Question

The coins of Sher Shah bore his name in __________ script.
a. Hindi
b. Brahmi
c. Urdu
d. Devanagari

Answer 1

Hint: Based on the ancient Brahmi script, it is a left-to-right abugida (alpha syllabary), used on the Indian subcontinent. It was built from the 1st to the 4th century CE in ancient India and was in daily use in the 7th century CE.

Complete answer:
The coins of Sher Shah Suri bore his name in the Devanagari script. Sher Shah Suri issued silver and copper coins, removing a billion from the Indian coin series. There was a hint of 'Kalima' and the name of four khalifas on the front side of the coin in the Silver Coins of Sher Shah. His name and a holy wish were on the obverse side of the coin: 'Khald Allah mulk.'

Two Sanskrit words make up the name Devanagari: deva, which means god, brahman, or celestial, and Nagari, which means city. The name is translated variously as "city script," or "[script of the] city of the gods or priests”.

From the eastern variants of the Gupta script called Nagari, which first appeared during the 8th century, the Nagari or Devanagari alphabet evolved. By the 10th century, this script was beginning to imitate the current Devanagari alphabet and began to replace Siddham script from about 1200.

With the Islamic Kalima (La ilah-il-illah Muhammad ur Rasool Allah), the obverse of Sher Shah's rupiya was inscribed. It was named after the first four holy Khalifas—Abu Bakr, Uzman, Umar, and Ali. Some of the Rupiya coins are also identified by the reading of the Devanagari text - Sri Ser Shah, suggesting Sher Shah issues.

From various mints such as Gwalior, Narnol, Kalpi, Delhi, Hissar, Chunar, etc the copper coins or Paisa of Sher Shah were issued. Most of the copper coins had the following inscription on the front, “fi ahad al-amir al-hami”, meaning "the guardian of the religion in the time of the commander of the faithful." The name of the king, the year of issue, and the name of the mint were carried on the back.

Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Note:
Rupiya was known as the silver coins, a word that stuck and continues to this day. The copper coins that were used by the masses for most transactions were known as Paisa. Until today, the word Paisa was still used. It is also said that a “Daam” was a tiny copper coin from India. The coin was first introduced between the years 1540 to1545 by Sher Shah Suri, along with Mohur, the gold coin, and Rupiya, the silver coin.