monetary unit of Muslim India from the sixteenth century and the trendy monetary unit of India and Pakistan. The fashionable unit is divided into a hundred paisa in India and Pakistan. The name derives from the Sanskrit rupya (silver). The rupee is additionally the name of the financial unit employed in Mauritius, Nepal, and Seychelles.

In the late sixteenth century the rulers of the Mughal dynasty of central and northern India established the silver rupee, that was divided into sixteen annas. In 1671 the British East India Company minted coins copied from native varieties, using the rupee as the essential unit of account. The worth of the rupee varied from region to region, however, depending on the minter, and not till 1835 was the rupee created uniform by law.

Once independence in 1947, India retained the rupee and decimalized it in 1955. Pakistan began making its independent money in 1948 and adopted the decimal system in 1961. Ceylon (currently Sri Lanka) in 1872 adopted a decimal system based on the Indian rupee; it adopted an autonomous financial system in 1929 and an independent system in 1949.

The Reserve Bank of India has the sole authority to issue banknotes and coins in that country. Banknotes, all of that are adorned on the obverse with images of Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), the leader of the twentieth century movement against British colonization, are issued in denominations ranging from 5 to one,000 rupees. Coins are denominated in values from 10 to fifty paisa, and there are also 1-, 2-, and 5-rupee coins.

The State Bank of Pakistan exclusively issues banknotes and coins in Pakistan. Banknotes range from five to one,000 rupees. The obverse of every note contains a image of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan. Coins circulate in values from 25 paisa to a pair of rupees, though higher-worth commemorative coins also are legal tender.