The rupiya drives India. The word itself manifests a lot of significance. The rupee is not just the Indian currency, but of a large share of Asia and parts of Africa. A currency used by over two billion people; the evolution of the rupee sparks one’s curiosity.
The word “rupee” has been derived from “rūpya”, the Sanskrit term for wrought silver. It was Panini who first mentioned the word in his ancient texts. A Sanskrit philologist, grammarian and Hindu scholar, Panini used the term to denote a piece of silver used as a coin.
His ancient references often used the word “rūpya” to describe beautiful images on the silver coins. Thus, the first trace of the rupiya can be tracked down to about 1100 BCE.
Chanakya, the prime minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, wrote the next aspect of the story. Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, mentioned silver coins as “rūpyarūpa”. The story of the rupee is intertwined with that of the silver metal.
Sher Shah Suri And Akbar Used The Rupiya
Sher Shah Suri, the founder of the Suri Empire, is credited to have formally introduced the currency of the rupee. During his rule from 1540 CE to 1545 CE, Suri established a new military and civil administration. His silver coin, called the rupiya, weighed 11.66 grams. The coins depicted Lord Ram and his wife, Sita.
A few decades after, one of the finest Mughal emperors, Akbar, came to power. Akbar, known for his ideology of secularism, decided to continue the currency of rupiya. He deduced that he had to revere the Hindu heritage to govern his vast empire
Akbar reformed the Mughal coinage, adding a gold coin to the mix. A system of market controlled exchange rates was also introduced. However, the minting of the coins stopped right after Akbar died in 1605 CE.
The rupee saw the rise and fall of a string of rulers and emperors. It saw the incoming of the British in India as well. The Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar permitted the British to coin the Mughal currency.
How Rupee Became The Standard
Soon after, the printing of paper rupees began. The year was 1770. The Bank of Hindostan, General Bank of Bengal and Bihar, as well as the Bengal Bank printed the first paper notes.
The rupiya was evolving. The pictures on its coins changed, but its essence survived. The Coinage Act of 1835 was the brainchild of the British. The Act introduced a system of standardised coinage in India. The amended version of the law is still in practice.
The new front of the coin depicted the statuette of Willian IV and the denomination on the back. This latest uniform coinage used technology imported from Birmingham.
Several rumours around the system circulated. Some of them suggested that the British, ever the so-called “changemakers”, introduced the new technology to discontinue about hundred-odd types of coins from the market.
Queen Of England And The Rupee
After 1840, the effigy of Queen Victoria graced the original side of the coins. The formal end of the Mughal Empire had already taken place in 1858.
The British forcefully took control of over a hundred princely states through various annexations. The Dalhousie annexation was the most popular one. And a majority share of India was controlled by the British.
The Indian rupee was declared as the official currency of British India. A series of banknotes and coins depicted the portrait of the Queen. The year 1877 saw a slight change in the title of the Queen. The design was updated to change queen Victoria’s title from “Victoria queen” to “Victoria empress”.
However, the beginning of World War II (1939-45) led to the discontinuation of the pure silver coins. A mix of alloys was used for the minting of the coins.
When The RBI Printed Gandhi Ji On The Rupee
Post-independence, India continued the use of the British currency for the first few years. Initially, the King’s portrait was set to be replaced by a portrait of MK Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. However, the consensus differed.
It was 1950 when the Republic issued its sovereign currency with emblems proudly adorning the Ashokan Lion Capital.
The first banknotes of the republic of India were issued in the denominations of ₹2, ₹5, ₹10 and ₹100. The Anna series became the first coin series of the republic of India. The series consisted of 16 annas, with each of them split into 4 pieces.
The Reserve Bank of India printed the new notes with the portrait of MK Gandhi. Hindi was displayed on the new notes, along with increased security measures and aids for visually impaired individuals. High denomination notes of ₹1,000, ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 were reintroduced in 1954.
New Notes Introduced During Demonetisation
However, they were demonetised again in 1978, following the demonetisation in 1946. Another controversial demonetisation in the year 2016 was carried out.
New banknotes of the already present denominations of ₹500 and ₹1,000 were introduced, along with a new addition of ₹2,000 currency notes.
Today, “rupee”, as a currency, is not limited to India but used by several other nations spanning the continents of Asia and Africa. Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius, Pakistan, Nepal, the Seychelles Island, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE and Sri Lanka are countries with their currency of rupee.
Over the years, various changes have been made to the coins and banknotes. Be it empires, design, motifs, size, the rupee has survived it all. One of the world’s oldest surviving currencies, the rupee is a legacy that India, along with other countries, is taking forward.