RUPEE

the monetary unit of Muslim India from the 16th century and the modern monetary unit of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The modern unit is divided into 100 paisa in India and Pakistan and into 100 cents in Sri Lanka. The name derived from the Sanskrit rupya (silver). In the late 16th century the Mughal rulers of central and northern India established the silver rupee, which was divided into 16 annas. In 1671 the British East India Company minted coins copied from local types, using the rupee as the basic unit of account. The value of the rupee varied, however, from region to region, depending on the minter, and not until 1835 was the rupee made uniform by law. After independence, India retained the rupee and adopted the monetary decimal system in 1955. Pakistan began creating its independent money in 1948, adopting the decimal system in 1961. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) adopted a decimal system in 1872, based on the Indian rupee, and adopted an autonomous monetary system in 1929 and an independent system in 1949.