Rare coin goes under the hammer at starting price of Rs 45 lakh

The coin is a rare 10.9 gram gold coin of Kam Bakhsh, the fifth son of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb

A rare 10.9 gram gold coin of Kam Bakhsh, the fifth son of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, is going under the hammer here. Marudhar Arts, a leading numismatic auction house here, is holding the auction at a price ranging between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 50 lakh.

According to Rajendra Maru, the CEO of Marudhar Arts, the gold 'Mohur' of Bijapur Dar-uz-Zafar mint has a Persian legend. "The coin, weighing 10.90 gram, is almost uncirculated. So it's unique," Maru, who is organising the auction, said.

According to a statement on Marudhar Arts' portal, Kam Bakhsh took active part in the wars. In 1707, he seized the control of the Bijapur fort and declared himself the king. Gradually, Kam Bakhsh sway extended across much of Deccan winning control over Hyderabad, erstwhile Gulbarga (now Kalaburagi), Shahpur and Wakinkhera. His inefficiency in handling administration led to the collapse of his kingdom, they said.

The older son of Aurangzeb, Shah Alam Bahadur after taking reins of the Mughal empire took a serious note of Kam Bakhsh striking coins in his name. In a pitched battle that ensued between the two armies on 13 January 1709, Kam Bakhsh was captured and the next day he died of wounds.

This coin is unusual and important, Marudhar Arts said explaining that coins of Kam Bakhsh are known from a number of mints Bijapur, Ahsanabad, Nusratabad, Haidarabad, Torgal, Gokak, Imtiyazgarh but this combination is not yet recorded for any of these issues.

"We do not know when Kam Bakhsh declared himself the emperor but it must have been sometime in March 1707, soon after the fort of Bijapur came under his control, but we dont know the exact date for this event," the statement said.