News, site developments, and collecting notes
May 2026
The Guru Granth Sahib, the Dasam Granth, and the Sarbloh Granth all use two different words for wealth. Lakshmi is what comes from honest, truthful earning. Maya is what comes from falsehood and greed. A close reading of the verses — and why the Khalsa encoded that distinction into the legend on their coins.
May 2026
A shabad by Guru Arjan Dev Ji from the Guru Granth Sahib on the rarity and urgency of the human birth. Through 8.4 million incarnations — as insect, beast, rock and tree — the soul wandered. Now is the time. What the Rahao demands, what Jeevat Mareh means, and the paradox at the heart of Sikh devotion: strive fully, and surrender completely.
April 2026
The foundational verse of the Guru Granth Sahib — and what its second word, Sat (Truth), truly demands. From Guru Nanak's spiritual awakening at the River Bein to the rise and fall of the Sikh Empire, and why the Khalsa's unflinching stand against tyranny — even for former enemies — is not a political stance but a five-century-old reflex rooted in faith.
April 2026
The only Muslim-ruled principality among the Cis-Sutlej states. Nawabi coinage from 1762 to 1947, the frozen Ahmad Shah Durrani legend, the initial-letter attribution system, Temple's 1889 monograph, the genealogy of the ruling house, and the enduring legacy of Sher Muhammad Khan's protest in 1705.
April 2026
A Muslim poet from Amritsar wrote the most celebrated poem on the fall of the Khalsa Raj. Shah Mohammad's Jangnama Singhan te Firangian — 105 stanzas on the palace intrigues that followed Ranjit Singh's death, the battles of Mudki, Ferozeshah and Sobraon, and the treachery that destroyed the Sikh Empire from within. Why a numismatist reads a poem.
April 2026
A walk through the full arc of Sikh numismatic history — from Banda Singh Bahadur's first rupees at Lohgarh in 1710, through the extraordinary collective coinage of the eleven Misls, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh's fourteen-mint empire. The Gobindshahi and Nanakshahi couplets, the coin types, the symbols, and the silence of 1849.
April 2026
After a long hiatus, numis.in is back online with a fresh design. This site will serve as a personal hub — linking to my ongoing research on SikhCoins.in, journal publications, and occasional collecting notes. More content coming soon.
2025
Several major pages added to SikhCoins.in over the past year: a comprehensive Fakes & Forgeries section with three documented case studies; the Morashahi Rupee page with a four-type classification including a previously undocumented VS 1868 specimen; Women of the Lahore Darbar; and Foreign Officers in Sikh Service.
2025
Various articles published over the years in Numismatic Journals, covering Coins of the Sikhs & the Cis-Sutlej States, and also Exonumia like Tokens & Seals. Academia.edu
2023
Presented a paper about a new discovery in the Cis-Sutlej states coinage, adding a new coin issuing state to the corpus, at the Numismatic Society of India's conference at Shimla.
2022
Presented at the Royal Numismatic Society - NDMC numismatic exhibition, bringing together collectors and scholars from across the nation.