Maratha Confederacy, Silver Rupee – Ravishnagar Sagar

Ruler : INO Shah Alam II
Era : (AH 1174-1221, 1759-1806 AD)
Mint : Ravishnagar Sagar
Denomination : Rupee
Metal : Silver
Weight :  11.7 grams
Diameter :  20.6 mm
Grade : AU to UNC.
Reference : Maheshwari & Wiggins Page 123 onwards

Obverse :
“Saya-e-fazle elah” couplet & mint mark trident & flag.

Reverse :
Sana julus maimanat manus zarb ‘Ravishnagar Sagar’, star mint & RY.

Comment :
Sagar is the chief town of a district of the same name in the extreme north-west of the former Central Provinces. Until the early 18th century it was a village of no great importance. The district was, in the 7th century, in the kingdom of the Chandel Rajputs of Khajuraho and Mahoba until their defeat in 1182 by Prithvi Raj, the ruler of Delhi. According to tradition Sagar was subsequently governed by a race of Ahirs or herdsmen who were dispossessed by Raja Nihal Shah of Jalaun. The first settlement on the present site of Sagar was made about 1660 by Udan Shah, a descendant of Nihal Shah, who built a fort there and founded a village called Parkota.
His grandson, Prithipat, a Dang Rajput, was dispossessed by Chhatarsal, the Raja of Panna, who took control of most of the Sagar district although it was nominally part of the Mughal empire.
Sagar and the surrounding country came under the control of the Marathas in the 18th century under the same circumstances as Jalaun and adjacent towns (see Jalaun etc). They need not be repeated here. About 1735 the Peshwa appointed Gobind Rao to govern the territories that had accrued to him. Gobind Rao, between 1735 and 1760, subjugated the outlying tracts of Sagar and the adjoining district of Damoh. He made his headquarters at Sagar where he built a fort. Gobind Rao, who was killed at Panipat in 1761, was succeeded as Governor by his Balaji Rao, who in turn was succeeded his son Raghunath Rao. In the 1780’s the districts of Mandla and Jabalpur were brought under the domination of the Sagar governors. In 1798, however, they were given by the Peshwa to Raghoji II of Nagpur. Raghunath Rao died in 1802 without an heir. The government of Sagar was then carried on by his wives. In 1818, on the deposition of the Peshwa by Lord Hastings, his possessions in Sagar and Damoh passed on to the British.
AU/UNC grade. Very scarce.