First Khalsa Coins Of Banda Singh Bahadur – OpEd
The first Sikh coinage was minted by Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716) – the first political leader of the Sikhs in the post Guru era. After defeating the Mughals, and attaining short lived sovereignty over the north-western region of India in the battle of Sirhind in 1710. of Punjab and eventually controlled territory from the neighbourhood of Delhi to the river Ravi who ruled from 1709 to 1716.
Banda Singh Bahadur was a valiant Sikh General who captured Wazir Khan, the cruel Governor of Sirhind, the capital of Moghuls in the North India. Wazir Khan had bricked alive the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh in 1704 when the brave lads had refused to convert to Islam. Banda Singh first established the Sikh tradition of coinage in the name of the Sikh Gurus rather than a rulers own name. This tradition was also followed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
In 1711, the Khalsa Panth, under the leadership of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, issued the first known 1 rupee silver coins bearing the Year 2 at Mukhlispore (renamed Lohgarh) near Sadhaura. A second issue of 1 rupee silver coins bearing the Year 3 were issued in 1712.
However, the couplet of these coins is different from the couplet used on the seal of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.
As a humble follower of the Gurus, after establishing his kingdom, he was the first Sikh general to strike a coin at Lohgarh in the name of Guru Nanak Guru Gobind Singh. Banda Singh issued the first known 1 rupee silver coins (Diameter: 28 mm, Weight: 11.96 grammes)bearing the Year 2 at Mukhlispore (renamed Lohgarh) near Sadhaura. A second issue of 1 rupee silver coins (Diameter: 23 mm, Weight: 11.84 grammes) bearing the Year 3 were issued in 1712.
They were inscribed in the prevalent Persian language but, unlike other kingdoms in which the bust or name of the king along with the period of his reign was mentioned, these Sikh coins bore the name of the Sikh Gurus and the Almighty. The coins followed the indigenous Bikrami (Vikram Samvat) and Nanakshahi Samvat (base year 1469, the birth year of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak) calendars to mark dates. He also introduced an official seal. The coins were issued in honour of Sikh Gurus and carried the following legends in Persian.
Translation of its Persian words is being given here: ‘Kettle (symbol of the means to feed the poor),
Sword (symbol of the power to protect the weak and helpless), victory and unhesitating patronage have been obtained from Guru Nanak and Gobind Singh’.
Persian inscriptions on the coin when translated meant: ‘Coin struck in the two words by the grace of true Lord; victory to Guru Gobind Singh, the King of the kings; the sword of Nanak is the granter of desires’. Words on the reverse meant, ‘Coined at the model city, Refuge of the world, the Ornament of the fortunate throne’. Inscription on his coins and his seal is an everlasting monument of his devotion to the Gurus. He preferred death to his faith.
However, the couplet of these coins is different from the couplet used on the seal of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. There is precious little information available on these coins, like a fleeting mention in historic texts such as Tazakirates-Salatin-i-Chaghtai authored in the 18th century by Hadi Kamavan Khan. Up until then, Mughal coins were in use during the reign of the ten Sikh Gurus (1469-1708 CE). But just before his death, the tenth and last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, who was in exile in Nanded (in present-day Maharashtra), sent Banda Singh Bahadur to Punjab to offer resistance to the Mughal force in Punjab. There, Banda Singh rallied Sikh volunteers to form an army, and with them established a large but temporary kingdom between the Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers. He captured many important cities in the region including the Mughal provincial capital of Sirhind in 1710.
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur launched first Sikh coin somewhere between 1708 and 1715 A.D. Names of the first guru, Guru Nanak Dev and tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, were inscribed on these coins along with dates when these were minted. Hymns from Sri Guru Granth Sahib were inscribed on these coins later on. Since the territories in Banda Singh’s ‘kingdom’ kept changing due to continuous warfare with the Mughals, there was no specific mint that struck these coins. They were however, issued till 1713 CE, after which the war with the Mughals intensified. Banda Singh Bahadur was finally defeated by the Mughals in the Battle of Gurdas Nangal in 1715 CE and his kingdom was confiscated. The great warrior and his followers were captured and executed. It is surmised that almost all the coins he struck were destroyed by the Mughals, and only a precious few survive. The aforesaid letter bears the seal of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, in Persian,
Abundance, power, victory and assistance without delay are the gifts of Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh)
It is possible that Baba Banda Singh Bahadur could have issued the 1 Rupee coin bearing the Year 1. Should such a coin be traced in time to come, the two listed coins below would become the 2nd and 3rd issues of his short lived coinage.
Below the seal is the Hukamnama or Farmans (edict or order) to the Sikhs of Jaunpur by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur on 12th December 1710.
However, it was later changed to:
