A dam was a small

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n copper coin. The coin was first introduced by

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

during his rule of India between 1540 and 1545, along with ''

Mohur The Mohur is a gold coin that was formerly minted by several governments, including British India and some of the princely states which existed alongside it, the Mughal Empire, Kingdom of Nepal, and Persia (chiefly Afghanistan). It was usually ...

'', the gold coin and ''

Rupiya Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, ...

'' the silver coin. Later on, the

Mughal Emperors The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

standardised the coin along with other silver ''(

)'' and gold ''(

)'' coins in order to consolidate the monetary system across India. A rupee was divided into 40 dams. It is believed that this coin is one of the possible sources for the English phrase "I don't give a dam ��, due to its small worth.Gorrell, Robert, ''Watch Your Language: Mother Tongue and Her Wayward Children'', University of Nevada Press, 1994
''Watch Your Language'' at Google Books
/ref>

References

{{Historic Indian currency and coinage Historical currencies of India Sur Empire Coins

See also

References