Prince Muhammad Akbar II (1^st Reign) , Sri Hardwar Mint, Silver Rupee, (AH 1202)/Ahad RY, struck during the first princely reign, when Akbar II was placed on the throne by the Rohilla Ghulam Qadir. Mughal coins struck in the name of the pretender Muhammad Akbar, at Hardwar, "hami-e-deen"couplet, Obv: sikka zad dar jahan ze fazle elah, hami-e-dine muhammad akbar shah, Rev: sana julus & zarb, mint name readable as (sr)(i)(har)(dwar) sri hardwar on top,11.15g, 22.29mm, Unlisted Type (JONS 175, page 23 – Dr Shailendra Bhandare), choice extremely fine, Extremely Rare.

This specimen is of the variety with a circle left to the Ahad.

Muhammad Akbar was elevated to the throne as a puppet by Ghulam Qadir on 15th October 1788. He fled Delhi only two days later, in the wake of the Marathas attacking and entering Delhi, taking the king with him. He attempted to reach Ghausgarh, but probably never managed to reach the place having been intercepted by Maratha army under Mahadaji Sindhia several times. After being on the run for two months, he was finally caught on 19th December, brought to Delhi and executed after prolonged torture and mutilation.

It is very interesting to note that the emperor has left us a written record of the fact that Khutba was read and coins were struck in both gold and silver for such a short reign and that both such coins have been discovered. For detailed discussion of the event and coinage of the puppets see the article by Dr Shailendra Bhandare "Muhammad Akbar: A pawn in politics: the first reign" ONS Newsletter 175, Spring 2003 from page 18-30.

As described in the beginning, the first reign of Muhammad Akbar was identified first through his coins, white head noted the coins dated 1202-1203 AH, struck in the name of muhammad akbar bearing his first regional year.

Coins in the name of the puppet Muhammad Akbar are known from four mints - Shahjahanabad, Ahmedabad, Hardwar and Saharanpur. Out of that “Sri Hardwar” is extremely rare and offered only for the first time in any auction in India.

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