Shivrai was a copper coin minted during the rule of

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

and remained in circulation till the end of the 19th century, primarily in the western region of modern-day

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. Before 1830s, shivrai was valued at 1/74 to 1/80 of a rupee. There are 150 different types of shivrai extant to date. In 1885, the British government ordered all local revenue collectors (Mamlatdars) to collect all shivrais and deposit them in treasury. The purpose of this was to bring the new pice, worth 1/64 of rupee, in currency by eliminating this native rival. In 1890, Rev. Abbott collected and studied around 25,000 shivrais. He mentions that they were still in circulation. The shivrai remained in circulation till the end of the 19th century.

Shivaji's Shivrai

When the Maratha warrior

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

became ''

Chhatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit used to denote a king. The word "Chhatrapati" is a Sanskrit language compound word of '' chhatra'' ('' parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and '' pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). This title was used by the Ho ...

'' of the Maratha empire, as a symbol of

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

, the ''Rajyaabhisheka Shaka'' (The Coronation Era) was started. On the occasion of

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

, special

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s were minted, including a gold coin called '' Shivrai Hon''. These coins have ''Shri Raja ShivaChhatrapati,'' in

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

, inscribed on them.

Dudandi Shivrai

Dudandi Shivrais (Marathi: दुदांडी शिवराई) were minted during Peshwa period. Dudandi literally means two-bars. The "Shri" at the top of the obverse is underlined. This horizontal line, combined with the horizontal heading line of the word "Raja", gives us an impression of "Double bars", hence the term "Dudandi".

EIC's Shivrai

The British East India Company minted Shivrais at Poona during the period of 1820–1830. Unlike Earlier Shivrais, these contained year of minting on it. The dotted collar of earlier Shivrais is also absent. The year was given in Fasli era.

References

Maratha Empire Coins of India Shivaji Monuments and memorials to Shivaji British East India Company {{coin-stub