Chapter II: The Coinage of Nepāl

The considerable Mug̱ẖal influence exhibited in the modern coinage of the Malla kings of Nepāl, which starts in the early years of the seventeenth century, finds expression in the native legend which affirms that Rāja Mahendra Malla of Kāthmāṇḍū obtained permission to strike coins from the Dehlī court. Although none of his money has come to light, the story gains some support from the weight of the early Nepalese coins, which are all half-rupees, and from a curious piece of Pratāpa Malla of Kāthmāṇḍū (1639-89), which imitates Jahāngīr’s coinage, even adopting fragments of the Persian inscription.

Nepāl, at the period when the coinage begins, was divided into three principalities—Bhatgāon, Pātan and Kāthmāṇḍū—and probably the earliest coins are those of Lakshmī Narasiṁha, ruler of the last province (1595-1639), although the earliest date, Nepālī Samvat[67] 751 (= A.D. 1631) appears on one struck by Siddhi Narasiṁha of Pātan. The usual design on the coins, perhaps suggested by some of Akbar’s and Jahāngīr’s issues, consists of elaborate geometrically ornamented borders surrounding a central square or circle, with the legends in Nāgarī fitted into the spaces left in the design. On the obverse appear the king’s name, titles and date, and on the reverse various symbols, accompanied sometimes by a further title or a religious formula. The Gūrkhas, who conquered the country in 1768, continued the style of their predecessors (Pl. XII, 6), but occasionally struck full as well as the ordinary half-rupees. Gīrvāṇ Yuddha Vikrama (1799-1816) and Surendra Vikrama (1847-81) also struck gold similar in design to the silver coins, and the latter introduced a copper currency.

[67] This Nepālī or Newār era was introduced by Rāja Rāghavadeva in A.D. 879.

The silver _tang-ka_ (tankah) of Tibet was directly imitated from the coinage of Jagajjaya Malla of Kāthmāṇḍū (1702-32).