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April 10, 2026
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"Tipu also issued a new system of coinage, fashioned again by his fixation with Islam. He engraved the following words on the obverse of these coins: “the faith of Ahmad (Muhammad) is proclaimed to the world by the victories of Haidar struck in Pattan [Srirangapattana] in the year Jalu or 1199 Hijri.” On the reverse were engraved, “He [it is unclear whether it refers to God or Tipu] is the only Sultan, the just one the third of Bahari in the year Jalu, and third of the reign.”.. He gave the names of Muslim saints to coins minted in gold and silver. To copper coins, he gave Arabic and Farsi names, and named them after stars. Pagoda was the name of a coin that was in common circulation during that period. Tipu renamed Pagoda to Ahamadi because it was one of the names of the Prophet. Further, he gave the name Sadiq to a coin whose value was two Pagodas. Tipu’s reasoning? Sadiq was the name of the First Caliph. According to this new numismatic nomenclature, the one-paisa coin was called Zehra,the two-paise, Outmaani, and so on. In several instances, he gave new names for coins that he himself had renamed earlier: Farooqi, Jaffar, and Imami, for instance. There was also a Rupee named Hyder."
"Fabri added a comparison of Indus signs with symbols on the punch-marked coins, bringing out striking parallels between the two.... Overall, Fabri’s conclusion was: We are able to recognize a large number of Indus script pictograms among the punch-marks published by previous writers—too large a number, indeed, to ascribe it to mere coincidence."
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.