jaipur (in the north-eastern districts); (iii) the Chandori of Udaipur (used on ceremonial occasions); and (iv) the Bhilari of Udaipur (in the hilly tracts in the south-east and south).

The Bijai Shahi silver coins consisted of the rupee, eight-anna and four-anna pieces, and were first struck in 1761. For nearly one hundred years the name and symbol of Shah Alam II were shown, the inscription on the obverse running Sikka mubarak badshah ghazi Shah Alam and on the reverse Sanat 22 julus maimanat manus zarab-i-dar-ul-mansur Jodhpur – both in Persian. Coins bearing Her late Majesty’s name were first issued in 1858 with the following inscriptions in Persian: on the obverse Ba-zaman-i-mubarak Queen Victoria malikah muazzamah Inglistan wa Hindustan, and on the reverse Maharaja Dhiraj Sri Takht Singh Bahadur zarab-i-Jodhpur; but the dies were altered some ten years later, and the issues of 1869, 1870 and a few succeeding years had Ba-ahd-i-Queen Shah-i-Hind wa Farang zar wa sim ra sikka zad Takht Singh in Persian on the obverse, and on the other side Sri Mataji in Hindi and zarab-i-Jodhpur Marwar 1926 in Persian. From 1873 onwards the inscriptions on either surface were the same as the 1858 issue except that the name of Jaswant Singh was substituted for that of Takht Singh, the date or Samvat was entered in Persian, and the words Sri Mataji were added in Hindi on the reverse. The special mint marks on the Bijai Shahi coins were a jhar or spray of either seven or nine branches, a sword, and sometimes a dagger.

The following is a brief account of the currency known as Iktisanda. On the advent of the Marathas, the imperial mint at Ajmer was closed, and the minters were on their way to Dehli with the dies when they were intercepted at Kuchawan and induced by the Thakur of that place to settle there. The Thakur, being in high favour with the Maharaja, obtained permission to strike silver coins of the Ajmer type, and a mint was accordingly established. The coins turned out consisted of rupee, eight-anna and four-anna pieces, and there have been two issues. In the first, the inscription on the obverse was the same as in the early Bijai Shahi coins with the addition of a sword over the word Shah, while that on the reverse was (in Persian) Sanat 31 jalus maimanat manus zarab-i-dar-ul-khair Ajmer. From the opening words it derived the name Iktisanda – the thirty-first year of Shah Alam’s reign, which began in 1759 and closed in 1806. In the second issue, which appeared in 1863, the Persian inscriptions were Queen Victoria malikah muazzamah Inglistan wa Hindustan with a flower over the word Queen on the obverse, and Zarab-i-Kuchawan ilaqa Jodhpur sanat Iywi (for Iswi) 1863.

The Bijai Shahi coins have been minted at various times at Pali, Sojat, Jodhpur, Merta and Nagaur, and the Iktisandi only at Kuchawan; and the total number of rupees struck at these mints from the commencement of operations till the year 1900 is said to have exceeded 36½ millions, of which some 3½ millions were Iktisanda. Up to 1893 the Bijai Shahi rupee was of about the same weight as the British, while the Iktisanda exchanged for eleven or twelve Imperial annas; but the closure of the Government mints to the unrestricted coinage of silver caused the local coins to depreciate in value to such an extent that in 1899 Rs. 122-12 Bijai Shahi or Rs. 150 Iktisanda exchanged for Rs. 100 British. The Darbar accordingly resolved to convert its local rupees and to introduce Imperial currency as the sole legal tender in the state; and this very desirable reform was carried out in 1900. The Government having fixed the rate of exchange at ten percent for Bijai Shahi and fifty per cent for Iktisanda, a circular was issued on the 1^st May 1900 (i) inviting the public to bring their local coins to certain branch treasuries and exchange them for British rupees at the above rates in the course of the succeeding six months, and (ii) warning them that, after the 1^st November 1900, Imperial currency would be the sole legal tender in Marwar and no local rupees would be accepted in payment of state dues. The balance in the treasury being quite insufficient for the carrying out of the scheme, the Government assisted with an advance of fifteen lakhs, free of interest, and agreed to recoin the local into British rupees up to a maximum amount of 2 crores (twenty millions). As a matter of fact the total number of rupees tendered for conversion during the six months was 10,227,134 (namely 9,273,628 Bijai Shahi and 953,506 Iktisanda), and these were recoined at the Calcutta mint, the entire cost of the operations, including transit charges, establishment, escort etc., amounting to Rs. 34,506 or less than 5 ½ annas for every hundred rupees dealt with. Another noteworthy feature was that, though nearly 10¼ million rupees were despatched to Calcutta, only five coins were rejected as faulty by the authorities at the mint there, and for this remarkable result great credit is due to the experts whom the Darbar employed at each collecting centre.