What was Batta?

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Batta a premium or fine on the non-standard rupee current in the market during the Mughal and pre-Mughal periods. Batta system has been traced as early as the Sultani period when variety of silver coins of local and extraneous origins appeared in the money market. By means of batta the currencies of unequal values were equalised with the standard currency. Batta as a product of multi-currency economic relations seems to have achieved considerable complexity during the Mughal period. As a political measure and also as a currency policy, a new emperor during the Mughal period used to issue new coins called sicca (from rupa or silver) inaugurating his accession. Customarily, the coins of the previous regimes were declared as sanaut or non-current and were not received at the treasury without an indemnifying batta or premium. With the change of regimes individuals thus procured new siccas from the treasury or from the sarrafs (moneychangers) at a batta fixed by the individual mint authorities. Politically, the batta system worked as a notice to raiyats about the accession of a new ruler, on the one hand, and provided an instant source of revenue, on the other.