An excellent specimen with brilliant details, struck in high-relief with an incredibly attractive appearance.

Extremely fine, Exceptionally rare.
We could not find any examples of half mohurs in the sales archives; however, one specimen is recorded on Zeno.

The date on the coins of Sudarshan Shah is VS 1872, that was the accession year of Sudarshan Shah, the raja of Tehri Garhwal, who ruled the state, under British suzerainty, until his death in June 1859. Sudarshan Shah was the heir of Parduman Shah, who ruled Garhwal from 1785 until his kingdom was conquered by the Nepalese in 1804. During the Nepalese occupation, Sudarshan sought refuge in Bareilly, but when, in 1815, the British annexed Kumaon and Garhwal after the Gorkha war, they handed back a portion of the territory of the previous state of Garhwal to him to rule. Sudarshan chose Tehri as his capital, so his state became known as Tehri Garhwal. In common with the other so-called Native States of India, Sudarshan Shah was required to give assistance and supplies to the British, when requested, and to furnish facilities to the British for trading in his kingdom and the countries beyond.

Sudarshan seems to have ruled well in the eyes of the British, and in 1857, during the mutiny, he remained loyal. Certainly there is no truth that he rebelled against the Raj. The word "Badrinath" on the coins refers to the famous Hindu temple situated near the source of the Alakananda river, one of the main branches of the Ganges.

Nicholas Rhodes in his article “The Gold Coins of Sudarshan Shah of Tehri Garhwal” published in ONSNL 134 (1992), couldn't read the full legend on reverse. However, Dr. Shailendra Bhandare, in his post, read the inscription as "Paron Talé Méra Panāh Hai" in Hindustani. The 'wings' refer to the wings of Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu. The line परो तले मेरा पनाह also occurs as motto on the coat-of-arms awarded to Tehri Garhwal state at the 1877 imperial assemblage at Delhi, also known as the first "Delhi Durbar". Rhodes postulates that this may have been a donative coin, struck by Sudarshan Shah in his own name in order that he might gain merit from the god.