History of Indian Currency

The Indian Rupee has evolved over centuries. From the introduction of coinage in ancient India to the launch of the digital rupee in 2022, here is the timeline of major milestones in the history of the Indian rupee:

History of Indian Currency

  • 1540s:
  • Sher Shah Suri introduced the first “rupee” during his reign. It was a silver coin weighing approximately 11.5 grams and was subdivided into 40 copper paisa.

  • 1770:
  • The Bank of Hindustan issued the first paper currency in India, marking the beginning of paper money circulation.

  • 1861:
  • The Government of India took over the issuance of paper currency from private and presidency banks under the Paper Currency Act of 1861.

  • 1953:
  • Hindi was introduced prominently on Indian banknotes for the first time, alongside English.

  • 1957:
  • Decimalization of Indian currency began. The rupee was redefined to be equal to 100 naye paise, replacing the old anna system.

  • 1996:
  • The Mahatma Gandhi Series was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The first note in this series was the ₹10 denomination.

  • 2000:
  • The ₹1000 note was introduced under the Mahatma Gandhi Series.

  • 2010:
  • The Indian rupee symbol (₹) was officially adopted by the Government of India. The symbol was designed by Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, a faculty member at IIT Guwahati.

  • 2011 (8th July):
  • The first series of coins bearing the new rupee symbol (₹) was released into circulation.

  • 2017 (January):
  • The concept of the Digital Rupee (Central Bank Digital Currency – CBDC) was proposed by the Indian government.

  • 2022 (1st December):
  • The Digital Rupee (e₹) was officially launched by the Reserve Bank of India using blockchain-based distributed ledger technology.
  • Indian currency notes display the denomination in 15 languages (apart from Hindi and English). These are:
    Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
  • Indian coins are minted in four cities—each with a distinct identification mark beneath the year of issue:  Delhi – Dot (•), Mumbai – Diamond (◆), Hyderabad – Star (★) and Kolkata – No mark.

Additional Information - History of Indian Currency

The history of Indian currency charts an incredible journey—from punch-marked coins of ancient India to colonial-era paper notes and the modern rupee governed by the Reserve Bank of India. This evolution mirrors the nation’s economic resilience and identity through the ages.

To dive deeper into related topics, explore our page on the Indian Banks. You can also visit the Reserve Bank of India’s official website for more details on history of Indian currency and coinage policies.

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