Silver Rupee of Akbar – Ilahi Lahore Mint

 

Obverse

Inscription	Allahu Akbar Jalla Jalalahu	अल्लाहू अकबर जल्ला जलालुहू	اللہ اکبر جل جلالہ
Translation	God is Great Eminent is His glory	ईश्वर महानतम है उसका प्रताप अति महान है	اللہ اکبر اس کی عظمت بڑی ہے

Reverse

Inscription	Mihr Ilahi Zarb Lahore 41	मिहर इलाही ज़र्ब लाहोरे 41	مہر الہے ضرب لاہور 41
Translation	Mihr Ilahi Minted at Lahore 41	मिहर इलाही लाहोरे में ढाला गया 41	مہر الہے ضرب لاہور 41

 

 

About

Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi (‘Religion of God’) can be defined as a new syncretic religion or an eclectic religious movement. With his long hair, his appreciation of Indian folktales like the Panchatantra, his care for Rajput and other Hindu noblemen, and his abolition of prejudiced laws and practises, Akbar had long since shown his affection for the people of Hindustan. In the Ibadat Khana, Akbar kept looking for truths in all of their captivating manifestations.

In 1579, Akbar had begun to free himself from a purely Islamic identity and to create a new identity for himself which reflected the diverse people and faiths of the court and country. His Majesty was now certain that the millennium of the Islamic dispensation was approaching, according to Badaoni's account from 990 AH. So, there was nothing stopping him from publicising the designs he had been working on behind closed doors. The first directive that was adopted said that "the currency shall indicate the millennium era."[i]

In the thirtieth year of his reign a change, which had been long foreshadowed, Showed itself in Akbar and on his currency. He began to date his coins from the first year of his reign, and this new era was called the Ilahi, or Divine Era.[ii]

The coin

The formula ‘Allahu Akbar Jalla Jalalahu’ is the primary legend on the Ilahi coins of Akbar. This has led some to wonder whether the ‘Akbar’ (meaning ‘great’) was meant to precede the ‘Allahu’ in the legend. In other words, instead of saying ‘God is great, eminent is His glory’, it might instead mean ‘Akbar is God, let His brightness shine forth’.[iii]

The inference was that Akbar’s person was also divine, and a new creed was invented, which henceforth appeared on his coins.

The coin bears the name of the month of the Persian solar calendar in which it was minted i.e., ‘Mihr’, which corresponds to September-October in the Gregorian calendar. [iv]

 

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[i] Mukhoty, I. (2020). The Art of Rebellion. In Akbar: The Great Mughal. Aleph Book Company.

 

[ii] B.Whitehead, R. (1914). Catalogue of Coins in the Panjab Museum, Lahore : Vol. II Coins of the Mughal Emperors. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

 

[iii] Wright, H. N. (1908). Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta. London: University of Oxford.

 

[iv] Brown, C. J. (1980). The Heritage of India Series: The Coins of India. University of Toronto Library.