BRITISH CEYLON and its Currency
By
Coin-house, Kochi
Hello everyone and welcome to my video blog. Today I'm going to talk about BRITISH CEYLON and its Currency.
BRITISH CEYLON was the name given to the island of Sri Lanka when it was a British Crown colony from 1796 to 1948. It was located in the Indian Ocean, south of India and east of the Maldives. It had a diverse population of Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays and others.
The history of BRITISH CEYLON began when the British East India Company conquered the coastal areas of the island from the Dutch during the wars of the French Revolution. The British then made contact with the king of Kandy, the last independent Sinhalese kingdom in the interior of the island, and agreed to protect it from foreign invaders. However, the British soon became interested in annexing Kandy as well, and after a series of wars and intrigues, they finally captured it in 1815.
The British then unified the whole island under their rule and introduced social and administrative reforms. They abolished slavery, established a judicial system, paid salaries in cash, and encouraged agriculture and trade. They also built roads, railways, bridges, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. However, they also faced resistance and rebellions from various groups who opposed their policies and interference in local affairs. The British also had to deal with external threats from other colonial powers such as France, Russia and Japan.
The present status of BRITISH CEYLON is that it is no longer a British colony but an independent sovereign state called Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka gained its independence on 4 February 1948 after a peaceful transition of power from the British. Since then, Sri Lanka has undergone many political, social and economic changes.
It has also faced challenges such as civil war, ethnic conflict, terrorism, natural disasters and human rights issues. Sri Lanka is now a democratic republic with a multi-party system and a multi-ethnic society. It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations.
The currency of BRITISH CEYLON was initially the Ceylonese rixdollar, which was introduced by the Dutch in 1783 and continued to be used by the British until 1828. The rixdollar was divided into 48 stivers or 192 doits. The British then replaced it with the British pound sterling in 1825, which was divided into 20 shillings or 240 pence.
The pound sterling was used until 1872, when it was replaced by the Ceylonese rupee, which was pegged to the Indian rupee at par. The rupee was divided into 100 cents or 4 quarters or 16 chanks or 64 fanams. The rupee remained the currency of BRITISH CEYLON until 1948, when it became the currency of independent Sri Lanka as well.
The denominations available for Ceylonese rixdollar banknotes were 1 rixdollar (issued by private banks only), 5 rixdollars (issued by both private banks and government), 10 rixdollars (issued by government only) and 25 rixdollars (issued by government only).
The denominations available for Ceylonese rixdollar coins were 1/192 rixdollar (doit), 1/96 rixdollar (half stiver), 1/48 rixdollar (stiver), 1/24 rixdollar (double stiver), 1/12 rixdollar (quarter guilder), 1/6 rixdollar (half guilder) and 1 rixdollar (guilder).
The old currency of BRITISH CEYLON before the introduction of the Ceylonese rixdollar was mainly based on local coins issued by various rulers of different regions of the island. These coins were made of copper, silver or gold and had different shapes, sizes and designs.
Some of the common coins were massa (copper coin issued by Sinhalese kings), larin (silver coin issued by Portuguese and Dutch), pagoda (gold coin issued by Portuguese and Dutch), fanam (small gold coin issued by Sinhalese kings and Tamil chiefs) and chuckram (small silver coin issued by Sinhalese kings and Tamil chiefs).
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