Rupee

Rupee (UK: /ˌruːˈpiː/, US: /ˈruːpiː/)[1][2] is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, Burma, German East Africa (as Rupie/Rupien), and Tibet.

In Indonesia and the Maldives, the unit of currency is known as rupiah and rufiyaa respectively, cognates of the word rupee.

The history of the rupee traces back to Ancient India circa 3rd century BC.

Ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world,[4] along with the Lydian staters, several other Middle Eastern coinages and the Chinese wen.

In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji.

[10] During his reign from 1538/1540 to 1545, Sher Shah Suri of the Sur Empire set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains, which was also termed the Rupiya.

[14][15] The European powers started minting coinage as early as mid-17th century, under patronage of Mughal Empire.

It was only in AD 1717 that the British obtained permission from the Emperor Farrukh Siyar to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint.

By early 1830, the British had become the dominant power in India and started minting coinage independently.

The first coinage under the crown was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title the Empress of India.

The compulsion of the Second World War led to experiments in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the "Quaternary Silver Alloy".

The 1955 Indian Coinage (Amendment) Act, that came into force with effect from 1 April 1957, introduced a "Decimal series".

With high inflation in the sixties, small denomination coins which were made of bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, and aluminium-bronze were gradually minted in aluminium only.

In East Africa, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, the rupee and its subsidiary coinage was current at various times.

The usage of the rupee in East Africa extended from Somaliland in the north to as far south as Natal.

In 1920 in British East Africa, the opportunity was then taken to introduce a new florin coin, hence bringing the currency into line with sterling.

The Spanish dollar had already taken hold in the Straits Settlements by the time the British arrived in the 19th century.

In most parts of India, the rupee is known as rupaya, rupaye, or one of several other terms derived from the Sanskrit rūpya, meaning silver.

In the Bengali and Assamese languages, spoken in Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal, the rupee is known as a taka, and is written as such on Indian banknotes.

Large denominations of rupees are traditionally counted in lakhs, crores, arabs, kharabs, nils, padmas, shankhs, udpadhas, and anks.

The precomposed character ₨ is a currency sign used to represent the monetary unit of account in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, and formerly in India.

Punjabi The history of the rupees can be traced back to Ancient India around the 6th century BC[citation needed].

Ancient India had some of the earliest coins in the world,[4] along with the Chinese wen and Lydian staters.

[22] Valuation of the rupee based on its silver content had severe consequences in the 19th century, when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard.