Blogs — Kori

Picture 1: Silver 5 Kori of Kutch in name of Edward VIII The saga of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has parallels to the story of another British royal from almost a century back – Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, one of the shortest reigning British monarchs. Edward VIII ascended the British throne on January 20th, 1936 and abdicated the throne in less than a year – on 11th December of the same year. Because of his short reign, Edward VIII, unlike the other British monarchs, wasn’t featured on too many coins. The Royal Mint produced a small number,...

Nawanagar was a princely state in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, with the Gulf of Kutch to its north. The ruler was the Jam of Nawanagar – a Jadeja Rajput and from the same clan as the rulers of Kutch. The town of Nawanagar was founded in 1540 by the first Jam Rawal, who was fleeing Kutch. The Jam Rawal in early 20th century was the well known cricketer Ranjitsinhji. The town of Nawanagar is also much better known as Jamnagar – the site of one of the world’s largest petroleum refineries, owned by Reliance Industries. Another well known port...

  The 5 kori silver coin was heavier than the 1 rupee silver coin used in British India – and was accordingly pegged at 1 rupee, 5 annas and 1 pie. The 5 kori coin minted in 1875 was the last such coin to be minted in the name of Pragmalji II, the Jadeja Rajput ruler of Kutch – whose reign lasted from 1860-1875. The reverse of the coin also carries the name of Queen Victoria – this practice lasted till 1947. There are some features common to all coins of Kutch: A daggar (katar), crescent and trident (trishul) are...

The Jai Hind kori was a 1 kori silver coin issued by the Princely State of Kutch in 1948 (Vikram Samvat 2004) on India’s independence, with the words ‘Jai Hind’ in Devnagri on the reverse. This was issued in the name of Madansinhji, the ruler of Kutch at the time. Madansinhji ascended the throne of Kutch on 26 January, 1948 - on the death of his father Vijayrajji. His rule lasted for just a few months - on 4 May 1948, Kutch merged into the Indian union, one of the first princely states to do so. Apart from his contribution...