Tales of the Rupee: A History from 1538 to the Present
Explore the 500-year history of the rupee, from its origins to its modern digital forms, and discover how coinage reflects India's economic, political and cultural history.
About this event
This public talk traces the rupee’s five-hundred-year journey across India and beyond, from 1538 to its modern digital forms. Drawing on the exhibition and publication Odyssey of the Rupee: From India to the World, it explores how the rupee reflects histories of economics, commerce, empire and identity. The discussion examines coins as historical evidence of the political and economic forces that have shaped society, placing the rupee’s 75-year history in the Republic of India within a much longer historical narrative.
Speakers
Shailendra Bhandare, Senior Curator, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford