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Mughals: Jahangir (1605-1628 AD), gold portrait mohur of the 'wine cup' type, AH 1020, worn due to r

Currency:INR Category:Coins & Paper Money / Indian Coins - Mughal Empire Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000,000.00 - 1,200,000.00 INR
Mughals: Jahangir (1605-1628 AD), gold portrait mohur of the 'wine cup' type, AH 1020, worn due to r
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Jahangir (1605-1628 AD), gold portrait mohur of the 'wine cup' type, AH 1020, worn due to ritual use, 9.78g. Obv: Silhouette of nimbate bust of the Emperor, wearing Mughal-style headdress, holding aloft a cup in one hand; small traces of marginal legend visible through worn backdrop. Rev: Lion jumping to right against the backdrop of rising sun, Hijri date below.

Fine, Extremely rare.

During fifth to seventh year of his reign, Jahangir issued gold coins with his portrait which according to historical sources of the time, “were given to (his) favourites, confidantes and eminent visitors to the court, as a sign of special grace, so that the recipient(s) could wear them on their person, on a sash or in their turbans, to proudly display their favoured status”. Although issued for a ceremonial purpose the coins were struck to a monetary standard and thus had every chance of entering the circulation. The portraits show the Emperor with one hand resting on a balustrade covered with a cloth, or carrying a globe, or a cup. The last is often regarded as a 'wine cup' and taken as a reference to the Emperor's most famous affliction. The portrait comes as an ultimate heresy from the Islamic viewpoint - firstly it shows the king in person in defiance of Islam's abhorrence of animate / iconic depiction, and then it shows him consuming a forbidden substance! It is therefore a unique instance of Jahangir's particularly lax and uninhibited attitude towards his own religion. The coin offered here has been worn through ritual use. Perhaps, it remained in the recipient's personal shrine and was passed on in his family, and must have been washed and scrubbed thousands of times in domestic Pooja rituals. ex-Classical Numismatic Gallery Auction 26 (2017), Lot no. 313 - Sold at hammer Rs. 10,00,000.