Larins, the Unique Sea Trade Coins ( Hairpin and Fish-Hook Type)

                                      

Larin is the name of a class of objects serving as coins in and around the Arabian Sea. The name is derived from Lar, a Persian town that according to tradition would have been the first to produce larin. A Larin was a piece of silver wire, usually folded in two equal parts and stamped with usually the name of the local ruler. The silver larin coinage was used extensively from the Persian Gulf, around the Indian Ocean coast as far as Ceylon (Lanka). These were accepted in most ports and allowed goods to travel freely without the complications of dealing with foreign exchange. They were much easier to mint and were minted in Iran, India, Ceylon and the Maldives.

Larin was first minted around the 1550s by the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp. 

                                                   

 

Iran, Safavid Dynasty, larin, Shah Tahmasp I, 1524-1576 AD, weight 4.8 gm

                                                           

Iran, Safavid Dynasty, larin, Shah Tahmasp I, 1523- 1576 AD.

Larins used in Lanka were bent into a “fishhook” shape whereas those of other regions were shaped like a ‘hairpin’. The Larin, also known as 'Kodu Ridi' was in use in Kandy from the 16th to early part of 19th century and was traditionally traded.

                       

Ceylon, Larin, 1500-1810, silver, weight 4.7 gm, fishhook type.

Larin coins were used as Trade Coins by most countries around the Arabian Sea. Trade flourished connecting Arabia, Persia, East Africa with Southeast Asia and by the 14th and 15th century, the trade was dominated by Arab traders. The common currency, the larin was extensively used and so made it a highly desirable instrument of trade.

In India it was the main currency of the Malabar coast in the 16th to the 18th centuries.    

                                         

      Arabian Sea Trade Routes 16th to 18th Century

                            

Interestingly, while larins were in use all along the western coast from Sindh to Malabar, the only Indian rulers to mint the larin were the Adilshahis of Bijapur. In 1846, a large hoard of 400 larins was found in the foundation of a house at Sangameswar near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. It was found that these were issued by Ali Adil Shah II and on the coin the name Sultan Ali Adil Shah was written on one side and Zarb Lari Dangi Sikka on the other. The mint for larins was at Dabhol, near Ratnagiri as is written on the coins.

                                            

Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur, 1728 AD, weight 4.64 gm.

                                           

Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur, 1728 AD, weight 4.71 gm.

The larin continued to be in use even by the successors of the Bijapur Sultanate. They are believed to be used till the 18th century. Soon after that the larins seem to have disappeared. Sadly, there has been limited academic research after two centuries in circulation. They are however seen in several museums across the world. 

                                          

Qalhati Amir, King of Hormuz, Turanshah II, 1437-1456 AH, AR larin, weight 5 gm

                                         

    Photograph from Numismatics digital library.

Courtesy: British Museum, Live History India, Numista coins, Coin Archives.