Art & Poetry on Jahangir’s Coins

Much like the Taj Mahal is credited with being the zenith of Mughal architecture, the Zodiacal coinage of Jahangir stands as a paragon of Mughal numismatics. Discover these are other exquisite coins from his reign.

Produced for Sarmaya’s 2025-26 exhibition, Odyssey of the Rupee: From India to the world.

Script: Dr Shailendra Bhandare

Video Creator: Synara D’souza

Producers: Shardul Deshpande & Komal Chitnis

Voiceover: Pallavi Pillai
Image research: Mahika Jagtiani, Pooja Ashokkumar, Shardul Deshpande, Pallavi Pillai, Komal Chitnis

All images from the Sarmaya Arts Foundation archive with the exception of:

00:08 – 00:15 – Unknown, Mughal Emperor Jahangir distributing charity at the shrine of Selim Chishti in Fattehpur Sikri, © Victoria Memorial Hall 

00:15 – 00:18 – Abu al-Hasan, Jahangir’s Portrait, c. 1617, © Bonhams
00:28 – 00:34 – Unknown, An Illuminated Folio from the Royal Manuscript of the Farhang-i Jahangiri (recto), 1607 CE, Cleveland Museum of Art (Wikimedia Commons)

00:29 – 00:34 – Jahangir’s signature or Imperial Seal of Jahangir in Persian, © Wellcome
00:35 – 00:40 – Colophon from the Khamsa of Nizami, 1593-95, Daulat, © British Library

00:35 – 00:40 – From a series of miniatures showing Persian scribes. Persia, mid-Qajar period (1850s CE), © Antiquariat inlibris 

00:35 – 00:40 – Mir Ali (calligrapher) / Madhava (artist), A Prince on Horseback Offering Wine to a Youth in a Tree House from the Gulshan Album, 1600 AD, Opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution,
00:54 – 1:00 – Unknown, Khatt-e Nastaliq, Wikimedia Commons

00:57 – 1:00 – يزيد العريجي,  An Islamic Arabic papyrus from Egypt (8th century AD) written in Naskh script, Wikimedia Commons

00:58 – 1:00 – Signed by Sultan Mahmud II, Levha (calligraphic inscription), 1800s, paper, ink and paint, Sakip Sabanci Museum

1:30 – 1:37 – Abu’l Hasan, Portrait of Shah Jahangir, 1617, gouache on canvas, © Bonhams 

2:00 – 2:07 – Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram at Ajmer on His Return from the Mewar Campaign, 1635, © The Royal Library, Windsor Castle
2:06- 2:19 – Image of Jahangir, AV portrait mohur, AH 1020/RY 6, Dr. Lawrence A. Adams (Zeno – Oriental Coin Database)- zeno.ru Oriental Coins Database
2:13 – 2:19 – Abu’l Hasan/Bishandas, Jahangir Welcoming Shah ‘Abbas, 1618, © Freer Gallery, Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art.

All gold zodiac Jahangir coin images courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

2:52 – 2:58 – Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram at Ajmer on His Return from the Mewar Campaign, 1635, © The Royal Library, Windsor Castle
2:59 – 3:02 – Abu’l Hasan, Celebrations at the accession of Jahangir. Jahangirnama, St. Petersburg Album. Mughal court at Ajmer or Agra, ca. 1615-18, Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg

3:18 – 3:22 – The Great Mughal Jahangir’s Darbar, 1620, © David Collection 

3:34 – 3:38 – Kuwait City Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah Exterior, Zairon, Wikimedia Commons