Pakistan’s Early Currency Notes

Pakistan’s Early Currency Notes

In 1948, the Government of Pakistan issued currency notes in denominations of five, ten, and one hundred rupees. They bore, in English, the signature of the then Finance Minister, Malik Ghulam Muhammad.

The denominations and figures on these notes appeared in only two languages: Urdu and English. For the reassurance of the public, the notes also carried a detailed, four-line declaration:

I promise to pay the bearer on demand
the sum of
Five Rupees
from the Government Treasury, Karachi.

In the same year, 1948, the Government of Pakistan issued a one-rupee note. It bore the signature of the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. The denomination was inscribed in three languages—Urdu, English, and Bengali. This convention continued on subsequent currency notes. The Secretary, V. A. Turner, was himself an Englishman, and naturally, his signature too appeared in English.

Interestingly, a Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan later had a remarkably similar name: V. A. Jaffery. During his tenure, when Mr. Jaffery signed the currency notes in Urdu, his true and rather charming name was revealed as Waseem Aun.

The State Bank of Pakistan began issuing its own currency notes in 1951, initially printing denominations of five and ten rupees. These notes marked the beginning of a new tradition: the signatures of the Governor of the State Bank appearing on currency notes, and appearing in Urdu. They bore the signature of Zahid Hussain.

These notes carried a single-line declaration. Here it is—read it for yourself, and, if necessary, consult a dictionary to decipher its meaning:

I promise to pay the bearer, on demand, at whichever office of issue he may choose, the sum of ten rupees.

Well, at least one difficulty had now been resolved. The bearer of the note would no longer have to travel all the way to Karachi merely to receive genuine government rupees in exchange for his currency note. It remained, however, a matter of fortune whether he would encounter some Munshi Fazil or Arabic Fazil learned enough to explain what Dar-ul-Ijra meant—and, more importantly, where exactly this mysterious “office of issue” was located.

The educated among the people, of course, understood perfectly well that Bank Daulat-e-Pakistan meant the bank entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of Pakistan.

People of an earlier age were simple folk. They understood the word daulat in its older sense, taking it to mean the State itself.

As the poet rightly said:

These are people of another age; leave them be,
who call wine and song the banishers of sorrow.

Translation of پاکستان کے ابتدائی کرنسی نوٹ

Aagha Jahangir Bukhari