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The Untold Story of the Rupee — Sher Shah, the Mughals & the British

Who really created the Rupee?
Was it Sher Shah Suri, whose financial genius reshaped the subcontinent?
Or the Mughal emperors, who turned the rupee into a unified economic language?
Or did the modern ...form of the rupee emerge only under the British and later Pakistan & India?
This documentary takes you through 900 years of monetary evolution — from chaotic multi-currency India, to the Afghan Sur dynasty, the Mughal Empire, the rise of the East India Company, the British Raj, and the birth of modern Pakistan and India.
💰 What You’ll Discover in This Video
🌐 Before Sher Shah & the Mughals
India was a currency forest — dozens of coins, weights, metals, and standards. Traders carried scales more than trust.
From the jital, tanka, and dinar to regional Rajput and Deccan coins — nothing was unified.
⚔️ Delhi Sultanate & Early Monetary Chaos
Qutbuddin Aibak, Iltutmish, Alauddin Khalji, Muhammad bin Tughlaq — each tried to impose order, yet the system remained fragmented.
Tughlaq’s copper token experiment became one of history’s biggest monetary disasters.
👑 Babur & Humayun
The early Mughals inherited a broken monetary landscape. With wars, instability, and regional rebellions, they never established a unified coinage.
🦁 The True Turning Point — Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri didn’t just mint a coin…
He engineered an entire financial system.
✔ A single silver coin: the Rupee
✔ Fixed weight (~11.5g), purity & design
✔ Standardized exchange rates (1 rupee = 40 dam)
✔ Anti-counterfeit regulations
✔ Bilingual coins (Persian + Devanagari)
✔ A financial network connected by the Grand Trunk Road
This was the first time India became a unified monetary zone.
🏰 The Mughal Era — When Rupee Became an Institution
Under Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, the rupee transformed into South Asia’s dominant currency:
• Centralized mints
• Fixed standards across the empire
• High purity silver coins
• Widespread trust in a single currency
• Economic integration from Kabul to Bengal
By the 17th century, the Mughal Empire was one of the world’s strongest economies — powered by a stable, trusted rupee.
🇬🇧 East India Company & the British Raj
Even as Mughal power declined, one thing survived:
The Rupee’s credibility.
The Company slowly took control of coinage:
• Minting coins in the Mughal emperor’s name
• Regional rupee types (Murshidabadi, Arcot, Bombay, Madras)
• 1835 Coinage Act → one uniform “Company Rupee”
• 1862 → Queen Victoria on the rupee
Later reforms included:
• 1893: End of free silver minting
• 1898: Rupee linked to gold value
• 1861 Paper Currency Act
• Introduction of government-issued banknotes
• 1935: Formation of Reserve Bank of India
• 1938: First RBI banknotes
🇵🇰 1947 & the Birth of Modern Rupees
At Partition, something incredible happened:
Pakistan became independent…
but the currency in its shops was still Indian rupees stamped with “Government of Pakistan”.
Only in 1948–49 did Pakistan release its own designs.
India continued with its rupee series as well.
Today:
• PKR — Pakistani Rupee
• INR — Indian Rupee
Different identities, but one shared root:
Sher Shah’s Rupee.
🎥 Why This Story Matters
The rupee is not “just money.”
It is a 900-year-old evolving institution, shaped by:
• Empires
• Trade routes
• Colonial engineering
• Nation-building
• Political power
• Public trust

📚 Sources & References
Abu’l Fazl, Ain-i Akbari (Ain-i-Zar section): reference to “the rupee first appearing in the time of Sher Khan (Sher Shah Sur)” and details of Mughal coinage.
Ahmad Yadgar, Tārīkh-i-Shāhī (1888 edition, p. 227): remarks on Sher Shah’s copper paisa becoming the basis of everyday transactions.
Vincent A. Smith, Imperial Gazetteer of India (quoted): “Sher Shah’s reformed currency lasted through the Mughal period and was maintained by the East India Company till 1835, forming the basis of British Indian currency.”
RBI Monetary Museum – “Mughal Coinage” and “History of the Rupee”: on Sher Shah’s silver rupiya (~178 grains) and its continuity into the 20th century.
Reserve Bank of India – sections on British Indian coinage, 1835 Coinage Act, silver–gold ratios and the transition towards the gold exchange standard.
State Bank of Pakistan Museum – British India coinage, anna system (16 anna = 1 rupee; 15 rupees = 1 mohur), and early Pakistan currency issues.
Scholarly & Historical Works
Ishwari Prasad, A Short History of Muslim Rule in India: analysis of Sher Shah’s currency reforms and the 11.5 g standard for the rupee.
R. P. Tripathi, Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire: on debased coinage in late Turk–Afghan times and Sher Shah’s superior issues.
J. F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (New Cambridge History): Mughal fiscal structure, inflow of European silver, and imperial monetisation.

#RupeeHistory #SherShahSuri #MughalEmpire #BritishIndia #HistoryDocumentary #SouthAsianHistory #IndianRupee #PakistaniRupee #ShahabOmer #HeritageChroniclesShow More

The Untold Story of the Rupee — Sher Shah, the Mughals & the British

Who really created the Rupee? Was it Sher Shah Suri, whose financial ...

The Forgotten Graveyard of Neela Gumbad Lahore | Shahab Omer

Hidden in the heart of Lahore, right beside Neela Gumbad and across ...

Hidden in the heart of Lahore, right beside Neela Gumbad and across from Mayo Hospital, lies a centuries-old Christian graveyard that almost no one talks about. Once located outside the ...old city walls, this burial ground now sits buried under the noise, traffic, and concrete of modern Lahore — yet inside it remains frozen in time, silent like a forgotten forest.
In this documentary, we explore the 300-year-old Christian Cemetery of Neela Gumbad, a graveyard filled with stories of missionaries, British officers, soldiers, teachers, indigo planters, young children, and entire families who came to Lahore during the late Mughal era and the early British Raj — and never returned home.
Inside this cemetery are graves dating back to 1802, 1851, 1872, and 1891, written in old English fonts, carved on marble stones, surrounded by trees, roots, moss, and layers of dust. Many graves have sunk into the ground; some are half-buried under soil, while others stand tall with crosses, floral patterns, angels, and inscriptions that read “In Loving Memory…” and “Rest in Peace.”
🔎 What’s Inside This Graveyard?
✔ Children’s graves — 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds who died during Lahore’s deadly cholera outbreaks in the 19th century, when contaminated water from wells and drains claimed dozens of lives.
✔ Missionaries, priests, pastors, and teachers — many connected to Forman Christian College, Sacred Heart institutions, and early Christian missions in Lahore.
✔ British Army soldiers and officers — men stationed in Punjab during the transition from the Sikh Empire to the British Raj (post-1849).
✔ Indigo planters and European traders — those who came to Lahore during the 18th and 19th centuries when the region was a major centre for indigo cultivation and dyeing, exporting millions of pounds of indigo to Europe each year.
✔ Burials from the late Mughal era — connected to early European visitors who reached Lahore as traders and craftsmen.
This graveyard existed because, during Mughal and Sikh times, foreign Christians were not allowed to be buried within the city walls, so this area — outside old Lahore — became the designated burial ground for Europeans.
🕯 The Myth of the Taj Mahal Architect
A popular local legend claims that the Italian architect Geronimo, who is said to have designed the early plan of the Taj Mahal, was buried here after falling out of favour with Emperor Shah Jahan. Though historians disagree on this story, the myth has survived in old Lahore for generations, adding mystery to this already forgotten graveyard.
🌳 A Hidden World in Modern Lahore
Today, surrounded by schools, hostels, and government buildings, this cemetery has been swallowed by the city. Its main gate remains locked, its pathways overgrown, and its silence overwhelming. Despite being in the middle of Lahore, it remains invisible — a ghost of the city’s layered colonial and Mughal-era past.
In this video, Shahab Omer takes you inside this neglected historical site to uncover the stories buried beneath the soil of Neela Gumbad. From forgotten children to indigo traders, from missionaries to British officers — this documentary explores every corner of the graveyard that Lahore forgot.
#NeelaGumbad #LahoreHistory #LostGraveyard #ChristianCemetery #HiddenLahore #HeritageChronicles #ShahabOmer #LahoreDocumentary #ColonialLahore #BritishRajHistory #OldLahore #UrbanExploration #LahoreMysteries #AbandonedPlaces #IndigoPlanters #CholeraHistory #HistoricalPakistan #ForgottenLahore #LahoreStoriesShow More

The Fall of Lahore — The True Story of Ghori’s Invasion (1186 CE)

What truly happened in Lahore in 1186 CE? This video uncovers the real ...

The Fall of Lahore — The True Story of Ghazni’s Attack (1021–1022 CE)

What really happened when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Lahore in ...

What really happened when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Lahore in 1021–1022 CE?
This video takes you deep into the first major historical fall of Lahore — a turning point that ...ended the Hindu Shahi rule of Raja Jayapala, Anandapala, and Trilochanapala, and reshaped the future of Punjab, Ghazni, and the entire subcontinent.
In this video, we uncover the real historical events behind Ghazni’s attack on Lahore, using references from Al-Utbi’s Tarikh-i-Yamini, Al-Biruni’s Kitab al-Hind, Baihaki’s history, Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, and later Persian historians like Firishta, Nizamuddin Ahmad, and Juzjani.
Before the attack, Lahore was a fortified Hindu Shahi city filled with temples — especially the famous Surya (Sun) Temple linked to the ancient ruler Bhandara. After Raja Jayapala defeated a local Rajput chief (Bharat or Chandrat) around 999 CE, Lahore became the eastern capital of the Hindu Shahi dynasty, alongside Kabul and Waihind/Hund near Attock.
But in the north, a new power was rising — Sabuktigin and later his son Mahmud of Ghazni. After the decisive battles of Peshawar (1001 CE) and Waihind, the Shahi power collapsed. Raja Jayapala took his own life outside the gates of Lahore. Anandapala resisted but was defeated again. Trilochanapala retreated to Kashmir and the hills — leaving Lahore as the frontline fortress of a crumbling kingdom.
In 1021–1022 CE, Mahmud of Ghazni marched from Ghazni through Kabul and Jalalabad, set camp near Peshawar, and advanced towards the River Ravi. Lahore was surrounded; all routes were blocked. For months, the city endured starvation, manjaniq (mangonel) bombardment, and relentless assaults. Mahmud ordered 6,000 archers to target the walls day and night.
After a long siege, the gates finally opened — and Lahore fell. Ancient sources describe burning bazaars, looted temples, destroyed neighborhoods, and captives being taken towards Ghazni. The famous Sun Temple of Lahore was torn down, and its treasure became part of the legendary “Ghazni Treasury”.
A few months later, Bhimpala briefly re-entered Lahore, but Mahmud returned swiftly and defeated him again.
Mahmud then appointed his most trusted commander, Malik Ayaz, to rebuild Lahore. Under Ayaz, the new Lahore Fort, city walls, markets, sarais, mosques, and the first Islamic administrative system were established. Traders, craftsmen, and families returned. This was the birth of Islamic Lahore.
This episode marks the beginning of a larger series:
Lahore Under Attack — From Ghaznavids to Ghurids, Mamluks, Tughlaqs, Sikhs & the British
#LahoreHistory
#GhazniAttack
#MahmudOfGhazni
#AncientLahore
#HinduShahiDynasty
#MedievalPunjab
#LahoreDocumentary
#HeritageChronicles
#ShahabOmer
#southasianhistory

00:00 – Lahore’s First Great Siege Begins (Intro)
01:30 – The Hindu Shahi Empire and the Rise of Lahore
03:09 – The Fall of the Hindu Shahis Begins
03:44 – Mahmud’s Rise to Power
05:25 – Why Lahore Became Mahmud’s Main Target
05:51 – Mahmud Marches Toward Lahore
06:22 – The Siege of Lahore Begins
07:20 – Six Months of Hunger Behind the Walls
08:02 – Mahmud’s Deceptive Retreat (The Trap)
08:24 – The Sack of Lahore
09:35 – The Sun Temple Falls — City Empties
10:02 – Lahore: The Aftermath
11:30 – The End of the Hindu Shahi Dynasty
12:35 – Bhimpal’s Temporary Comeback
13:27 – Mahmud’s Second Strike — Permanent Control
14:36 – Ayaz Arrives: The Man Who Rebuilt Lahore
16:50 – A New Lahore Rises from Ashes
18:46 – Ghaznavid Lahore: Law, Faith and Trade
21:04 – What Historians Disagree On
23:09 – Closing: Lahore’s First Wound + Next Episode TeaserShow More

How the Mughal Empire Built a Secret Spy Network

What if the true power of the Mughal Empire did not lie in its cannons ...

What if the true power of the Mughal Empire did not lie in its cannons or armies —
but in information?

This video uncovers the Secret Intelligence System of the Mughals, a ...vast spy network that stretched from Lahore Fort to Agra Fort, from Fatehpur Sikri to Delhi Red Fort, and across Bengal, Gujarat, and the Deccan Plateau.
For over three centuries, the Mughal throne was held together not by force — but by news.

🕵️ Inside the Empire of Secrets

Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur (1526 – 1530 CE) – the founder of the Mughal dynasty, who used disguised merchants and Sufi travelers as informants from Kabul to Delhi.
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Humayun (1530 – 1540, 1555 – 1556) – continued the same methods, relying on loyal couriers who memorized entire letters to avoid discovery.
Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar (1556 – 1605) – transformed espionage into an institution by creating the post of Waqia-Navis (royal news writers).
From Lahore, Multan, Kashmir, Bengal, and Gujarat, these officials sent weekly “Akhbar” reports straight to the emperor in Fatehpur Sikri.
Their writings described markets, soldiers, governors, even social tensions — forming the empire’s first daily intelligence bulletin.
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Jahangir (1605 – 1627) – built a network of palace spies under Empress Nur Jahan, using maids, eunuchs, and cooks to monitor royal intrigues.
Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Shah Jahan (1628 – 1658) – expanded the Dak-Chowki Postal Network, appointing the Darogha-e-Dak Chowki to manage horse couriers and coded reports moving between Delhi, Lahore, Kabul, and Burhanpur.
Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658 – 1707) – refined the system into a disciplined state intelligence bureau, sending agents even to Isfahan, the court of Shah Abbas II of Persia.
Each evening, the emperor received the Akhbar-e-Darbar-e-Muʿalla —
the “Newspaper of the Court” compiled from hundreds of field reports.
Every courier, spy, and code writer formed part of a living machine that kept an empire under watch.

🕊️ How the Network Worked

Harkaras (foot couriers) relayed bamboo-sealed letters day and night along the Grand Trunk Road, first built by Sher Shah Suri and perfected by Akbar.

The legendary Meora couriers of Mewat ran hundreds of miles without stopping, sometimes using opium to endure fatigue.

Carrier pigeons trained in Agra, Burhanpur, and Lahore delivered silk-written messages — white for peace, red for royal command, blue for imperial movement — exactly as recorded in Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.

Ramz-Navis (cipher writers) hid military orders in Persian couplets.
Example: “The spring breeze enters the garden, and the nightingale moves its nest” secretly meant “Transfer the northern regiment.”

🏰 Architecture and Espionage

Even Mughal architecture served intelligence:
the domes of Agra Fort, Red Fort Delhi, and Lahore Fort were engineered for sound reflection,
so whispers carried directly to the emperor’s seat.
Marble jali screens allowed unseen observation — early surveillance windows.
In Shalimar Gardens Lahore, cascading water masked conversations,
creating one of the world’s first acoustic privacy systems.

⚔️ The Fall of the Network

After Aurangzeb Alamgir’s death in 1707, the network began to decay.
Governors bribed spies, reports slowed, and corruption spread.
When Nadir Shah of Persia invaded Delhi in 1739,
Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangeela only learned of it when cannons thundered at the Red Fort.
By the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar (1857), the last Mughal emperor,
the same postal-intelligence system had been absorbed by the British East India Company,
and the emperor received news of the Delhi uprising from the British Resident, not his own men.

#MughalSpyNetwork #MughalEmpireHistory #MughalIntelligenceSystem #AkbarTheGreat #AurangzebAlamgir #JahangirShahJahan #LahoreFort #IndianHistoryDocumentary #HeritageChronicles #ShahabOmerShow More

How Indigo Built and Broke Lahore

Explore the untold story of Lahore’s lost indigo — the color that ...

Explore the untold story of Lahore’s lost indigo — the color that built empires, funded kings, and changed South Asian trade forever.
This documentary uncovers how Lahore once became the indigo ...capital of the subcontinent, from the days of Emperor Akbar in 1556 to the British Raj in the 19th century.
Under Akbar’s rule, Lahore was not just the Mughal capital — it was a thriving industrial city powered by neel (indigo).
The film begins at Akbari Darwaza and Khizri Gate (now Sheranwala Gate) — the twin portals of trade and water transport — where indigo sacks and spices were once loaded on boats along the Ravi River. We explore how Mariam-uz-Zamani (Jodha Bai) invested in Lahore’s riverine trade and shipbuilding, becoming one of the subcontinent’s first royal businesswomen.
From there, the story follows Portuguese missionaries, Dutch merchants, and British traders who arrived in Lahore seeking this “blue treasure.”
By 1602, Portuguese ships were carrying Lahore’s indigo from the Ravi to Multan, Thatta, Surat, and all the way to Lisbon and London.
In 1609, English trader William Finch visited Lahore, documenting how Lohari Bazaar and Bhatti Gate were full of indigo workshops and dye pits.
He described the Khizri Port as a bustling riverfront where boats left daily for southern India.
Then came the Indigo Crisis of 1633 — when Emperor Shah Jahan handed a monopoly to the merchant Manohar Das, giving him exclusive rights to buy and sell indigo across Hindustan.
European companies protested, prices soared, and Lahore’s trade entered chaos. Within two years, the monopoly collapsed — marking the first time a Mughal emperor bowed to European economic pressure.
Through the 17th century, Lahore’s indigo exports grew exponentially — reaching nearly a thousand tons per year. Indigo became “The Blue Gold of Lahore,” coloring European fabrics, royal banners, and even the first denim cloth in France.
As time passed, Ranjit Singh’s era saw Lahore’s trade decline when the Ravi River was diverted for fortification, ending centuries of river export.
Under the British Raj, the story turned darker: the Indigo Planter System forced peasants into debt and coercion. In 1859, Bengal and Bihar witnessed the famous Indigo Revolt — known as the Neel Bidroha — a farmer uprising that echoed through Punjab as well.
By the late 1800s, the German company BASF introduced synthetic indigo, bringing an end to natural dye cultivation.
The once-busy indigo workshops of Neeli Gali, Rang Mahal, and Sootar Mandi fell silent.
Today, all that remains of this glorious era are gravestones of European indigo planters behind Nila Gumbad, near Mayo Hospital, where Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders were laid to rest.
Their tombs still bear inscriptions like “Indigo Merchant” and “Planter of Lahore” — silent witnesses to a color that once ruled the world.
This is the forgotten story of the dye that changed history — The Blue Gold of Lahore.
#TheBlueGoldOfLahore
#LahoreHistory
#IndigoStory
#MughalEmpire
#BritishRaj
#HeritageChronicles
#ShahabOmer
#IndigoRevolt
#AkbarToBritish
#LostHeritageShow More

From Thrones to Tombs — The Untold Deaths of Mughal Emperors

This video takes you through the final days, deaths, and burials of ...

The Secret Basement Jails of Lahore Fort – A Mughal Era Mystery

Step inside the hidden underground jails of Lahore Fort (Shahi Qila) — ...

1846: The Dark Story of the Treaty of Lahore

This video explores the untold story of the Treaty of Lahore (1846), ...

When Anglo-Indians Lived in Lahore — A Forgotten Story

Step into the forgotten world of the Anglo-Indians of Lahore — a ...

Ravi and Lahore — A 500-Year Story of Floods, Fear, and Faith

For over five centuries, the Ravi River has shaped the destiny of ...

For over five centuries, the Ravi River has shaped the destiny of Lahore — building it, breaking it, and testing the resilience of its people. This documentary takes you on ...an unforgettable journey through the hidden history of Lahore’s floods, tracing how the mighty Ravi has repeatedly redrawn the city’s map and memory.
From the days when the Ravi’s roaring waves struck the walls of the Lahore Fort, to the devastating flood of 1662 that forced Emperor Aurangzeb to build the legendary Aurangzeb Bund… from the Mughal-era canals that watered the Shalimar Gardens, to the Sikh period when the river’s main channel drifted away and only the “Budha Ravi” trickled near the fort… from the British engineers who tried to tame the river with embankments, bridges, and the Empress Bridge at Shahdara, to the catastrophic 1929 flood that washed away their confidence — this is the story of Lahore’s eternal struggle with its river.
The journey continues through Pakistan’s history: the 1955 Super Flood that submerged entire villages and forced the creation of Mahmood Booti and Kala Khatai bunds, the terrifying monsoons of 1973 and the deadly 1976 flood that drowned much of Punjab, the silent decades when the Ravi dried into a trickle and children played cricket in its bed, and the shocking return of the river in 1988 and again in 2025 — when a new generation saw the Ravi rise to its full height for the first time.
This is not just the story of water — it is the story of Lahore’s survival, fear, faith, and resilience. The story of how a river gave life to a city, yet never stopped testing it.
📍 Key Highlights in This Documentary
How the Ravi once flowed right beside Lahore Fort
The 1662 flood and the building of Aurangzeb Bund
The shifting of Ravi’s main course during the Sikh era
The British attempts to control the river (embankments, Empress Bridge, Head Balloki)
The great floods of 1929, 1955, 1973, 1976, 1988, and 2025
How Lahore’s landscape, settlements, and agriculture were reshaped
The cultural memory and forgotten fear of floods in Lahore.Show More

Who Really Founded Lahore? | Myths, Kings, and Forgotten Names

Who truly founded Lahore? Was it Loh, the son of Ramchandra from the ...

Who truly founded Lahore? Was it Loh, the son of Ramchandra from the Ramayana? Or was it someone forgotten by history — a king, a slave, a saint, or even ...a legend?
This video explores every major theory about the founding of Lahore — from Raja Prikshat of the Mahabharata lineage, to Chuchh bin Bhandra of the early Hindu dynasties, to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and his famed slave, Malik Ayaz.
We dive deep into rare sources like Tohfat-ul-Wasileen by Sheikh Ahmad Hussain Zanjani, Adab-ul-Harb wa Shuja'at by Fakhr-e-Mudabbir, Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh by Sujan Rai, and Travels into Bokhara by Alexander Burnes — unraveling forgotten theories and poetic claims.
📜 From the mysterious claims of Raja Loh of Mulhistan by Rana Ali Hasan Chauhan in 1979, to the speculative theory of Khawaja Abdul Rasheed that Lahore was once called La-Or and founded by the Hurrian tribe from Mesopotamia — this video examines every piece of evidence and myth.
🕌 Is the Loh Mandir inside Lahore Fort real proof of Prince Loh? Did the Brahmin rulers from Bhatinda — Raja Jaypal and Anandpal — found the city? What about the Udh or Hoad tribes mentioned by Noor Ahmad Chishti? Could Lahore’s origin be linked to the ancient Indo-Aryans or the Huns?
🌍 You’ll also discover how many other places across the world are named Lahore — from Swabi, Malakand, Jhang, and Mardan in Pakistan, to Virginia in the USA, Afghanistan, Rajasthan, and even a river named "Loh" in France.
🎥 This isn’t just history — it’s a journey through 3000 years of contested memory, imperial myth-making, lost chronicles, and symbolic ruins. A city that was never built in a day… and never had a single founder.
🧱 From a humble village by the Ravi to a Mughal capital and cultural heart of the subcontinent, Lahore evolved — it was never founded in the traditional sense.
👉 Watch the full documentary to uncover the real story of Lahore’s foundation, and why this city’s true origins are more poetic, complex, and mysterious than any legend.Show More