The history of the taka, also known as the tanka or tangka, refers to one of the major historical currencies of Asia, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and Tibet. It was introduced in the 14th century and became a currency of the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

. Its history is intertwined with the medieval Islamic history and culture of the Indian subcontinent. In modern times, the Bangladeshi taka is considered a legacy of the historical taka because Bengal was the stronghold of the currency. It was inscribed in numerous languages across different regions, including in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Bengali, Nepali, Tibetan and Mandarin.

Etymology

According to '' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' and '' Banglapedia'', the word ''taka'' came from the Sanskrit word ''tankah''.

Introduction in North India

The imperial tanka (also called Sultani tanka) was officially introduced by the monetary reforms of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the emperor of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

, in 1329. It was modeled as representative money, a concept pioneered as paper money by the Mongols in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Persia. The tanka was minted in copper and brass. Its value was exchanged with gold and silver reserves in the imperial treasury. The currency was introduced due to the shortage of metals. Over time, the tanka was minted in silver. However, chaos followed its launch in the 14th century, leading to the collapse of the Tughluq dynasty. The Tughluqs were succeeded by numerous regional states, notably the

Bengal Sultanate The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...

, the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

and the Gujarat Sultanate. These kingdoms continued to mint the new currency in the name of their own rulers. Even much later under the early modern Mughal Empire, regional currencies were still referred to as tanka/tangka/taka.

Arakan

The Bengal tanka was widely circulated in the Kingdom of Mrauk U (now in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

) in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of the Bengal Sultanate. File:Muhghazi.jpg, Silver tanka from Arakan with Perso-Arabic script

Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi taka is the currency of modern Bangladesh. It was officially introduced in 1972 by the Bangladesh Bank following the end of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

and is produced by Bangladesh's Security Printing Corporation. The Bangladeshi taka carries the symbols ৳ and Tk.

Bengal

The taka was traditionally equal to one silver rupee in Islamic Bengal. In 1338,

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

noticed that the silver taka was the most popular currency in the region instead of the Islamic

dinar The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin of ...

. In 1415, members of

Admiral Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...

's entourage also noticed the dominance of the taka. The currency was the most important symbol of sovereignty for the Sultan of Bengal. The Sultanate of Bengal established at least 27 mints in provincial capitals across the kingdom. The taka continued to be issued in Mughal Bengal, which inherited the sultanate's legacy. As Bengal became more prosperous and integrated into the

world economy The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans of the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities which are conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, ...

under Mughal rule, the taka replaced shell currency in rural areas and became the standardized legal tender. It was also used in commerce with the Dutch East India Company, the French East India Company, the Danish East India Company and the British East India Company. File:Silver coin of Danujamarddana.jpg, Silver taka with Bengali script File:Silver Coin of Jalaluddin.jpg, Silver taka with Arabic script and a lion symbol

East India

In 14th-century Odisha, epigraphic records use terms such as ''vendi-tanka'' (alloyed silver) and ''sasukani-tanka'' (bullion). The tanka spread to the region from the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

Nepal

The tanka standard was introduced in the prosperous Himalayan

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

(Nepal proper) in the 16th century. It was modeled on the currency of Delhi, Bengal and the Mughal Empire. The Nepalese tanka was a debased silver coin struck in 10 g. weight with minor denominations of 1⁄4, 1⁄32, 1⁄123, 1⁄512. It was introduced by King Indra Simha.

Pakistan

Until 1971, the present-day

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee ( ur, / ALA-LC: ; sign: Re (singular) and Rs (plural); ISO code: PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan since 1948. The coins and notes are issued and controlled by the central bank, namely State Bank of Pakistan. In ...

had bilingual inscriptions in Urdu and Bengali, and was called both the rupee and taka. The Bengali Language Movement played a decisive role in ensuring the recognition of the taka in East Pakistan. File:Pakistani rupee pre-1971.jpg, A Pakistani banknote with Bengali script denoting 10 taka

South India

The tanka was widely minted in the Deccan, including the

Deccan sultanates The Deccan sultanates were five Islamic late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. Th ...

and Mughal provinces. In the Berar Sultanate and Berar Subah, one Tanka-i-Barari was equal to eight Delhi tankas.

Tibet

The Tibetan tangka was an official currency of Tibet for three centuries. It was introduced by

Lhasa Newar Lhasa Newar (alternate name: Lhasa Newah) () refers to the expatriate Newar traders and artisans who traveled between the Kathmandu Valley and Tibet from centuries ago. These Nepalis, Nepalese merchants conducted trade between Nepal, Tibet and Ben ...

merchants from Nepal in the 16th century. The merchants used Nepalese tanka on the

. The Tibetan government began to mint the tangka in the 18th century. The first Tibetan tangka was minted in 1763/64. China's Qing dynasty, Tibet's suzerain, established mints in the region in 1792. The Sino-Tibetan tangka carried Chinese language inscriptions.Bertsch, Wolfgang: The Currency of Tibet. A Sourcebook for the Study of Tibetan Coins, Paper Money and other forms of Currency. Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, 2002. Banknotes were issued between 1912 and 1941 in denominations of 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 tangka. File:Tibetan Tangka 58.jpg, Tibetan tangka minted by the Qing dynasty File:Tibetan Tangka with Ranjana Script, reverse.jpg, Tibetan tangka in Ranjana script File:Tibetan Gaden Tangka, reverse.jpg, The Gaden tangka, which was used until 1948

West India

In the 15th century, the Gujarat Sultanate, on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, began to mint silver tanka. It was a symbol of sovereignty for the Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat. File:Silver coin of Mahmud Shah of Gujarat.jpg, Silver tanka in Perso-Arabic script (Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah I reign) File:Silver coin of Ahmad Shah of Gujarat.jpg, Silver tanka in Perso-Arabic script (Ahmad Shah reign) File:045 mahmud 1-13.JPG, Early copper tanka

References

{{Taka History of money Medieval currencies Silk Road numismatics