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Princely State of Hyderabad
Asaf Jah VI
⅛ Ashrafi Gold Coin
海德拉堡土邦
阿薩夫·賈赫六世
⅛ 阿什拉菲金幣
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.
Smt. Shubha, Dr. I. K. Pattar, “Coinage System Under The Mir Osman Ali Khan Period (1911-1948),” Review of Research, 2023, pp. 1–4
M. Shateri & T. Ahmadi, “Investigation and Symbology of Plant Motifs on Iranian Coins from Ilkhanid to Qajar Period,” Pazhoheshha-ye Bastan Shenasi Iran, 2023, pp. 285–311
George S. Cuhaj, Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 6th edition (USA:Krause Publications, 2019)