This is a gold fanam minted during the reign of Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore in South India.
The obverse of the coin bears the Persian inscription “Ha,” while the reverse side displays the Persian inscription of the minting year at the top and the name of the mint, “Nagar Mint,” at the bottom.
The exact year of minting cannot be determined due to imperfections, but it is presumed to follow the Mauludi era (abbreviated as AM) established by Tipu Sultan.
Tipu Sultan reigned from AD 1782 to AD 1799, and in his fifth year of rule, he introduced the Mauludi era. This new calendar system was adopted for all coins, correspondence, and official records of the Mysore Kingdom. To distinguish it from the Hijri calendar, which was written from left to right, Tipu Sultan mandated that the new calendar be written from right to left.
Tipu Sultan, also known as the “Tiger of Mysore,” fiercely repelled British forces in both the First and Second Mysore Wars, earning a formidable reputation among the British. In the Second Mysore War, he succeeded his father, Hyder Sultan, upon his death, and allied with the French against the British. In AD 1799, during the Fourth Mysore War, British forces captured the fortresses of the Mysore capital. Despite the inevitable outcome, Tipu Sultan refused the suggestion from his French allies to escape, declaring, “Better to live for a day as a tiger, than for a thousand years as a sheep.” Following this conflict, significant territories of the Mysore Kingdom, including the original capital of Srirangapatna, were annexed by the British, who awarded the “Seringapatam Medal” for their victory.
