Coins struck at Meerut, in Akbar's Reign

These coins were valued at 1/40 of a Rupee and were called Dam*. We still use the word Daam when inquiring about the price of something. Akbar reigned between 1556 to 1605 AD. By the way Akbar also had a mobile mint. With this he would pay his army when on the move. Did you seriously expect him to carry a Wallet ? Akbar was king remember. Akbar's forces evidently paid for everything they took. That cannot be said for the East India Company's army when they moved. The mint in Meerut was probably located in the Jali Khoti area. The script is Urdu or Persian, I can't read this that is why the orientation maybe wrong.

Thanks to Mr. A.W. Liddle ( Ex IPS officer ) for an inexhaustible supply of information about Indian coins. He has a vast collection neatly classified ranging from coins with Greek letters with Alexander's image, to coins from virtually every town in UP. Mr. Andrew Liddle's Phone : 121-2769010.
* The English phrase "I don't give a Damn" has Dam as its basis.

This is the famous Shah Pir ka Maqbara built by Jehangir or Nur Jehan, which makes it older than the Taj Mahal. Shah Pir was a physician/advisor of Nur Jehan or Jehangir. The confusion is mentioned as the Gazette says Nur Jehan , but the keeper of the Mausoleum says Jehangir. He is descended from Shah Pir's elder brother's line( whose graves are also on the premises ). He never once takes the Shah Pir's name out of respect for the illustrious ancestor. He refers to him as 'Aap' which for a short time confuses the listener into believing he is speaking of the listener personally. The dome of the tomb is incomplete, the tomb was designed to have 4 porticos around it but only one incomplete one stands. Many Pillars and arches lie around the site remaining in the place they were about 450 years ago. On inquiring from the tombs keeper, I was told that during construction, Jehangir left for a campaign to Kashmir. He was captured and died there, he is buried at Lahore. Hence the construction was halted around that time. This makes me believe the keeper's version that Shah Pir's link was with Jehangir not Nur Jehan. Nur Jehan continued Jehangir's reign, after hiding news of his death for a long time and could have easily completed the building. By the way the foreign looking couple are not foreign at all. Well, Ok Joyce is Irish or was until she met Mark Puech, who has spent all his teenage years in Meerut, and hopefully can't stand Dublin, where he is presently located. By the way Mark's parents moved to Ireland only in July 2003. Mary Puech taught in St. Mary's and later Chirag, Maurice Puech ( who was proud to be called a farmer rather than a landowner ) had a farm (Bali farm)until 1996 near Baghpat.

I saw a grand old man sitting nearby when I went to the tomb. Close to him was an enormously colourful piece of cloth, very new and out of place. When I asked his permission to take his picture, I fully expected to be refused, because muslim elders don't take kindly to their pictures being taken. But he said "zaroor". This piece of cloth, flew into the air and became a king's robe, and he also put on his head gear. I stared in disbelief as the centuries flew by, and I was left looking at the camera which was obviously inappropriate in a king's court. There was no doubt that it was Jehangir before me, however I did not have the guts to confirm that. He says the date of construction is around 1042 Hijri ( the muslim calendar ). If you visit the place do remember to put some money in the box near the actual tomb. He will never ask. His main concern is for the state of the building. When I said I maybe writing something on the Internet he insisted that I mention the broken and missing slabs. Note : He understood 'writing' not 'Internet'.

A MICROSOFT authorized dealer, he is not the only one, but he has the biggest board. It certainly is all one world out there. When it comes to world domination the guy with the 50 cent haircut did it.
Eat your heart out , Alexander, Changaiz Khan , Adolph .

And now it is time to use Microsoft ( and the GUI crowd) as a springboard and fly beyond the confines of Meerut. How ...? I am sure you think Microsoft's( and other's) main claim to fame is the WIN 9X family. I beg to differ, I feel they will be remembered 50 years later for what they did to the word 'legacy' . Many of Agatha Christie's murderers killed for a legacy, and many movies are based on that theme. Today even 2 year-old attitudes in software are viewed as crutches.
That brings us to the springboard..

What about ideas and motives in areas at the core of modern human existence ?
Whose roots lie in the dawn of history? What about Democracy ? What about Taxes ? What about Money ? More later...

Meanwhile try these for your meditation sessions ..

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." --Albert Einstein

(Click here for more quotes from Einstein.) If you begin by thinking that Einstein was having problems with the arithmetic of taxes, your meditation will be a waste. You could dwell on the Why of taxes. I don't know much about this quote except that it came to me via a Striveto.quote e-mail. When and where are very important . You can rest assured Einstein did not say all he wanted to say ( there was no Internet then ). Hitler was on the prowl and it must have been quite evident to him, that Hitler was created and maintained by taxation. The current world is replete with examples, criminals in politics in India, Saddam at the head of the world's oldest civilization, etc., etc. ( Ok now he is not there now. No they did not find WMD, but they did not find Saddam either!!)

"We hang petty criminals, the big ones we elect to high public office"-- Aesop (500 BC?)

For meditation about Democracy you could start by agreeing or disagreeing with the statement that the worst thing to happen to Democracy was the creation of the sentence " Government of the people, by the people, for the people. " . Is that so ? Just try reducing your taxes or preventing them from going to finance war. However that sentence makes you feel so good you just leave the reality alone.
Click here for my views about this

Hi ! Do write back with reactions /suggestions /objections...

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