Fanam was the currency used historically in major parts of

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, especially during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Fanam is the an Anglo-Germanic sound shift (called

Grimm's law Grimm's law, also known as the First Germanic Consonant Shift or First Germanic Sound Shift, is a set of sound laws describing the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) stop consonants as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the first millennium BC, first d ...

) from the traditional Dravidan word , meaning "coin" or "wealth" (

punch marked coins Punch-marked coins were a type of karshapana or Ancient Indian coinage, also known as ''Aahat'' (''stamped'') ''coins'', dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. It was of irregular shape. These coins are found over most parts of s ...

). It may specifically refer to: *

Madras fanam The fanam (or panam in the local language of Tamil) was a currency issued by the Madras Presidency until 1815. It circulated alongside the Indian rupee, also issued by the Presidency. The fanam was a small silver coin, subdivided into 80 copper ' ...

, a currency issued in Madras Presidency, now part of Tamil Nadu, India *

Travancore fanam The Travancore Fanam was a type of money that was issued by the State of Travancore, now mainly a part of Kerala in South India. The Fanams (also spelt ''Fanoms'') and Chuckrams (or ''Chakrams'') were known to be some of the smallest coins in the ...

, a currency issued in Travancore State, now part of Kerala, India

See also