Travancore Fanam
The Travancore Fanam was a type of money that was issued by the State of Travancore, now mainly a part of Kerala in South India. The Fanams (also spelt Fanoms) and Chuckrams (or Chakrams) were known to be some of the smallest coins in the world. The word Fanam appears to be an Anglo-Germanic sound shift from the word Panam, which means money in Dravidian languages. Historically, the Fanam and Chuckram coins were the regular unit of currency in medieval Travancore and appear to have been extensively used for trading in the region of South India. The words Fanam and Panam literally mean money and are still used as a synonym for wealth in Kerala in the native language of Malayalam.
History
The Panam (lit. 'Fanam') coins were part of the traditional coinage of Kerala, and the time from when these coins were issued is not known. The Panam coins rose in popularity some time in the 13th century CE and remained one of the most popular currencies in circulation in the following centuries.
The modern version of the Travancore Fanams were introduced into circulation around 1800 (975 M.E.) with a value equal to 4 Chuckrams.
Inscriptions
Older issues of the Panam coins are inscribed with various symbols representing religious deities or nature, but issues from the 1860s onwards often had the names or insignia of the reigning monarch in English. The Fanam coins, when written in English, appear to display something similar to an Anglo-Germanic sound shift (called Grimm's law) from the traditional term "Panam". Panam literally means money in several Dravidian languages of South India and is still extensively used to refer to wealth.
The year, when printed on the Fanam coins was based on the Malayalam calendar (and corresponding Malayalam Era – M.E.) which begins circa 825 CE. Therefore, the year of issue of the coin can be found by adding 825 to it.
Example – The year of issue of a coin showing 1000, will be 1825 C.E. (or A.D.). Therefore, the year of issue of the coin with year 1116, as depicted in the images, will be 1940–41.
7 Fanams made up one Travancore Rupee, while the Fanam was composed of 4 Chuckrams. These Chuckrams were further divided into 16 Cash.
Thus,
Unit | Equivalent Sub-units |
---|---|
1 Travancore Rupee | 7 Fanams |
1 Fanam | 4 Chuckrams |
1 Chuckram | 16 Cash |
References
See also
- Hyderabadi rupee
- Indian rupee
- Travancore rupee
- Travancore
- Madras fanam