In the bustling city of Mumbai, a remarkable exhibition is taking visitors on an extraordinary journey through time, tracing the 500-year evolution of India's most recognizable financial symbol - the rupee. The Sarmaya Arts Foundation's "Odyssey of the Rupee: From India to the World" offers a comprehensive look at how this humble denomination transformed into a global powerhouse of trade and sovereignty.
The Collector's Passion
The heart of this exhibition beats with the passion of Paul Abraham, the 65-year-old founder of Sarmaya Arts Foundation. His numismatic journey began in childhood when his father gifted him a bottle of coins from the kingdom of Travancore. Growing up in Delhi, Abraham spent countless hours at coin fairs and exhibitions, carefully building his collection while learning about India's rich 2,500-year numismatic tradition.
What started as a childhood fascination has now blossomed into one of the most diverse collections of Indian currency, forming the core of this groundbreaking exhibition. Abraham's dedication to preserving India's monetary heritage shines through in every carefully curated display.
Historical Timeline of Indian Currency
The exhibition takes visitors through a chronological journey that begins long before the rupee came into existence. Among the oldest exhibits are punch-marked coins from the Gandhara janapada dating back to 600 BC, showcasing the earliest forms of standardized currency on the Indian subcontinent.
The narrative takes a significant turn with the Islamic invasions of the 9th-10th centuries, which introduced coins featuring elegant calligraphy instead of symbolic imagery, in accordance with religious tenets. However, the real transformation occurred in 1538 when Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri introduced the first rupee after recognizing the need for standardized currency across northern India.
Sher Shah Suri established the silver rupee weighing approximately 11.5-11.6 grams, deriving the name "rupya" from the Sanskrit word "raupya" meaning silver. This standardization revolutionized trade and commerce across the region.
Mughal Adoption and Global Expansion
The Mughal Empire quickly recognized the rupee's potential and adopted it as their formal currency. Under Akbar's reign, the rupee's usage expanded dramatically, becoming a trusted standard widely accepted across the empire. As historian Shailendra Bhandare, curator at Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, explains: "By the 17th century, the rupee became the preferred choice for many due to its reliability. It transformed into a bulwark of trade, which is when the rupee truly took off."
The exhibition highlights how various kingdoms across the subcontinent maintained the standard weight of the rupee while adding their own symbolic elements to assert sovereignty. Sikh coins featured the leaf of the holy ber tree, while Awadh kingdoms depicted two fish on their currency.
The colonial era brought another transformation as hand-struck coins gave way to machine-minted versions. The British, recognizing the rupee's established power, continued using it while introducing coins featuring Queen Victoria in 1862.
The rupee's influence extended far beyond India's borders, traveling through trade routes to East Africa, the Middle East, and even Papua New Guinea. Between 1880-1900, European colonial powers issued rupees in their territories - the Italians in Somalia, Portuguese in Mozambique, and British in East Africa. Remarkably, the Indian rupee continued to be used in Oman until 1972, produced by the Reserve Bank of India.
Exhibition Highlights and Special Features
Running until January 31, 2025, the exhibition features numerous surprises scattered throughout the foyer. Visitors can marvel at a punch-marked coin from 500-450 BC discovered near Wai in Maharashtra, a Chinese silver coin minted in Szechuan following the Victoria rupee format, and a rare ₹10 bank note issued by the Reserve Bank to combat gold smuggling.
The exhibition also explores the history of paper currency in India, tracing its origins to the 18th century Bank of Hindoostan. The first one rupee note, issued as a promissory note, appeared in 1917.
Additional resources include original maps, sketches, portraits from Sarmaya's collection, detailed stories behind specific coins, an interactive Google Map highlighting global rupee minting locations, and an engaging Films Division documentary about the Reserve Bank of India.
The exhibition represents five months of collaborative effort between Abraham, Bhandare, and the Sarmaya team, who carefully wove together the rupee's complex narrative while acquiring specific coins missing from their collection. As Abraham notes: "This marks the 75th year of the first rupee of independent India minted on August 15, 1950. Given the rupee's 500-year history, we wanted to explore multiple facets of this iconic coin."
Special sessions planned over the coming weeks will delve deeper into fascinating aspects of the rupee's history, including stories of mercenaries from small principalities issuing their own rupees and the deep historical connections regions like Indonesia and East Africa share with Indian currency.
