Monetary
History of Mughal India as Reflected in Silver Coin Hoards/Jaroslav Strnad. New
Delhi, Harman, 2001, xi, 201 p., $44. ISBN 81-86622-42-X.
Monetary
History of Mughal India as Reflected in Silver Coin Hoards/Jaroslav Strnad. New
Delhi, Harman, 2001, xi, 201 p., $44. ISBN 81-86622-42-X.
Contents: Graphs. Tables. Introduction. I. Character of data: I. Coin hoards, treasure troves and hoard inventories. II. Approaches to statistical processing of Mughal silver coins: 1. The method of Aziza Hasan. 2. The method of Shireen Moosvi. 3. The method based on data derived from hoards. III. The filters: 1. Coins circulating – coins hoarded. 2. Coins hoarded – coins recovered in modern times. 3. Coins recovered in modern times—coins entered into treasure trove reports. 4. Coins inspected and entered into treasure trove reports—written evidence of dispersed coins. IV. Types of hoards: 1. Long-term savings hoards. 2. Composite hoards. 3. Emergency hoards. 4. Other hoards. II. Structure of hoards: I. Chronology of hoards. II. Spatial and temporal distribution of hoards. III. Sizes of hoards. IV. Structure of hoards: Temporal structure: 1. Akbar. 2. Jahangir. 3. Shahjahan. 4. Aurangzeb. 5. Shah Alam I and Farrukhsiyar. 6. Muhammad Shah. III. The mints: I. Preliminary. II. Mints of the Akbari period (1556-1605): 1. Three great Akbari mints. 2. Ahmadabad. 3. Thatta. 4. Lahore. III. The Regnal period of Jahangir (1606-1627): 1. Qandahar 1606-1622. IV. The era of Shahjahan (1627-1658): 1. Multan. 2. Surat. 3. Patna. V. Mints during the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707): 1. Surat. 2. The Rise of central mints. VI. The period 1707-1760. VII. Peculiarities in dispersal patterns of coins minted in the area of the U.P. VIII. Mughal silver coin stock, 1560-1760. Conclusion. Bibliography. Appendices.
"The present study is an attempt at reconstructing, with the help of coin hoards inventory published by the State Museum, Lucknow, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Mughal silver coinage circulating in the area of the present-day Uttar Pradesh in the period between 1560 and 1760.
"In the first part of the book the author outlines basic principles of his method and stresses the necessity to interpret incidences of particular types of coins in their hoard contexts. To assess correctly the value of hoards as statistically relevant samples of past coin stocks, possible distorting effects and biases have been identified and taken into account in the following analysis.
"In the second part the author presents in form of graphs the changing percentual shares of coins minted during particular regnal periods and reconstructs changes in the silver coins output of the more important Mughal mints. On the basis of incidences of coins minted in particular years and considering several possible rates of attrition he constructs alternative curves showing approximate quantitative development of the Mughal silver coin stock in the area of the U.P. Its relative stability over greater part of the 17 century may help explain i.a. the absence of the so called price revolution during this important period of Indian history." (jacket)