Primary sourceArtifact

Silver Rupee of Akbar, Lahore Mint

A square silver coin struck at Lahore under Akbar, dated using the Ilahi calendar he introduced during his reign.

This coin was issued under Akbar's authority and bears the dating system he introduced for his empire.

Ask Akbar the Great about this source View the original

Two sides of a square silver coin with raised Persian-style Arabic script on a dark red background. The left side has calligraphy including a large word in the center; the right side has a horizontal band of script and a row of dots along the bottom edge. — Silver rupee of Akbar, Lahore mint, struck in the month of Aban, Ilahi calendar.

About this source

What it is

This is a silver rupee coin issued during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, struck at the Lahore mint. It is dated using the Ilahi month of Aban, part of the solar calendar Akbar created for his empire.

Why it matters

Coins were one of the main ways a ruler showed authority across a huge empire. By putting his own calendar system onto money used every day, Akbar connected ordinary trade and daily life to his personal rule and his ideas about government and religion.

Look closer

What does the script on the coin tell you about the languages used at Akbar's court?
Why might a ruler want to create a new calendar instead of using an existing one?
What does a coin reveal about an empire that other objects, like paintings, cannot?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Akbar the Great on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Akbar the Great sources

Meet the AI Akbar the Great →

Illuminated opening page of a manuscript in Persian script. At top is an ornate gold and blue illuminated frontispiece with floral arabesques, a central cartouche and arched panels. Below are three columns of black calligraphy on cream paper, framed by gold and red borders.

Book

Primary source

Akbarnama

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak · c. 1590

Two-page manuscript spread with dense Persian script in black ink on the left and right pages. The right page has a ruled grid board with red and blue lines, a central multicolored rosette, and sets of colored pawn shapes in four corners, illustrating a Chaupar game.

Book

Primary source

Ain-i-Akbari

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak · 1589-1596

Painted Mughal miniature showing Akbar's elephant Hawai in a riverside scene: elephants and men on a sandy bank, boatmen in wooden boats struggling in choppy water, figures at a red fort wall above, and Persian inscriptions at the bottom.

Artifact

Primary source

Victoria and Albert Akbarnama

c. 1590-1595

Red sandstone palace courtyard at Fatehpur Sikri with multi-storey colonnaded pavilions, carved jali screen railings, and a green-tinted water pool in the foreground under a clear sky with trees.

Artifact

Primary source

Fatehpur Sikri

founded 1571

Front view of the Buland Darwaza, a tall red sandstone gateway with white domed pavilions on its roof, a large central arched portal, and a wide flight of steps leading up to it. Several people stand on the steps and a small white goat is at lower left.

Artifact

Primary source

Buland Darwaza

begun 1573

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Akbar the Great now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for free Get a quote for institutions