Machhlipatan, Silver Rupee, 11.19g, Northern Circars division, in the name of Alamgir II, AH 1176, Trishul as a Mint mark (P Steven# 5.20). Complete Mint name on bottom of reverse. Patinated, extremely fine, extremely rare.
Masulipatam (Machhli-patnam or ‘fish town’) was 215 miles north of Madras. An English factory was established in 1615 but abandoned in 1628. It was re-established in 1631, temporarily dissolved in 1685 and then revived.
In 1750 Muzaffar Jang of Haidarabad ceded Machhlipattan to the French. This grant was extended in 1753, by Salabat Jang, to include the whole of the Northern Circars division. The French ran into problems with local rulers in the Northern Circars who appealed to the British for Help. Clive sent an army from Bengal and the French were defeated. Machhlipattan was stormed and taken and a treaty concluded with Salabat Jang in May, 1759, by which the British took control of Machhlipatan and the surrounding area. In 1765 the whole of the Northern Circars was ceded to the British. Mughal-style rupees were issued from here, with the mint name ‘Machhlipatan’ from the time of Aurangzeb and continued during the occupation by the British from 1759 (AH 1173) up to 1799 (AH 1215). They had an angular trident as a mint mark.