Some very interesting info on Akbar -This is a translation from a book by De Laet who wrote it in - 1631
On the death of Achabar, grandfather of the prince
now reigning [Shah Jahan], his treasures were carefully
counted, and were found to amount in all (including gold)
silver and copper, both wrought and unwrought, together
with jewels and all manners of household commo-
dities to 34 Carores, 82 Lacks and 26,386 rupees (i.e., to
Rs. 348,226,386$ : of this total Rs. 198,346,666! was in
specie of all descriptions.
Giving further details of this treasure, De Laet says -
As regards, first, the gold specie : the king had struck
some coins of a weight of 1oo Toll (1,150 massae) each, and
some of a weight of 50 and 25 Toli. The total of these
reckoned in massae, amounted to 6,970,000 massae : and
at a rate of Rs. 14 to each massa were worth in all
RS- 97,580,000}.
In the second place, the silver coins, rupees of Achabar,
amounted to Rs. 100,000,000.
In the third place, the copper coins (Peysa* or piti)
numbered 230,000,000 and (reckoning 30 tacki per rupee)
were worth altogether Rs. 766,666.
Thus the total comes (as given above) to Rs.
198,346,666}. The jewels of all kinds, together with the
wrought gold and silver and the Chinese vessels (known com-
monly as Porcellane), were reckoned at Rs 93,820,068
namely : Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls
and similar gems, Rs. 60,520,521 wrought gold, for example
beautifully worked necklaces, of all kinds, Rs 19,006,745:
golden furniture, all kinds of gold plate, golden images of
elephants, horses, camels and similar animals, Rs. 9,507,992 :
wrought silver (cups, discs, candelabra, columns, and other
plate and utensils of all kinds), Rs. 2,225,838 dishes and all
kinds of furniture made of brass, Rs. 51,225, fine porcelain
vessels of all kinds, Rs. 2,507,747 total Rs. 93,820,068
Cloth of gold and silver, from Persia, Turkey, Guzerat
and Europe : various kinds of silken goods muslins from
Bengala and other provinces, were estimated at Rs.
503,252 : pavilions, curtains, canopies, carpets and what-
ever is needful for adorning a palace and for travelling,
Rs- 9,925,545 : Woollen cloth from Europe, Persia and
Tartary Rs. 503,252 : Books written by great authors
beautifully bound, to the number of 24,000, estimated atRs. 61463,731 in value : cannon and bombards, cannon*
balls and gunpowder, and other munitions of war,
Rs- 8,575,971 : Armour, shields, swords, daggers, bows,
arrows, etc., Rs. 7,555*525 : Horse-trappings, golden
and silver bridles and other equipment of cavalry,
Rs. 7,555,525 * Cavalry tunics decorated with gold and
silver, cloaks of all kinds and royal armour, Rs. 5,000,000 :
total Rs. 56,059,649.
If the whole of this treasure be estimated in our
coinage (reckoning one and half florins or a thaler to a
rupee) it comes to 522,339,579 gold Carolines or florins.
*De Laet means Dams; Paisa = } Dam. Elsewhere
(pp. 150, 172) De Laet says Re. 1=20 Tackas; but here 30 Tacki.
And here is a comparison btwn the Mughal treasure and that left by Henry VII, VIII and Elizabeth I - from the same source 'De Laet' -
The Agra treasure calculating at 35. as Re. amounts
millions. There were six other treasure*
cities: Gwalior, Narwar, Rantambhor, Asirgarh, Rohtas, and
Lahore. Smith assumes that these cities had some i& millions
sterling between them. The total comes to 40 millions. The
purchasing power of money was six times greater than the pre-war
rate, say, in 1914. In other words, the total brings us to the huge
figure of 240 millions sterling Henry VII (who died in 1509) left
1,800.000 in bullion and was considered rich. Henry VIII debased
the coinage and Elizabeth left behind a debt of 400,000 and a
huge number of farthingales !
The most interesting item in the stores other than coins, kept
at Agra alone, is the large number of books of great authors, 24,000
volumes. Each volume cost Rs 270 or 27 to 30 The calh-
graphist's charge was very high
Edited by adianasr - 11 years ago
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
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