Chapter VIII

Mint Administration
 MINT ADMINISTRATION

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Gujarat ports were the main entry point

of silver imports in the form of bullion and specie - to be converted into

Mughal coins. It was first Cambay then Surat through which bullion came to

India. Bullion imports into Mughal India at the close of the sixteenth century

probably amounted to roughly Rs 2, 04, 71,768.1

As a result of oversea trade, Ahmadabad and Surat were successively

the largest mints of the Empire - former in the last quarter of the sixteenth

century (in Akbar’s reign) and latter in the seventeenth century (during

Shahjahan and Aurangzeb’s reign).2

Mints in the Mughal Empire were a source of considerable income to

the state, so their proper organization was an administrative necessity. For

Abul Fazl, a thoughtful commentator on Akbar’s administrative measures, the

successful working of the mint was linked to the prosperity of the Empire. He

thus devoted a detailed section of his work to the organization of the mint.3

In the formative phase of Mughal administration, monetary integration

of the suba was attempted through a number of administrative and fiscal

measures. On the eve of the Mughal conquest of Gujarat, the most prominent

currency of the region was the mahmudi, a silver coin of 88 grains first issued

by the Gujarat Sultan Mahmud Shah (1458-1511).At least four varieties of the

1 The Economy of Mughal India, p.381.

2 For details see Aziza Hasan, ‘Mints of the Mughal Empire, PIHC, 29th Session , Patiala
1967,Patna ,1968,pp.319-349; Shireen Moosvi, ‘ The Gujarat Ports and their Hinterland – An
Economic Relationship, in Indu Banga ed.Ports and their Hinterlands in India (1700-1950),
1992, pp.121-129.
3 A’in, I, pp.12-23.
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mahmudi, of different weights, fineness and exchange rates, all modeled on

Mahmud’s principal silver coin, were in circulation in various part of Gujarat

in 1572-73.4

An imperial mint was settled at Ahmadabad immediately after Akbar’s

conquest of Gujarat in 1572-73 and the very first year of the annexation of the

province saw the issue of gold muhrs and silver rupees bearing the Emperor’s

name, year issue, mint name and Kalima (Muslim creed).5 It became the

greatest mint of the empire in very short order. The silver rupees of

Ahmadabad predominate in mixed hoards of Akbar’s silver, in the same

manner that rupees of Surat dominate hoards of Aurangzeb and the later

Mughals.6 That the new coin took deep root in popular usage was confirmed

by an incident during the brief revolt and capture of Ahmadabad by the

deposed Sultan of Gujarat, Muzaffar III, in AD 1583.To proclaim his

restoration, he needed to strike silver coins of the exact shape and weight as

the rupee of Akbar rather than the reputed mahmudi of his ancestors.7

In 1577-78, the mint administration in whole Mughal Empire was

reorganized. Under this scheme, administration of silver mints was transferred

from local functionaries (Chaudharis) to officials directly appointed by the

Emperor. To Ahmadabad mint, Imaduddin Husain was appointed as

darogha.8

4 Najaf Haider, ‘Mughals and Mahmudis: The Incorporation of Gujarat into the Imperial Monetary
System in PIHC, 60th session , Calicut 1999, Aligarh 2000, pp.270-71.
5 G.P.Taylor, ‘The Coins of Ahmadabad’, JBBRAS,Vol.XX, 1902, pp.414-17.
6 J.F. Richards ed., op.cit., p.28.
7 G.P.Taylor, ‘On the Identity of the Gujarat Fabric and the Surat Mahmudi,’JASB, New Series, I,
10(1902), Numismatic Supplement,VI, 413; J.F.Richards ed., op.cit., p.28.
8 Akbarnama,, III, p.227.
 119

From 1582 onwards, a series of fiscal and monetary measures were

undertaken by the Mughal state aimed at standardizing the monetary system

and integrating the regional currencies.9

In 1592, an imperial order was issued to demonetize all precious metal

coins of previous regimes.10 Under this scheme, massive conversions of

mahmudis of Gujarat took place at Ahmadabad mint.11

The end result of these measures could be seen in the Ahmadabad

region. By the end of the sixteenth century, in the sarkar of Ahmadabad,

which housed both the capital city of the province and a mint, the rupee had

become the sole medium of exchange to the total exclusion of mahmudis.12

The imperial monetary system did not penetrate in the southern Gujarat

till the early decades of the seventeenth century. In the cities of Surat, Broach

and Baroda (in southern Gujarat) local currency of previous regime, mahmudi

was still the sole currency of exchange and the money of account.13 The

reason for the continued circulation of mahmudis in southern Gujarat was two

fold. One view forwarded is that the volume of coin production in the

Ahmadabad mint was not much as to supply rupees to the entire province.14

Further, much of the supply of the Surat mahmudi came from the

autonomous principality of Baglana whose ruler had accepted the overlord

9 All these measures are dealt elaborately by Najaf Haider in his article, ‘The Monetary Integration
of India under the Mughal Empire’, in I.Habib, ed. India- Studies in the History of an Idea,
Delhi, 2005,pp.129-143.
10 A’in, I, pp.284,289; Badauni, III, p. 380.
11 Najaf Haider, ‘The Monetary Integration of India under the Mughal Empire’, in ed. I.Habib
op.cit. p.136.
12 Letters Received, vol. III, p.11.
13 Ibid., vol. I, p.34; Also see Thomas Best, The voyage of Thomas Best to the East Indies,1621-14,
ed. William Foster, Hakluyt Society, 1934, p.35.
14 Najaf Haider,‘Mughals and Mahmudis’, op.cit., p.274.
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ship of Akbar. Its ruler was allowed to retain his possession on the condition

of granting safe passage to merchant caravans through the northern cities of

his principality.15 He was also granted permission to mint mahmudis in the

name of the Mughal Emperor. These mahmudi coins bore Akbar’s legends

and dates from AH 985(1577-78) to 1027(AD 1617-18).16 Further, as a policy

of matter, at this time, Mughals were not bent on extending their imperial

monetary system to southern Gujarat.17 The rulers of Baglana continued to

strike these coins as late as 1638 when their kingdom was annexed.18

A policy change took place with the commissioning of the Imperial

mint at Surat from 1620 onwards to strike rupees on a regular basis.19 It was

in response to the shifting of maritime trade in the western Indian Ocean from

the Gulf of Cambay towards the coast of Surat with the arrival of the Dutch

and the English East India Companies.20 Soon, it replaced the Ahmadabad as

the largest mint of the region.21

Beside this, a full military campaign was launched against Jam of

Navanagar who used to supply mahmudis in the large area stretching from

Kathiawar to Ahmadabad.22It may be recalled that rulers (Jam) of the

Navanagar were granted permission to mint coins by the Sultan Mahmud

Shah III (1538-54) which they continued till the reign of Jahangir. During

15 W.H. Moreland, From Akbar to Aurangzeb, 1999, Delhi, p. 288.

16 J.F.Richards, op.cit., pp.198-99.
17 Najaf Haider, ‘Mughals and Mahmudis’, 0p.cit., pp.270-284.
18 Historical Studies in Mughal Numismatics, pp.115-130.
19 Akbar had also set up a mint in Surat but it was closed for a time to be reopened in 1620: From
Akbar to Aurangzeb, p.176.
20 Shireen Moosvi, The Gujarat Ports and their Hinterland, in Indu Banga ed. op.cit.pp.121-
129;Najaf Haider, Precious Metal Flows and Currency Circulation in the Mughal Empire,
JESHO, XXXIX, 3, pp.289-304.
21 From Akbar to Aurangzeb, op.cit.,pp.174-178.
22 Mir’at, supplt.219-20.
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A‘zam Khan’s governorship (in 1641) in the wake of military campaign, the

ruler of Jam offered his allegiance and consented to overthrow the mint.23

During the reign of Shahjahan, the political offensive (1641) against the

Jam of Navanagar to shut down the mint and stifle the supply of the local coin

(mahmudi) was preceded as well as followed, by the decision to establish an

imperial mint at Junagadh for the sole purpose of melting mahmudis (bar

gudaz mahmudi) and recoining them into rupees.24 But this experiment was

found to affect adversely the royal mint at Ahmadabad. According to the

author of the Mir’at, the experiment failed and the mint was discontinued on

the advice of the diwan of the suba, Mir Sabir. According to him, “in view of

convenience and cost effectiveness (nazr bar suhulat wa kifayat), merchants

started coining their gold and silver, brought at Diu, there [Junagarh] rather

than taking them to Ahmadabad [mint]”.25 But the mint at Junagadh continued

to strike rupees and hence controvert the textual evidence of its

discontinuance.26

Under Shahjahan, another active mint was at Cambay. Earlier, under Jahangir,

we meet, for the first time, with reference to a distinctively Cambay coinage,

which was issued probably not for currency purposes but merely in

commemoration of the Emperor Jahangir’s visit to the city.27 The earliest

known coin from the Cambay mint is a rupee of the hijri year 1051(AD

1641).28It developed to be a very important mint in 1675-84. Aziza Hasan has

23 Lahori,II,pp.231-32; Mir’at, I,p.214.

24 Mir’at, I, p.214; Ibid.supplt.pp.211-212.
25 Mir’at,I,p.214.
26 Mints of the Mughal Empire, op.cit., p.337; Najaf Haider, Mughals and Mahmudis,pp.282-283.
27 Historical Studies in Mughal Numismatics, op.cit., pp.173-176.
28 G.P.Taylor, Mughal Coins of Cambay, Numismatic Supplement,No.XX, Journal of Asiatic
Society of Bengal,VIII,1912,p.544.
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showed there was a great increase in the share of Cambay mint from 1666-74,

which was also witnessed in the two decades (1685-1703). This increase, it

seems, was at the expense of Surat. Minting at Surat mint was not speedy

enough to satisfy the needs of the merchants of that city. Sometimes,

especially during the reign of Aurangzeb, the mint at Surat remained closed

for sometime due to Maratha raids.29

During the reign of Aurangzeb, the principality of Navanagar was annexed

over a dispute over succession.30 The name of Navanagar was changed to

Islamnagar and in its mint, mahmudis was to be melted and reminted into

rupees.31

In Mughal Empire, mints had the twin functions of minting bullion

(gold or silver) or copper, and reminting the old coins that had lost value

either by age or by loss of weight or both.32 As a rule, the government

compelled the reminting of old coins by either not normally accepting them in

payments to the treasury, or by doing so only at a discount (batta).33 For every

year, subsequent to the year of issue recorded on the coin, a percentage was

deducted from its value irrespective of the actual loss of weight. Besides the

factor of age, the loss in weight also caused a discount for which the

government as well as the market had set rates. Abul Fazl says that after a

number of experiments the discount rates fixed for old rupee were as follows

– a loss in weight up to one rati was ignored and the coin treated as equal to
29 Mints of the Mughal Empire, op.cit.pp.327, 329.
30 For details see Chapter Tributary Chiefs.
31 Mir’at, supplt.p.220.
32 For a general discussion of Mughal currency system, see I.Habib, Currency System of the
Mughal Empire, Medieval India Quarterly, 1961, Aligarh, IV, pp.1-21.
33 A’in, I, p.289; Also see Shireen Moosvi (tr.) Aurangzeb’s Farman to Rasikdas on Problems of
Revenue Administration, 1665 in Medieval India, I,Delhi,1992, p.204 clause 8.
 123

40 dams; in case of loss between one rati and two ratis, the discount

amounted to one dam or 2.5 per cent and the coin fetched 39 dams. Further, if

the loss exceeded two ratis, the coin was treated as bullion.34 These discount

rates were slightly revived during Aurangzeb’s reign through 2 orders issued

in 1692-3 and 1696-7 to Gujarat which lay down that the coin short in weight

up to 3 ratis was to be treated as bullion and required reminting.35 The

shortage of new currency and fall in weight of the old coins often enabled the

sarrafs to unilaterally increase the market discount rates for their own profit

which they acquired by continuing the old currency in circulation. It caused,

according to the Mir’at, a great loss to the public and therefore necessitated

the issue of these orders. The diwan of Gujarat was repeatedly required to

take bonds from the sarrafs that they would strictly follow the official rates

and bring the chalani rupee, which was short in weight below 3 ratis, to the

mint.36

The factor of age or weight or both thus accounted for the old currency

inevitably undergoing remitting for which the total charges amounted to 5.6

per cent.37

The seigniorage and mint charges (mahsul-i daru-l zarb) levied by

Mughals were not realized through mixing alloy in the coin but charged

separately on those who wanted to convert their bullion into specie. From

Abu-l Fazl’s statement it appears that in the case of the rupee the total charge

34 A’in, I,pp.28-29.
35 Mir’at, I, pp.327,337.
36 Ibid.
37 A’in, I, p.32.
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amounted to about 5.6 per cent of the net amount coined;38and there is

evidence that it remained about the same during the later period.39 But, in

1676, it was abolished by Aurangzeb.40The abolition remained in force for

only five years and the tax was reintroduced throughout the empire in 1681,

now set at three different rates viz. 5 percent charged from Hindu merchants,

3.5 from Europeans and 2.5 percent from Muslims. An order of the subadar

of Gujarat, dated 1682, stated that the tax realized on all the gold and silver

bullion (hasil i tala wa nuqra ghair maskuk) sold by the merchants to the

mints of the province should be at the rate of “two [in] forty” (chahal do) for

the Hindus and “one [in] forty” (chahal yak) for the Muslims.41

Mints in the Mughal Empire were a source of considerable income to

the state. In cities for the collection of mint dues, it constituted a separate

mahal and formed a part of the mahalat-i sa’ir balda (urban taxes). In

Ahmadabad, it was separate mahal and its annual income was estimated at Rs.

1, 54,362.5 (61, 74,500 dams).42 In the later source, it was stood at Rs.

25,000(10, 00,000 dams).43

In Surat, the dues from mint were also a part of sa’ir mahal (trade

taxes) which also included mahals like Khushki mandi(land transit

checkpost), furza (customhouse), Ghalla mandi (grain market), namaksar

(salt pans), marammat jahazat (ship building and repairing) and furza-i

38 A’in, I, p.32.
39 I.Habib, Currency System of Mughal Empire, MIQ, IV,1961,p.3.
40 EFI (NS), 1670-77,I, pp.282-83.
41 Mir’at, I,p.304.
42 Mir’at, supplt.p.183.
43 Kaghzat-iMutafarriqa, report in Persian on the Pre-British administrative system in Bengal,
prepared by the Rai Rayan and the qanungos under the instructions from the Governor General in
Council, Jan. 4, 1777, Add. 6586, Add. 6592, Rotograph No. 203, CAS, AMU, f.76b.
 125

Broach(customhouse of Broach).44 According to Mir’at, income from Surat

mint was combined with dues from the balda, bazaar and Ghalla mandi

forming a one mahal whose income was estimated at Rs.3,75,000(1,50,00,000

dams).45 For Cambay mint, we have no information regarding its income for

initial period. During the first half of eighteenth century, income from mint

dues in Cambay amounted to Rs.50, 000.46

In Junagarh, mint also constituted a mahal where mint was established

for melting mahmudis. According to Mir’at, its income amounted to Rs.2,

500(1, 00,000 dams).47 In Islamnagar, the income from the mint was Rs.1,

250 (50,000 dams).48

In the seventeenth century, in Surat, the revenue of the mint was farmed

to the merchants and officials along with the post of mutasaddi of Surat.49 In

1629, it was held by Masih-uz Zaman. In 1639, Muiz-ul Mulk (Mir Musa) got

governorship of port Surat on farm upon giving two lakhs of rupees more than

his predecessor.50 In 1641, English factors further inform us that the amount

for which Mir Musa had farmed Surat with its mint and customhouse was

seventy two lakhs of mahmudis per annum. But he had overestimated the

produce of the port, for by 1641 he was short in paying the contracted money

by 31 lakhs. He was therefore was dismissed from the post.51

44 Mir’at-ul Haqaiq, f.99a.

45 Mir’at, supplt.p.223.
46 Mir’at-ul Haqaiq, f.94a.
47 Ibid. pp.211-212.;Kaghzat-iMutafarriqa, f.74a.
48 Ibid.p.220.
49 Ms Blochet BN f. 57a.
50 EFI 1637-41, pp.109-110.
51 EFI 1637-41,pp.XXVI-XXVII,207.
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Revenues from Surat mint was also assigned in jagir. In 1644, Princess

Jahan Ara was assigned sarkar of Surat in jagir which supposed to yield

annual revenue of seven and a half lakhs of rupees, with its port yielding

another two and a half lakh rupees.52 In this was also included the revenue

from mint as well.53

Under Mughals, the mints used to have quite large establishment

involving a large number of officers and workers. About mint at Surat, John

Fryer (visiting India in 1675) says, “Over-against the Custom-house is a

stately Entrance into the Mint, which is a large Town of Offices within it

self”.54

The superintendent of the mint was known as darogha-i daru-l zarb.

The English Factors used to call him the ‘mint master’.55 He was appointed by

a sanad bearing the seal of finance minister (diwan-i ‘ala’) and at the

recommendation of the provincial diwan. According to Ashin Das, in Surat

administration, the appointment of the darogha of the mint of Surat was

within the patronage of the governor of the place, which was usually kept

within the family of the governor.56 It was most probably the case when the

revenue of mint along with the post of governor was farmed to the merchants

and officials.57 According to the Mir’at, the mutasaddi (governor) of Cambay

was also quite often the darogha of the mint.58 In Ahmadabad, a separate

52 Lahori, II, p.397.

53 Ms Blochet 482 BN ff.174b-175a.
54 Fryer, I, p.248.
55 Akbarnama, III, p.223; EFI 1618-21, p.8.
56 Indian Merchants and Decline of Surat, p.25.
57 EFI 1637-41, p.207.
58 Mir’at, supplt. p.193.
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darogha of mint was to be appointed. In 1703-04, Muhammad Ali, son of

Shah Mir, sawanh-i nigar, of suba Gujarat was appointed as darogha-i daru-l

zarb of Ahmadabad.59

The primary concern of darogha-i daru-l zarb was to supervise the

working in the mint. For this, according to Abul Fazl, he was required’ to be

cirumspect and intelligent, (who) keeps every one to his work and shows zeal

and integrity.60 The opening and closing of the mint was at his pleasure,61 and

those wishing to get their bullion coined had to apply to him.62 Having

examined, weighed or counted the bullion, old coins, silver or copper, he

issued receipt thereof to the customer who had brought bullion or metal to be

coined.63 When the newly coined money was handed over, it was his duty to

see that the mahsul-i daru-l zarb( mint charges), rusum-i ahlkaran(perquisites

of officials), and ujarat-i karigaran (wages of workers)had been paid.64 He

had to see that the entries of the daily income and expenditure in the mint had

been entered in the registers (siyaha).65 He along with the mushrif and

tahwildar used to deposit every month in the state treasury the entire money

collected at the mint on account of mint charges.66 Annually, he was to submit

the income and expenditure records to the office of the diwan-i khalisa for

inspection.67

59 Akhbarat A, 227.
60 A’in, I, p.13.
61 EFI 1618-21, p.8.
62 Ibid. 1661-64, p.22.
63 Kaghzat-i Mutafarriq, f.57a-b.
64 Ibid.
65 Ibid.
66 Ibid.
67 Ibid. For the duties of darogha-i daru-l zarb, see also Hidayat –ul Qawa’id, ff.37a-39a.
 128

It was also his duty to see that merchants who imported gold and silver

did not sell it else where and cause loss to mint revenue. He used to take

bonds from them that they could sell only at the mint.68 In 1697-98, on the

complaint of Mir Baqir, darogha-i daru-l zarb of Ahmadabad, diwan of the

suba made a rule that gold and silver could not be melt at any other place

except mint.69

To assist darogha, was amin, appointed in the similar manner as that of

darogha. In fact, the dyarchical office of the amin was instituted to strike a

balance between local and imperial interests. He assisted the darogha and

other officials of the mint in exigent matters.

He was to settle the differences between the darogha and the working men and

to prevent frequent quarrels among the workers in the mint. Abul Fazl

describes him literally when he says that he was expected to be impartial.70

He had a conditional mansab with fixed salary.71

The mushrif, appointed by a sanad,72 acted in the capacity of an

account keeper who recorded the daily expenses in the mint.73At Ahmadabad,

his salary was Rs.30 per month.74

The tahwildar kept the daily account of the profits of the mint and

received the money collected on account of the mint charges.75He was also

68 Mir’at ,I,pp.303-304,340.
69 Mir’at, I, p.340.
70 A’in, I, p.15.
71 Mir’at, supplt.p.183.
72 Ibid.
73 A’in, I, p.15.
74 Mir’at, supplt.p.183.
75 A’in, I, p.16.
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appointed by a sanad and had a fixed salary.76 At Ahmadabad, in addition to

the tahwildari of daru-l zarb, he held the tahwildari of mahal jauhari bazaar-

o manhari.77

Another official was karora though not mentioned in A’in. The Mir’at,

however, without mentioning his duties refers to karora as an official attached

to mahal-i daru-l zarb appointed through a sanad and having an

‘unconditional’ mansab.78

The muhr-kan( engraver) under Akbar held the rank of 100 zat. He
engraved the dies of the coins.79The Mir’at makes no mention of it.

The wazn-kush (weighman) weighed the bullion, the old coins brought

to the mint and the new ones paid out after being minted. For this work, he

got some commission.80 But, the Mir’at shows him a paid employee who

received a fixed salary of Rs. 3 per month.81

The darban (watchman) kept a vigil on whatever was brought in or

taken out and guarded the mint gates. At Ahmadabad, there were two

watchmen; each was paid Rs.4 per month.82

Besides this regular staff, there were a number of skilled workmen

employed at mint. They were gudazgar kham (smelter of ore), waraqkash

(platemaker), gudazgar pukhta (smelter), zarrab (coiner), sikkachi (stamper),

sabbak (melter), qars-kub, chashnigar, and niyariya.83

76 Ibid.
77 Mir’at, supplt. p.183.
78 Ibid.
79 A’in, I, pp.17-18.
80 Ibid., I, p.16.
81 Mir’at, supplt.p.183.
82 Ibid.
83 For these skilled workers and their functions, see A’in, I, pp.16-20.
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As we already know, Mughals had open coinage system in which

freedom to obtain Mughal coins was granted to bullion suppliers on payment

of minting cost (brassage) and seigiorage.

In actual practice, however, merchants had to face one important

problem. The coining in the mint was done by officials assigning fixed days

to the merchant suppliers, which often clashed with the timetable set by them

to make investments in the hinterland markets and to keep commodities ready

for shipping in the right seasons. The majority had to cope with delays in the

availability of cash to serve their investment plans.84But some privileged

merchants could be granted access to the mint out of their turn as a favour. In

1684-85, a dastak was issued to the officers of Surat mint officials of Surat

port directing them to daily issue 4,000 coins to chief merchant (‘umadat u’l

tujjar) Shaikh Hamid. Likewise, another order was issued in 1701-02,

directing Surat mint officials to daily issue 4,000 coins to another merchant,

‘umadat u’l tujjar Muhammad Fazil.85 The English too were exempted from

taking turns in the mint towards the end of the seventeenth century.86It was

this particular problem which made the presense of the money-changers

(sarrafs) extremely important in the market as buyers of bullion. Merchants

normally did not carry their bullion to the mint but rather sold it to the sarrafs,

who could better manage the mint officials.87

84 EFI 1661-64,p.22; Indian Merchants and Decline of Surat, pp.46-47.

85 Surat Documents, AMU, No.4 and 5.
86 Cf. Najaf Haider, JESCO, XXXIX, 3, 1996, pp.326-327 fn.118.
87 EFI 1634-36, p.225.
 131

In their capacity as bullion buyers they were in a unique position to

assay precious metals and coins (hence the name sarraf from Arabic sayrafi,

money testing) as well to fix their value in the market.88

The sarraf’s profession brought them close not only to the merchants

but also to the mint. They were often appointed in the latter as assayers.89 The

A’in stresses that the success of the mint depended on the experience of the

sairafi (or sarraf), as he “determines the degrees of purity of the coin”.90

Outside the mint as a professional group, they helped the administration in

recoinage. In the reign of Aurangzeb, the sarrafs of Ahmadabad were ordered

to bring to the mint all the silver coins which had lost in weight up to 3 surkha

(a little over 3 per cent) for reminting.91

88 John Van Twist, A General Description of India (1968), extracts tr. Moreland, JIH, XVI(
1937),63-77,p.73.
89 A’in, I, p.16.
90 Ibid., pp.13-14.
91 Mir’at, I, pp.327-28.
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In 1644, as we have already seen, the sarkar of Surat was

assigned in jagir to Princess Jahan Ara which also included the revenues from

Surat mint. In 1645, we have interesting details of a hospital at Surat. A

parwancha was issued in accordance with the nishan of the Princess,

regarding the appointment of hakim (physician) at Surat. The nishan had

specified two rupees to be fixed daily for the hakim and two rupees for the

medicines and mixture, etc. for the hospital of Princess’ sarkar, out of the

revenues of daru-l zarb (mint). A hakim was appointed by transferring

another hakim who was serving earlier. Mutasaddis (officers/ clerks), in

charge of the mint, were instructed to provide the daily allowance to the

hakim.92

92 Ms.Blochet 482, BN ff.174b-175a.