Item number: A276

Year: AD 1910

Material: Gold

Size: 11.1 x 11.1 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 1.41 g

Manufactured by: Farkhanda Mint, India

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a gold coin with a face value of ⅛ Ashrafi, minted in the year 1328 of the Hijri calendar (AD 1910) by the rule of Asaf Jah VI of the princely state of Hyderabad. In the centre of the coin’s obverse side is the prominent landmark of Hyderabad, the Charminar Gate, built in the 16th century, with the Urdu letter “م” (pronounced “meem”) engraved below the gate. Above the gate is the inscription of the king’s name, “Asaf Jah,” with earlier versions of the coin featuring an additional stroke at the bottom right corner of the name. On the left side is the honorific “Bahadur,” meaning “His Excellency,” and on the right side is “Nizam,” denoting the ruler’s title. Below is the year 1328 of the Hijri calendar represented in Persian numerals as “۱۳۲۸.”

On the reverse side of the coin, in the central circle, the denomination “⅛ Ashrafi” is engraved. Surrounding it is a design of bitter orange motifs, influenced by Persian–Mughal court culture. Inscribed within this motif in Urdu are the date and place of manufacture: “Made in the forty-first year of Nizam’s reign, at Farkhanda in Hyderabad.”

During the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, alongside the territories directly administered by the British, there were numerous princely states that emerged from the fragmentation of the Mughal Empire. Hyderabad in central and southern India was one of the most powerful princely states. Its ruler was originally the Mughal Empire’s governor in the Deccan region. After declaring independence in AD 1724, the coins minted by Hyderabad no longer bore the title of the Mughal emperor but instead featured the ruler’s own Nizam title.

In AD 1869, at the age of only three, Asaf Jah VI ascended to the position of the sixth Nizam. He received a British-style education and actively promoted modern infrastructure such as railways in the princely state until his death in AD 1911. In AD 1947, faced with the impending political changes as Britain prepared to leave the Indian subcontinent, the Hyderabad State had the options of joining India, joining Pakistan, or maintaining its independence. It chose to remain independent. Consequently, in AD 1948, shortly after its independence, India launched Operation Polo, an invasion that led to the annexation and dissolution of the Hyderabad State.

物件編號: A276

年代: 公元 1910 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 11.1 x 11.1 x 1.0 mm

重量: 1.41 g

製造地: 法爾坎達造幣廠，印度

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚於回曆1328年(公元1910年)，由阿薩夫·賈赫六世統治的海德拉堡土邦鑄造之面額 ⅛ 阿什拉菲金幣。硬幣的正面中央是海德拉堡最重要的地標，建立於公元16世紀的查米納塔門，城門下方鐫刻烏爾都字母M「م」符號。上方銘文是國王的名字「阿薩夫·賈赫」，早年鑄造的版本在名字右下角還有多一撇；左側是意指閣下的「巴哈杜爾」尊稱；右側「尼札姆」是統治者的頭銜；下方是以波斯數字表示的回曆1328年份「۱۳۲۸」。

硬幣背面的圓圈正中央，鐫刻著面額「⅛ 阿什拉菲」。周圍深受波斯–蒙兀兒宮廷文化影響的佛手柑紋飾內，以烏爾都語寫上鑄造日期和地點「在尼札姆統治的第四十一年，於海德拉堡的法爾坎達製造」。

英國統治印度次大陸時期，今日的印度境內有英國直接管轄領地外，各地亦有許多從蒙兀兒帝國分裂自立的土邦。印度中南部的海德拉堡即是最強大的土邦之一，其統治者原為蒙兀兒帝國在德干地區的總督。公元1724年宣布自立後，其鑄造的錢幣不再保留蒙兀兒皇帝的頭銜，改以鐫刻自身的尼札姆頭銜替代。

公元1869年，時年僅三歲的阿薩夫·賈赫六世成為第六任尼札姆，自幼接受英式教育的他在土邦積極推動鐵路等現代建設，直到公元1911年去世為止。公元1947年，面對英國即將退出印度次大陸的政治變局，海德拉堡土邦在加入印度、加入巴基斯坦和維持獨立的選項中，決定維持獨立地位的選擇。因此公元1948年，獨立不久的印度發動代號「波羅行動」入侵行動，宣告海德拉堡土邦的滅亡。