Curriculum A History of Money in India
A History of Money in India
From punch-marked coins to UPI - Gupta gold, Sher Shah Suri's rupiya, cowrie shells, hundis and indigenous bankers, colonial paper money, the fall of silver, Keynes and Ambedkar on the rupee, the founding of the RBI, devaluations, decimalisation and the rupee symbol.
- Punch-Marked Coins: India's First Money How some of India's earliest coins, stamped with symbols rather than rulers' faces, appeared around the 6th century BCE and supported growing trade. 📄 Read-aloud
- Kushan and Gupta Gold Coins How the Kushan and Gupta empires issued gold coins linked to trade with Rome, and what their coins reveal about economies and rulers. 📄 Read-aloud
- Sher Shah Suri and the Rupiya How the 16th-century ruler Sher Shah Suri introduced a standard silver coin called the rupiya, the ancestor of today's rupee, alongside major administrative reforms. 📄 Read-aloud
- Cowrie Shells: Money From the Sea How cowrie shells from the Maldives served as small change in parts of India and across Africa and Asia for centuries, and why they worked as money. 📄 Read-aloud
- Hundis and India's Indigenous Bankers How merchant communities like the Marwaris and Chettiars ran sophisticated credit and remittance networks using hundis, long before modern banks. 📄 Read-aloud
- Colonial Currency and the Fall of Silver How British India moved to a uniform silver rupee and government paper money, and how the global fall in silver prices in the late 19th century weakened the rupee. 📄 Read-aloud
- A History of Money in India: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on punch-marked coins, Gupta gold, Sher Shah Suri, cowries and hundis. 5 questions
- Keynes, Ambedkar and the Problem of the Rupee How two famous economists, John Maynard Keynes and B.R. Ambedkar, debated how India's currency should be managed in the early 20th century. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Founding of the Reserve Bank of India How and why the Reserve Bank of India was created in 1935, its early role under British rule, and its nationalisation after independence. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Rupee's Big Devaluations: 1966 and 1991 Why India devalued the rupee sharply in 1966 and again in 1991, the crises behind these decisions, and what they taught about exchange rate policy. 📄 Read-aloud
- Annas to Paise: Decimalisation in 1957 How India changed from a rupee divided into annas and pice to a decimal system of 100 paise, and why decimal money simplified everyday transactions. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Rupee Symbol ₹ How India adopted a distinct symbol for its currency in 2010, what it represents, and why currency symbols matter. 📄 Read-aloud
- From Coins to UPI: The Journey Continues How Indian money evolved from metal coins to paper, plastic and instant digital payments, what may come next with the digital rupee, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud