TheHindustani wordrupayā (रुपया) is derived from theSanskrit wordrūpya (रूप्य), which means "wrought silver, a coin of silver",[3] in origin an adjective meaning "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the nounrūpa (रूप) "shape, likeness, image".
The history of the rupee traces back toAncient India circa 3rd century BC. Ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world,[4] along with the Lydianstaters, several other Middle Eastern coinages and theChinese wen.The term is fromrūpya, a Sanskrit term forsilver coin,[5] from Sanskritrūpa, beautiful form.[6]
Arthashastra, written byChanakya, chief adviser to the firstMaurya emperorChandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins asrūpyarūpa, other types including gold coins (rūpya-suvarṇa), copper coins (tāmrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are mentioned.Rūpa means form or shape, example,rūpyarūpa,rūpya – wrought silver,rūpa – form.[7][8][9] This coinage system continued more or less across the Indian subcontinent well till 20th century.
In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by theDa Tang Xi Yu Ji.[10]
During his reign from 1538/1540 to 1545,Sher Shah Suri of theSur Empire set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178grains, which was also termed theRupiya.[11][12] Suri also introduced copper coins calleddam andgold coins calledmohur that weighed 169 grains (10.95 g).[13] The use of the rupee coin continued under theMughal Empire with the same standard and weight, though some rulers afterMughal Emperor Akbar occasionally issued heavier rupees.[14][15]
The European powers started minting coinage as early as mid-17th century, under patronage of Mughal Empire. The British gold coins were termed Carolina, the silver coins Anglina, the copper coins Cupperoon and tin coins Tinny. The coins of Bengal were developed in theMughal style and those ofMadras mostly in a South Indian style. The English coins of Western India developed along Mughal as well as English patterns. It was only in AD 1717 that the British obtained permission from the EmperorFarrukh Siyar to coin Mughal money at theBombay mint. By early 1830, the British had become the dominant power in India and started minting coinage independently. The Coinage Act of 1835 provided for uniform coinage throughout India. The new coins had the effigy ofWilliam IV on the obverse and the value on the reverse in English andPersian. The coins issued after 1840 bore the portrait ofQueen Victoria. The first coinage under the crown was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title the Empress of India. Thegold silver ratio expanded during 1870–1910. Unlike India, Britain was on the gold standard.
The 1911 accession to the throne of the King-EmperorGeorge V led to the famous "pig rupee". On the coin, the King appeared wearing a robe with the imprint of an elephant. Through poor engraving, the elephant looked like a pig. The population was enraged and the image had to be quickly redesigned. Acute shortage of silver during theFirst World War, led to the introduction of paper currency of One Rupee and Two and a half Rupees. The silver coins of smaller denominations were issued in cupro-nickel. The compulsion of theSecond World War led to experiments in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the "Quaternary Silver Alloy". The Quaternary Silver coins were issued from 1940. In 1947 these were replaced by pure Nickel coins. The Monetary System remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 64 pice, or 192 pies.
In India, the "Anna Series" was introduced on 15 August 1950. This was the first coinage of theRepublic of India. The King's Portrait was replaced by the Ashoka's Lion Capital. A corn sheaf replaced the Tiger on the one Rupee coin. The monetary system was retained with one Rupee consisting of 16 Annas. The 1955 Indian Coinage (Amendment) Act, that came into force with effect from 1 April 1957, introduced a "Decimal series". The rupee was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. The "Naye Paise" coins were minted in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Naye Paise. Both the Anna series and the Naye Paise coins were valid for some time. From 1968 onwards, the new coins were called just Paise instead of Naye Paise because they were no longer naye(new).
With high inflation in the sixties, small denomination coins which were made of bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, andaluminium-bronze were gradually minted in aluminium only. This change commenced with the introduction of the new hexagonal 3 paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in 1968 but did not gain much popularity. Over a period, cost-benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of 1, 2 and 3 paise coins in the 1970s. Stainless steel coinage of 10, 25 and 50 paise, was introduced in 1988 and of one rupee in 1992. The very considerable costs of managing note issues of Rs 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 led to the gradual coinisation of these denominations in the 1990s.
In East Africa,Arabia, andMesopotamia, the rupee and its subsidiary coinage was current at various times. The usage of the rupee in East Africa extended fromSomaliland in the north to as far south asNatal. In Mozambique, the British India rupees were overstamped, and in Kenya, theBritish East Africa Company minted the rupee and its fractions, as well as pice.
The rise in the price of silver immediately after theFirst World War caused the rupee to rise in value to two shillingssterling. In 1920 inBritish East Africa, the opportunity was then taken to introduce a newflorin coin, hence bringing the currency into line with sterling. Shortly after that, the florin was split into twoEast African shillings. This assimilation tosterling did not, however, happen inBritish India itself. In Somalia, the Italian colonial authority minted 'rupia' to exactly the same standard and called thepice 'besa'.
The Indian rupee was the official currency ofDubai andQatar until 1959, when India created a newGulf rupee (also known as the "external rupee") to hinder the smuggling of gold.[16] The Gulf rupee was legal tender until 1966, when India significantly devalued the Indian rupee and a newQatar-Dubai riyal was established to provide economic stability.[16]
TheStraits Settlements were originally an outlier of theBritish East India Company. TheSpanish dollar had already taken hold in the Straits Settlements by the time the British arrived in the 19th century. The East India Company tried to introduce the rupee in its place. These attempts were resisted by the locals, and by 1867 when the British government took over direct control of the Straits Settlements from the East India Company, attempts to introduce the rupee were finally abandoned.
The original silver rupee,.917 fine silver, 11.66 grams (179.9 grains; 0.375 troy ounces),[citation needed] was divided into 16annas, 64paise, or 192pies. Each circulating coin ofBritish India, until the rupee was decimalised, had a different name in practice. Apaisa was equal to twodhelas, threepies, or sixdamaris. Other coins for half anna (adhanni, or two paisas), two annas (duanni), four annas (achawanni, or a quarter of a rupee), and eight annas (anathanni, or half a rupee) were widely in use until decimalization in 1961. (Thenumbersadha,do,chār,ātha mean respectively half, two, four, eight in Hindi and Urdu.[18]) Twopaisa was also called ataka, see below.
Decimalisation occurred in India in 1957 and in Pakistan in 1961. Since 1957 an Indian rupee is divided into 100 paise. The decimalised paisa was originally officially namednaya paisa meaning the "new paisa" to distinguish it from the erstwhile paisa which had a higher value of1⁄64 rupee. The wordnaya was dropped in 1964 and since then it is simply known aspaisa (pluralpaise).
The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is "₨". India adopted a new symbol (₹) for the Indian rupee on 15 July 2010. In most parts of India, the rupee is known as rupaya, rupaye, or one of several other terms derived from the Sanskritrūpya, meaning silver.
Ṭaṅka is an ancient Sanskrit word for money. While the two-paise coin was called ataka inWest Pakistan, the wordtaka was commonly used inEast Pakistan (nowBangladesh), alternatively for rupee. In the Bengali and Assamese languages, spoken in Assam,Tripura, and West Bengal, the rupee is known as ataka, and is written as such on Indian banknotes. InOdisha it is known astanka. After its independence, Bangladesh started to officially call its currency "taka" (BDT) in 1971.
Currently in India (from 2010 onwards), the 50 paise coin (half a rupee) is the lowest valued legal tender coin. Coins of 1, 2, 5, and 10 rupees and banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 2000 rupees are commonly in use for cash transaction.
Large denominations of rupees are traditionally counted inlakhs,crores,arabs,kharabs,nils,padmas,shankhs, udpadhas, and anks. Terms beyondcrore are not generally used in the context of money; for example, an amount would be called ₨ 1 lakh crore (equivalent to 1 trillion) instead of ₨ 10 kharab.
U+3353㍓SQUARE RUPII is a square version ofルピーrupī, the Japanese word for "rupee".It is intended forCJK Compatibility with earlier character sets.No other rupee symbols or abbreviations have dedicated code points. Most are written asligatures using thecombining diacritic technique: For example, the Nepalese rupeeरू is written usingU+0930रDEVANAGARI LETTER RA withU+0942ूDEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN UU.
InLatin script, "rupee" (singular) is abbreviated as 'Re'.[citation needed] and "rupees" (plural) as '₨'. The Indonesianrupiah is abbreviated 'Rp'. In 19th century typography, abbreviations were often superscripted: or. In Brahmic scripts, rupee is often abbreviated with thegrapheme for the first syllable, optionally followed by a circular abbreviation mark or a Latin abbreviation point:रु૰ (Devanagariru.),[19][20]રૂ૰ (Gujaratiru.),[20]රු (Sinhalaru),రూ (Telugurū).
The history of the rupees can be traced back toAncient India around the 6th century BC[citation needed]. Ancient India had some of the earliest coins in the world,[4] along with theChinese wen and Lydianstaters.The rupee coin has been used since then, even duringBritish India, when it contained 11.66 g (1 tola) of 91.7% silver with an ASW of 0.3437 of atroy ounce[21] (that is, silver worth about US$10 at modern prices).[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 thegold standard. The discovery of vast quantities of silver in the United States and various European colonies resulted in a decline in the value of silver relative to gold.
At the end of the 19th century, the Indian silver rupee went onto agold exchange standard at a fixed rate of one rupee to one shilling and fourpence in British currency, i.e. 15 rupees to 1pound sterling.
^Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley (1985) [London: Oxford University Press, 1962–1966.]."A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages".Includes three supplements, published 1969–1985. Digital South Asia Library, a project of the Center for Research Libraries and the University of Chicago. Retrieved26 August 2010.rū'pya 10805 rū'pya 'beautiful, bearing a stamp' ; 'silver'
^Turner, Sir Ralph Lilley (1985) [London: Oxford University Press, 1962–1966.]."A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages".Includes three supplements, published 1969–1985. Digital South Asia Library, a project of the Center for Research Libraries and the University of Chicago. Retrieved26 August 2010.rūpa 10803 'form, beauty'
^Rajaram Narayan Saletore.Early Indian Economic History. N.M Tripathi. p. 614.
^Trübner’s Oriental Series DA TANG XIYU JI Great Tang Dynasty Records of the Western World, translated by Samuel Beal TWO VOLUMES Kegan, Paul, Trench, Teubner & Co. London • 1906 [First Edition ‐ London • 1884]
^etymonline.com (20 September 2008)."Etymology of rupee". Retrieved20 September 2008.
^"Mughal Coinage". Archived fromthe original on 5 October 2002.Sher Shah issued a coin of silver which was termed the Rupiya. This weighed 178 grains and was the precursor of the modern rupee. It remained largely unchanged till the early 20th Century
^Deka, Rabin (25 January 2010)."Additions to Deva-Nagariscript and Bengali script"(PDF). This proposal contains two attestations with a solid dot instead of a circle. Deka also points out thatरु. is printed with a shorter head bar when used as the abbreviation for rupee.
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