Facts about Indian Rupee

The rupee, or more specifically the Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; ISO code: INR) (Unicode U+20B9) is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. It is named after the silver coin, rupiya, first issued by Sultan Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century and later continued by the Mughal Empire.

The modern rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular paisa), though as of 2011 only 50 paise coins are legal tender.Banknotes in circulation come in denominations of ₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1000. Rupee coins are available in denominations of ₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10.

The Indian rupee symbol '₹' (officially adopted in 2010) is derived from the Devanagari consonant "र" (ra). The first series of coins with the rupee symbol was launched on 8 July 2011.

The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management on the basis of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

The word "rupee" was derived from the Sanskrit word रूप्यकम् (rūpyakam). The modern Indian rupee has a direct lineage from the rupiya, the silver coin, issued bySher Shah Suri (1540—1545), continued by the Mughal rulers.However, in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha, the Indian rupee is officially known by names derived from the Sanskrit word टङ्क (ṭaṅka), which means "money".^[5] Thus, the rupee is called টকা (ṭôkā) in Assamese, টাকা (ṭākā) in Bengali and ଟଙ୍କା (ṭaṅkā) in Odia. The amount (and the word "rupee") is, accordingly, written on the front of Indian banknotes in English and Hindi, whilst on the back the name is listed, in English alphabetical order, in 15 other Indian languages.

1. Assamese: টকা (ṭôkā)
2. Bengali: টাকা (ṭākā)
3. Bhojpuri: रुपया (rupayā)
4. Gujarati: રૂપિયો (rupiyo)
5. Hindi: रुपया (rupaya)
6. Kannada: ರೂಪಾಯಿ (rūpāyi)
7. Kashmiri: روپے (ropyih)
8. Konkani: रुपय (rupaye)
9. Malayalam: രൂപ (rūpā)
10. Marathi: रुपया (rupayā)
11. Nepali: रुपैयाँ (rupaiyã)
12. Odia: ଟଙ୍କା (ṭaṅkā)
13. Punjabi: ਰੁਪਈਆ (rupiā)
14. Rajasthani: रिप्या (ripyā)
15. Sanskrit: रूप्यकम् (rūpyakam)
16. Santali: ᱴᱟᱠᱟ (ṭākā)
17. Sindhi: रुपियो‎ (rupiyo)
18. Tamil: ரூபாய் (rūpāy)
19. Telugu: రూపాయి (rūpāyi)
20. Urdu: روپیہ‎ (rupayā)

The Indian Government introduced the Gulf rupee (XPGR) in 1959– for circulation outside the country to reduce the strain on India's foreign reserves from gold smuggling. These countries were using it until mid-1960s before they replaced with their own currencies. 

Gulf rupee or Persian Gulf Rupee

Special coins

After independence, the Government of India mint, minted coins imprinted with Indian statesmen, historical and religious figures. In year 2010 and 2011 for the first time ever₹75, ₹150 and ₹1000 coins were minted in India to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India, the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindra Nath Tagore and 1000 years of the Brihadeeswarar Temple, respectively. In 2012 a ₹60 coin was also issued to commemorate 60 years of the Government of India Mint, Kolkata. ₹100 coin was also released commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's return to India.