A dam was a small
India
India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n copper coin. The coin was first introduced by
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...
during his rule of India between 1540 and 1545, along with ''
Mohur'', the gold coin and ''
Rupiya'' the silver coin. Later on, the
Mughal Emperors
The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty ( House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire i ...
standardised the coin along with other silver ''(
Rupiya)'' and gold ''(
Mohur)'' coins in order to consolidate the monetary system across India. A rupee was divided into 40 dams.
It is believed that this coin is one of the possible sources for the English word "
damn" and the phrase "''I don't care a damn''", due to its small worth.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang
/ref>
See also
* Nepalese dam
* Mohur
* Coinage of India
The Coinage of India began anywhere between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE, and consisted mainly of copper and silver coins in its initial stage.Allan & Stern (2008) The coins of this period were '' Karshapanas'' or ''Pana' ...
References
{{Historic Indian currency and coinage
Historical currencies of India
Sur Empire
Coins