History of the rupee


The history of the rupee traces back to ancient times in the Indian subcontinent. The mention of rūpya by Pāṇini is seemingly the earliest reference in a text about coins. The term in Indian subcontinent was used for referring to a coin.
The word "rupee" is derived from a Sanskrit word "rūpya", which means "wrought silver", and maybe also something stamped with an image or a coin. As an adjective it means "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun rūpa "shape, likeness, image".
Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya, mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa, other types including gold coins, copper coins and lead coins are mentioned . Rūpa means form or shape, example, rūpyarūpa, rūpya – wrought silver, rūpa – form.
In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.
Sher Shah Suri, during his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains, which was also termed Rupiya. The Mughal rulers issued coins honouring the Hindu deities in 1604–1605.
The coins depicting Ram and Sita were issued in both silver and gold; minting ended right after Akbar's death in 1605.
The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, Maratha era, as well as in British India. Among the earliest issues of paper rupees include the Bank of Hindostan, the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar, and the Bengal Bank.
The Indian rupee was a silver-based currency during much of the 19th century, which had severe consequences on the standard value of the currency, as stronger economies were on the gold standard. During British rule, and the first decade of independence, the rupee was subdivided into 16 annas. Each anna was subdivided into 4 pices. So one rupee was equal to 64 pice and 192 pies as 1 Pice was equal to 3 pies. In 1957, decimalisation occurred and the rupee was divided into 100 naye paise. After a few years, the initial "naye" was dropped.
For many years in the early and mid-20th century, the Indian rupee was the official currency in several areas that were controlled by the British and governed from India; areas such as East Africa, Southern Arabia and the Persian Gulf. citation?

Early uses

The word "rupee" is derived from a Sanskrit word "rūpya", which means "wrought silver", and maybe also something stamped with an image or a coin. As an adjective it means "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun rūpa "rupa in sanskrit means silver".
Pāṇini used rūpya to mean beautiful or struck. The second meaning applies to a coin. Kasikakara expands upon this, these coins that stamped were the Dinara, Kedara and Karshapana. The term Rupataraka is mentioned by Patanjali in reference to one who checks the Karshapana coins. An early Pali scripture uses the term Mashaka-rupa, Mashaka being a token Karshapana. The term was no longer in much use to refer to a coin in later eras. In the Rajatarangini, the term rupakas is used for gold coins, they are called svarna-rupakas. The Kathasaritsagara calls the gold Dinar coins svarna-rupakas.
Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya, mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa, other types of coins including gold coins, copper coins and lead coins are also mentioned. Rūpa means form or shape, example, rūpyarūpa, rūpya – wrought silver, rūpa – form.
In the intermediate times there is no fixed monetary system as reported by the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji.
During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1546, Sher Shah Suri set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains, which was also termed the Rupiya. The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, the Maratha era and in British India, as well.

Coinage since the British period

The British settlements in Western India, South India, and the Eastern Province of Bengal independently developed different coinages in consonance with the local acceptability of the coins for the purposes of trade.
File:Rupee, 1840 - British India, Victoria.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1840 East India Company rupee. It was minted in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
There are many fake coins of East India Company, with Indian gods depicted on the obverse side as shown in side-bar. Original East India Company coins show only the coat of arms of the East India Company.
The coins of Bengal were developed in the Mughal style and those of Madras mostly in a South Indian style. The English coins of Western India developed along Mughal as well as English patterns. It was only in AD 1717 that the British obtained permission from the Emperor Farrukh Siyar to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint. The British gold coins were termed Carolina, the silver coins Anglina, the copper coins Cupperoon and tin coins Tinny. By early 1830, the British had become the dominant power in India. The Coinage Act of 1835 provided for uniform coinage throughout India. The new coins had the effigy of William IV on the obverse and the value on the reverse in English and Persian. The coins issued after 1840 bore the portrait of Queen Victoria. The first coinage under the crown was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title the Empress of India. The gold silver ratio widened during 1870–1910. Unlike India, Britain was on the gold standard. To meet the Home Charges the colonial government had to remit a larger number of rupees due to the ratio change; this necessitated increased taxation and unrest.
File:Bahawalpur Coin Gold.jpg|thumb|Rupee gold coin of Princely State of Bahawalpur
The 1911 accession to the throne of the King-Emperor George V led to the famous "pig rupee". On the coin, the king appeared wearing the chain of the Order of the Indian Elephant. Through poor engraving, the elephant looked very much like a pig. The Muslim population was enraged and the image had to be quickly redesigned.
Acute shortage of silver during the First World War, led to the introduction of paper currency of one rupee and two and a half rupees. The silver coins of smaller denominations were issued in cupro-nickel. The Second World War led to experiments in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the "Quaternary Silver Alloy". The Quaternary Silver coins were issued from 1940. In 1947 these were replaced by pure Nickel coins.
Immediately after independence, the British coinage was continued. The monetary system remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 64 pice, or 192 pies.
The "Anna Series" was introduced on 15 August 1950. This was the first coinage of the Republic of India. The King's image was replaced by the Ashoka's Lion Capital. A corn sheaf replaced the tiger on the one rupee coin. The monetary system was retained with one rupee consisting of 16 Annas. The 1955 Indian Coinage Act, that came into force with effect from 1 April 1957, introduced a "Decimal series". The rupee was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. The "Naye Paise" coins were minted in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Naye Paise. Both the Anna series and the Naye Paise coins were valid for some time. From 1968 onward, the new coins were called just Paise instead of Naye Paise because they were no longer 'naye'.
With high inflation in the sixties, small denomination coins which had been made from bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, and aluminium-bronze were gradually minted in aluminium. This change commenced with the introduction of the new hexagonal 3 paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in 1968 but did not gain much popularity.
Over a period, cost-benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of 1, 2 and 3 paise coins in the 1970s. Stainless steel coinage of 10, 25 and 50 paise was introduced in 1988 and of one rupee in 1992. The very considerable costs of managing note issues of ₹1, ₹2, and ₹5 led to the gradual replacement of notes by coins for these denominations in the 1990s.
During the World War II,
Subhas Chandra Bose led Indian National Army liberated Mizoram, Manipur and parts of Nagaland from the colonial British control with the help of Japanese forces, British Indian rupee was banned and Japanese rupee was introduced.

Since 1947

Since its Independence in 1947, Indian rupee was adopted as currency in the nation. During this period almost till mid the 1960s Indian rupee was also a legal tender in Trucial States, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Decimalisation (1950s)

History of Indian Rupee :
DatesCurrency system
1850–1957Rupee = 16 annas = 64 pices = 192 pies
From 1 April 1957 to 31 May 19641₹ = 100 naye paise
From 1 June 1964 till today1₹ = 100 paise

The price of 16 Annas was 1 rupee in 1947. The demand for decimalization existed for over a century. Sri Lanka decimalised its rupee in 1869. The Indian Coinage Act was amended in September 1955 for the adoption of a decimal system for coinage. The Act came into force with effect from 1 April 1957. The rupee remained unchanged in value and nomenclature. It, however, was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 96 paisa or 64 Pice. For public recognition, the new decimal Paisa was termed 'Naya Paisa' until 1 June 1964 when the term 'Naya' was dropped. The coins of that period also mentioned their value in terms of the rupee to avoid confusion and cheating. For example, the one paisa coin carried the text "'''एक रुपये का सौंवा भाग".'''