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Sikh Legacy
through Numismatics
Jatinder Singh Hundal
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World Sikh News is pleased to present a peep into the vast coin
collection of Jatinder Singh Hundal and it would be interesting
to see know if his collection of Sikh coins is matched by anyone
else as he has a sample collection of virtually most of the
coins minted during all the years of the Sikh Misl period and
that of the Sikh Raj. |
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 Following the collapse of Sikh Empire in 1849 due to intrigue
and deception by the Dogras on the one hand and infighting of the
Royal family on the other, the Sikh monetary system was replaced by
the British. This sudden interruption of the Sikh financial system
sent a shock wave in the market system of
Punjab, and Sikh coins that were backbone of this system saw a sudden and large
scale decline in their value.
The treasury of the Sikh empire was forced to de-value Sikh
coins that ended up being sold for the metal rather than the face
value. Mints were busy melting and moulding the Copper, Silver and
Gold coins into metal for sale in the open market. The free market
system forced them to melt the metal for its intrinsic value than to
exchange it for something from a government treasury. This is the
prime cause for unavailability of lesser number of Sikh coinage to
collectors and students of Sikh Numismatics.
Whenever and wherever the question of Sikh sovereignty is
brought into discussion, serious students of history and culture
cannot afford to miss the connection to Sikh coinage. In
contemporary times, 1984 marked a watershed. Since 1984, there has
been a renewed interest in studies about the Sikh Empire as the
Sikhs were painfully repeatedly reminded of how the Sikh self-rule
of the nineteenth century was snatched out of their hands.
The younger generation among the Sikhs, especially those
living in developed economies of
Europe and
North America, with resources at their disposal have shown a
renewed interest in the field of Sikh Coins as a mean to connect
them with the glorious part of their history –the Sikh Raj.
Collections:
Most Sikh coins continue to be in private collections or to a lesser
extent in museums of
Punjab. Even
India’s national
museums continue to ignore Sikh coins as they are seen a challenge
to the Indian state as it exists today. Most international museums
display Sikh Empire coins under the larger “Indian Collection”.
This makes it difficult for a student of such coins to focus on Sikh
coins as they formed a small portion of the larger “Indian
Collection”.
Even Sikh institutions, such as SGPC and
Punjab government
have paid little or no attention in this area. The exhibition of
coins by the SGPC in the Darbar Sahib complex, maintained by the
SGPC and those of the government of
Punjab in its museums in
Chandigarh and
Amritsar do not do justice to the Sikh Empire. The vast and
diversified collection of the Sikh Raj and the genius behind its
monetary system have been totally undermined in these exhibitions
and they purposely do not paint a true picture of the erstwhile Sikh
nation.
While the government and semi-government institutions may
have failed, individual Sikhs have take to the field like fish to
water and have assumed the gigantic responsibility of preservation
of the heritage of the Sikh through numismatics. They have not only
shown interest but have painstakingly started to collect and study
Sikh coins.
Study of Sikh Coins:
In the last two decades, a couple of good books have been published
by those who have done a study of Sikh coins. The first was “Coins
of the Sikhs” by Hans Herrli, published by Indian Coin Society
Nagpur in 1993. Its second revised and better formatted edition was
published by Munshiram Manohar Lal (ISBN: 81-215-1132-1) in 2004.
Chandigarh
based Surinder Singh’s work, “Sikh Coinage: A symbol of Sikh
Sovereignty” was also published in 2004 by Manohar Publishers and
Distributors (ISBN: 81-7304-533-X).
Both books are full of pictures and illustrations to explain
the Sikh Empire coins and sometime go into details that may make it
sound more like a text book rather than a coffee table edition.
Yet, both offer insight in the mints, coin types, metals, symbols,
writing, dates and other associated details that are important for a
collector, dealer or student of Sikh coins.
Devotion of a community:
Sikh coins can be found in Copper, Silver and Gold and bear some
interesting marking to identify the mint. Coins from the mint of
Derajat have a lion while the Amritsar Mint had weapons such as
Kirpan and Katar as decorations to signify the importance of self
defence in Sikhism. A crude form of Khanda (with one sword and one
Chakar) can also be seen on some of the coins produced in the
Kashmir mint.
It is a Sikh belief that one must seek protection of the
Almighty God. This theme is prevalent in many Sikh coins minted in
the Amritsar
mint, with the words “Akal Sahai”
 inscribed
on them.
As the city of
Amritsar
was seen as a center of Sikhism, its name was used on several coins
from the city. The name of the city of Amritsar appears to be the
only name of a city found on the Sikh coins. It appears as “Sri
Amritsarji”
Sikhs throughout history have attributed their success to God
Almighty -Waheguru. The path to Waheguru is shown by the Gurus and
all achievements of the community are seen as blessings of the Guru.
This is seen in almost every Sikh coin ever produced. The following
couplet, appearing on the coins in Farsi dominates this theme:
Deg Tegh O Fateh
Nusrat Bedirang, Yaft Az Nanak Guru Gobind Singh
meaning, “Kettle to feed, (with) the sword to defend,
(and) the resultant victory are achieved with help from Guru Nanak
-Guru Gobind Singh.”
Living with and respecting nature:
Several students of Sikh coins have attributed the decoration of the
coins with a leaf as unique to Khalsa Raj time. However, that does
not seem to be true since several coins of the Sikh Misl era also
have a leaf as an ornament for decoration.
Various types of leaves found in Punjabi countryside have
been used. This signifies the Sikh respect for nature and a
balanced life. Recognition of flora and fauna found in the nature
is stressed in Guru Granth Sahib and Sikh coins have carried that
philosophy into daily economic life by having these leaves form part
of the coins in circulation.
Expansion of Sikh Empire:
The distribution of mints across the empire provides clues to the
expanding Sikh Raj from
Lahore
to other parts of the South Asia. Upto late 1770’s, only Lahore
Mint was used whereas the Amritsar mint started production of Sikh
Misl coins around 1777.
Between 1782 and 1797, there appear to be no Sikh coins
produced by
Lahore
mint. This is due to the fact that during this period
Lahore became a dangerous territory as a struggle between the
Khalsa and the Punjab Government made
Lahore unsuitable.
Most economic activity seems to have been effected by it.
As Sikhs shifted to safer grounds, away from
Lahore, the
Anandgarh Mint was used between 1784 and 1789, while the Amritsar
mint also produced coins during this period. Several researchers of
Sikh coins are of the opinion that the Anandgarh mint was only in
name while actually it was the Amritsar mint, which produced the
coins. It is quiet probable that the name of Anandgarh was used as a
camouflage.
From 1798 to 1817, both
Amritsar and Lahore
were the main minting locations. By 1820, Sikh Raj was on a strong
ground and its expansion is evident from the fact that from 1818,
the Multan
mint became active and very many fine examples of the coins minted
there have survived the devastation of Punjab.
Brahman Influence:
The Dogras and Brahmins had infiltrated the upper echelons of the
Sikh Empire and were the cause of the downfall of the empire in
1849. The influence of Hindu thought on the decision makers of the
Lahore Darbar is evident from the coins of later part of Sikh Raj.
Immediately after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the
Sikh Kingdom
came under the control of the Dogras and most coins minted during
Maharaja Sher Singh (1841-1843) contain figures of the Hindus. The
most widely used are OM
and a pictorial representation of Trishul.
Till the end of the Sikh Raj:
From 1835 to the end of Sikh Raj, Kashmir, Multan, Derajat and
Peshavar mints were active in the production of Sikh Coins. There
were other smaller mints throughout the newly acquired territory,
but these major mints kept the treasury going for the most part.
The Amritsar Mint was the only mint that produced Sikh coins from
1777 to end of the Sikh Raj in 1849.
 Hailing from village Bundala, near Jandiala Guru in Amritsar and
tracing his lineage to Baba Hindal -during the times of the third
Sikh master, Guru Amardas Ji, the author-numismatist Jatinder Singh
Hundal is a suave Panthic volunteer who participates keenly in all
religio-political and human rights activities, but by choice
remains non-aligned.
An organiser of
Gurmat camps for children and a volunteer-teacher at the local Sikh
school in
California; he
is the founder member of Sikh Youth of
America and the Worl Sikh Organisation. A trained engineer based in
Sacramento,
California, he
is an avid student and collector of Sikh coins and also a keen
collector of manuscripts. He possesses a well documented library on
Sikh literature containing more than ten thousand books, some as old
as 1880.
He is a much
traveled person having visited many a country of the world, except
India. We are pleased to announce that he would write regularly for
World Sikh News. He may be contacted at
jshundal@aol.com.
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Join the Sikh Coins Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SikhCoins/
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including
coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While
numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors
of coins, this study also includes a much larger study of
payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods.
Without a structured monetary system, many societies used
locally produced/found items of value as an exchangeable
currency.
Sikh Numismatics is a new area of study with growing interest
among young and educated Sikhs, especially in Diaspora where a
connection is made with glorious past though coins of that era.
Even though, several individuals have taken on this study
seriously, there are no defined groups, societies, associations
etc. devoted to Sikh coins and tokens. This is starting to
change as internet has brought like minds together; for example
the Yahoo Sikh Coins Group.
It is a fact that many Sikhs and non Sikhs around the world
are not aware that the Sikh Empire known as
Punjab covered
a huge area in the North/West of
India.
The Punjab used a very fascinating monetary system consisting of
coins in metals of Copper, Silver and Gold.
The coins were minted in denominations of Paisa, Rupee and
Mohur covering the major cities of
Punjab viz
Amritsar,
Kashmir, Anandghar which are still part of India, apart from
Lahore (Capital of the old Punjab), Multan, Peshawar which are
now in modern day Pakistan. Today well-known collectors continue
to study Sikh coins to attribute them to mint towns and cities
which were previously not known.
The sovereign Sikh rule by Maharaja Ranjit Singh began in
1801, the Sikhs had established control over
Lahore in 1765
itself and had started minting and circulating their own coins.
Despite the large and very interesting variety of coins which
were circulated over a large territory for more than eighty
years, the study of Sikh coins – the symbols of Khalsa
Sovereignty, has mainly remained neglected.
Jatinder Singh
Hundal works with The Sikh Coins Group, dedicated to academic
and intellectual interaction on Sikh Numismatics, including the
numismatics of CIS Sutlej States such as Nabha, Patiala, Kaithal
and Malerkotla. |
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7 January 2009
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