The Hyderabadi Rupee was the currency of the

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...

from 1918 to 1959. It coexisted with the

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use ...

from 1950. Like the Indian rupee, it was divided into 16

annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; grc-x-koine, Ἅννας, ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High ...

, each of 12 pai. Coins were issued in copper (later bronze) for denominations of 1 and 2 pai and anna, in cupro-nickel (later bronze) for 1 anna and in silver for 2, 4 and 8 annas and 1 rupee. Hyderabad was the only Indian

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

that was permitted to continue issuing its own notes after it was subjected to join the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

in 1948 and the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in 1950.

History

The Government of Hyderabad made several efforts to organize private bankers to set up a banking company which could issue paper money. The British, however, resisted the attempts of Indian

s to issue paper currency. The acute shortage of silver during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the contributions of Hyderabad to the British war effort led them to accept, in 1918, paper currency in denominations of Rs.10/- and Rs.100/- issued under the Hyderabad Currency Act. The currency was designated the ''Osmania Sicca'' (OS). One and five rupee notes were subsequently issued in 1919 and one thousand rupee notes were issued in 1926. After the setting up of the India Currency Notes Press at

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nash ...

, Hyderabadi notes came to be printed there. In 1942, the Government of Hyderabad established the

Hyderabad State Bank State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) was a regional bank in Hyderabad, with headquarters at Gunfoundry, Abids, Hyderabad, Telangana. Founded by the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad State, Mir Osman Ali Khan, it is now one of the five associate banks of State Ba ...

, with the responsibility, ''inter alia'', of managing the OS. Hyderabad continued to

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...

its own coins until 1948, when India occupied the state after the

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

refused to cede it to the new Dominion. In 1950, the Indian rupee was introduced alongside the local currency, with the relationship of 7 Hyderabadi rupees = 6 Indian rupees being used. In 1951, the Hyderabadi rupee ceased to be issued and the Indian rupee became the main circulating currency, although the Hyderabadi rupee was not demonetized until 1959.

Banknotes

Hyderabad_-_One_Rupee_-_Mahboob_Ali_Khan_-_1329_AH_Silver_-_Kolkata_2016-06-28_5271-5272

Hyderabad - One Rupee - Osman Ali Khan - 1335 AH Silver - Kolkata 2016-06-29 5351-5352

The

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s of Hyderabad were issued from 1918 until 1953. The ruling

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

was

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age o ...

. Notes issued as early as 1916 have been reported. The notes are dated in the

Fasli Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for liturgical purposes, all derived from medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately based on the Babylonian calendar as used in the Achaemenid empire. ''Qadimi'' ...

Era, so adding 589 to the FE date will convert it to the AD date. They were printed in Urdu, with the value of currency written in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Marathi,

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

on them. In 1932, a quantity of unissued, but water stained Hyderabadi notes in 5, 10, and 100 rupee denominations were recovered from the SS ''Egypt'', which sank off the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

near Brest, northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1922. Many of these were given a special stamping and sold as souvenirs. These notes were in the process of being shipped from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

where they had been printed. These notes are of historic interest to notaphilists. Some of the notes are printed slightly later than the dates that they bear. The double letter

serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

prefix determines what series the note is located in. Some of the 1939-53 issues have a single serial number prefix series code letter. Hali Osmania paper currency in Hyderabad State that was returned to the treasury from 1 July 1953 to 31 October 1953 is O. S. Rs. 8.05 crores including one-rupee notes. and O. S. Rs. 18.42 crores including rupee coins and small coins as on 28 November 1953.https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55653/1/lsd_01_05_14-12-1953.pdf Page no. 25

Signature chart

The signature also provides a clue to the approximate period when a note was issued. It is not yet certain what titles the signatories held (in English), as the inscriptions are in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Reginald R. Clancy (1918–19) * Fakhr-ud-Din Ahmad (1919–20) * Hyder Nawaz Jung (1921–36) * Fakhr-Yar Jung (1936–38 and 1940–41) * Mehdi Yar Jung (1939) *Sir Ghulam Muhammad (1941–45) * Liaquat Jung (1945 and 1946–47) * Zahed Husain (1945–46) * Zahed Jung (1946) *

Moin Nawaz Jung Nawab Moin Nawaz Jung was the Minister for Finance and External Affairs of the Hyderabad State, under the Nizam Osman Ali Khan's reign. Family Moin Nawaz Jung was the brother-in-law of Mir Laik Ali, who served as the last Prime Minister of H ...

(1947–48) * D.R. Pradhan (1948–49) * C.V.S. Rao (1950) *Dr. G.S. Melkote (1950–53)

First issue (1916/18-19) Sir Reginald R. Clancy

*PS261. 1 rupee. ND. (1919) Black on peach

underprint An underprint is anything printed underneath the main design of a stamp, banknote or similar item. Underprinting is used as a security measure to prevent forgery, or the cleaning of a postmark from a used stamp. Mackay, James. ''Stamp Collecting: ...

. Back light brown. *PS262. 1 rupee. ND. (1919) Bicoloured. *PS264. 10 rupees. FE1327. (1916) Yellow-brown and black on lilac underprint. Series AB.

Second issue (1919-20) Fakhr-ud-Din Ahmad

*PS263a. 5 rupees. FE1331. (1920). Green. Series IQ. Without signature. Sea salvage note (most with special stamping). Unissued. *PS265a. 10 rupees. FE1331. (1920). Yellow-brown and black on lilac underprint. Series AI. Without signature. Sea salvage note (most with special stamping). Unissued. *PS266a. 100 rupees. FE1331. (1920). Blue and black on tan underprint. Series PS. Without signature. Sea salvage note (most with special stamping). Unissued.

Third issue (1921-36) Hyder Nawaz Jung

*PS263b. 5 rupees. FE1337. (1926). Green. Series LX. *PS263c. 5 rupees. FE1346. (1935). Green. Series MC. *PS265b. 10 rupees. FE1333. (1922). Yellow-brown and black on lilac underprint. Series AN. *PS265c. 10 rupees. FE1338. (1927). Series ?. *PS265d. 10 rupees. FE1339. (1928). Series BK. *PS265e. 10 rupees. FE1342. (1931). Series BW. *PS265f. 10 rupees. FE1344. (1933). Series ?. *PS265g. 10 rupees. FE1346. (1935). Series CH. *PS266b. 100 rupees. FE1339. (1928). Blue and black on tan underprint. Series PY-PZ. *PS266c. 100 rupees. FE1339. (1928). Series QA. *PS266d. 100 rupees. FE1334. (1923). Series PT. *PS267. 1,000 rupees. FE1340. (1929); FE1341. (1930). Red and black on light green underprint.

Fourth issue (1936-38) Fakhr-Yar Jung (1st time)

*PS263d. 5 rupees. FE1347. (1936). Green. Series MD-ME. *PS265h. 10 rupees. FE1347. (1936). Yellow-brown and black on lilac underprint. *PS273a. 5 rupees. ND. (1938; 1940–41). Green and multicoloured. *PS274a. 10 rupees. ND. (1938; 1940–41). Light brown and multicoloured. *PS275a. 100 rupees. ND. (1938; 1940–41). Blue and multicoloured. Series QC.

Fifth issue (1939) Mehdi Yar Jung

*PS271a. 1 rupee. ND. (1939). Brown and multicoloured. Series A. *PS273b. 5 rupees. ND. (1939). Green and multicoloured. *PS274b. 10 rupees. ND. (1939). Light brown and multicoloured. *PS275b. 100 rupees. ND. (1939). Blue and multicoloured. Series QF and QH-QJ.

Sixth issue (1940-41) Fakhr-Yar Jung (2nd time)

*PS271b. 1 rupee. ND. (1940–41). Brown and multicoloured. Series B-M.

Seventh issue (1941-45) Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad

*PS271c. 1 rupee. ND. (1941–45). Brown and multicoloured. Series B-X. (two signatories). *PS273c. 5 rupees. ND. (1941–45). Green and multicoloured. *PS274c. 10 rupees. ND. (1941–45). Light brown and multicoloured. *PS275c. 100 rupees. ND (1941–45). Blue and multicoloured. Series QN and QP.

Eighth issue (1945) Liaquat Jung (1st time)

*PS271c. 1 rupee. ND. (1945). Brown and multicoloured. Series B-X. (two signatories). *PS275d. 100 rupees. ND. (1945; 1946–47). Blue and multicoloured. Series QS.

Ninth issue (1945-46) Zahed Husain

*PS271d. 1 rupee. ND. (1945–46). Brown and multicoloured. Series S-W. *PS272b. 1 rupee. ND. (1945–46). *PS273d. 5 rupees. ND. (1945–46). Green and multicoloured. *PS274d. 10 rupees. ND. (1945–46). Light brown and multicoloured. *PS275e. 100 rupees. ND. (1945–46). Blue and multicoloured. Series QY.

Tenth issue(1946) Zahed Jung

*PS271e. 1 rupee. ND. (1946). Brown and multicoloured. Series X-Y. *PS272c. 1 rupee. ND. (1946).

Eleventh issue (1946-47) Liaquat Jung (2nd time)

*PS272a. 1 rupee. ND. (1946–47). Brown and multicoloured. Series Z and AB. *PS273e. 5 rupees. ND. (1946–47). Green and multicoloured. *PS274e. 10 rupees. ND. (1946–47). Light brown and multicoloured.

Twelfth issue (1947-48) Moin Nawaz Jung

This issue is historic as it was issued in the short period that Hyderabad attempted to become independent as a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

within the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. *PS272d. 1 rupee. ND. (1947–48). Brown and multicoloured.

Thirteenth issue (1948-49) D.R. Pradhan

This was the first issue after Hyderabad was liberated from the Nizam's rule and forced to be incorporated into the

as a result of

Operation Polo Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad " police action" in September 1948, by the then newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State. It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ru ...

. *PS272e. 1 rupee. ND. (1948–49). Brown and multicoloured. Currency Signed by Dr G S Melkote

Fourteenth issue (1950) C.V.S. Rao

This was the first issue after India became a republic (26 January 1950). *PS272f. 1 rupee. ND. (1950). Brown and multicoloured.

Fifteenth issue (1950-53) Dr. G.S. Melkote

*PS272g. 1 rupee. ND. (1950–53). Brown and multicoloured.