COINAGE GALLERY:Catalogue

Since this is the Silver Jubilee Year of the University, the H.K. Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies has set up a Coinage Gallery which was open for a Three Day Exhibition from 23rd to 25th February 2022 from 11 am to 4 pm for faculty, students and visitors. The gallery was inaugurated by Sri Mumtaz Ali, Hon’ble Chancellor, MANUU in the august presence of Prof. Syed Ainul Hasan, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, MANUU and other officials of the university on 22nd February 2022. Numerous people from different walks of life like bankers, senior government officials, academicians, conservation and heritage enthusiasts and students visited the exhibition.

The Centre is in possession of a rare, valuable collection of 81 coins dating from the second century BCE to the late nineteenth century CE, in which most of the coins belong to the region of the Deccan. Majority of the coins in the collection are from the following dynasties –Vijayanagar, Bahmanis, Nizam Shahis, Adil Shahis, Qutb Shahis, pre Hyder Ali Mysore, Tipu Sultan, Wodeyars, Nayakas, Asaf Jahs and the feudatory states of Elichpur, Narayanpet and Gadwal. A few coins belong to the time when the Mughals ruled the Deccan and a few coins even date back to ancient Deccan to the rule of the Satavahanas, Sangam Cholas and Pallavas. Apart from these coins, the collection also includes some rare coins belonging to the Turks, Khiljis, Tughluqs, Lodis, Suris, and provincial sultanates of Kashmir, Jaunpur and Malwa. The highlight of the collection is also a rare Qajar coin from Iran dating to mid nineteenth century. The range of the coins is so vast that it covers a geographical expanse from Kashmir to Madurai, and from Jaunpur to Tabriz. Most of these coins are made up of different metals, more particularly potin, copper, silver and billon.

The coins were gifted to the Centre by private individuals and were read professionally by Shri Amarbir Singh, a numismatic expert. The gallery has been curated by Prof.Salma Ahmed Farooqui, Dr.A.Subash and Mr. Abdul Hadi of the H.K.Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies, MANUU.