Alibagi Rupaya

Before independence, Alibag and the port of Chaul were the important centres of maritime trading activity on the west coast. Foreign trade was mainly conducted by the English, Dutch, French, and Portuguese traders and merchants. Each foreign trader introduced their own currency. Kanhoji Angre, the undisputed King of Arabian Sea, located his military base at Alibag. He owned a mint to generate currency, u2018Colaba rupeeu2019. (A mint or u2018Tanksaalu2019 is a facility that produces coins that can be used as currency.)

There was a continuous change in the currency used. The u2018Colaba Rupeeu2019 was replaced by u2018Janjira-Colaba Rupeeu2019 and Alibagu2019s copper u2018paisau2019. Persian letters were inscribed on the u2018Colaba Rupeeu2019. In 1882, these coins were replaced by the British currency. In 1842, the exchange rate was u2018100 British Rupee = 88.6 Alibag Rupeeu2019 indicating that the valuation of Alibag Rupee was more than British Rupee. This Alibag Rupee weighed 171.64 u2018Gunjau2019. (u2018Gunjau2019 are the seeds of Rosary pea plant, a slender, perennial climber that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges.) These red and black seeds weigh approximately 1 gm each. 10 Gunja = 1 tola (During the rule of British India, tola was used as the base unit of mass to weight and measure grains). In 1850, the Alibag rupee weighed 176.96 u2018gunju2019 and the exchange rate changed to 100 British Rupee = 87 Alibag Rupee.

As mentioned earlier, Persian letters were inscribed on u2018Colaba Rupeeu2019. u201cu0936u094du0930u0940u201d in Marathi was inscribed on both the sides of Alibaug Rupee. The princely states in India used their own currencies. East India Company prohibited the usage of all these currencies. Later the currency used was Janjira-Colaba rupee. At the end of nineteenth century, the old currencies were replaced by British currency.