1 Rupee - Fateh shah

Garhwal, Badrinath Kingdom, Fateh Shah (AD 1684-1719, VS 1741-1774), Octagonal Silver Rupee, 10.53g, Obverse: Devanagari legend Medini shah suno shri Fate shaha vanipate within dotted and linear octagonal border. Reverse: Devanagari legend Badrinatha kripaya mudra jagati rajate 1759 within dotted and linear octagonal border. “The coin of the king Fateh Shah, son of Medini Shah, shines in the world by the grace of Badrinatha”. Very Fine, Unique, Extremely Rare and historically important. This unique coin, was first reported by John Deyell in 1983. (Commemorative Rupee of Fateh Shah of Garhwal, Numismatic Digest vol. VII, p.87-91). It is very unusual to have a Rupee of Fateh Shah instead of the Timashas known to bear Persian legends. The Sanskrit legend was properly read by Prof Ajay Mitra Shastri as composed in Anushtubha Chanda. According to Shastri, Fateh Shah used the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the prototype for this coin. The seal of Shivaji reads a similar shloka, pratipaschandralekheva vardhishur vishva vandita; Shah suno Shivasya aisha Mudra bhadraya rajate. How and why a small Himalayan kingdom was influenced by Shivaji is unknown. The Rupee remains the sole evidence of this Maratha influence.