INDIA, SIKHS, paisa, no date (early 19th century), Laharu? mint

DescriptionAt the height of their power the Sikhs controlled territories run by local Muslim rulers, some of whom issued copper coins in their zone of control.The Sikh religion was founded by a guy, Guru Nanak, who decided that the apparently permanent enmity between Hindus and Muslims had to end. The Muslims didn’t buy the idea, and persecuted the Sikhs just like any other non-Muslim. Over centuries the Sikhs learned how to fight, and in the early 19th century established a kingdom that ruled a big chunk of what is now north India and Pakistan. Like most dynasties everywhere, family conflicts tore the kingdom apart, and it was the British who picked up the pieces.South Asia generally is taken to include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Some people would like to include Afghanistan and Burma, but that’s a minority opinion.By “Modern World Coins” we mean here, generally, the round, flat, shiny metal objects that people have used for money and still do. “Modern,” though, varies by location. There was some other way they were doing their economies, and then they switched over to “modern coins,” then they went toward paper money, now we’re all going toward digital, a future in which kids look at a coin and say “What’s that?” We’ll say: “We used to use those to buy things.” Kids will ask “How?” The main catalog reference is the Standard Catalog of World Coins, to which the KM numbers refer.