Burmese tikal

The word “tikal” or “tikal” (both variants are found in Russian - more often “tikal” ^[1] ), probably comes from Sanskrit ( Sanskrit tankala ), which means “branded silver coin” ^[2] and is the same root with the names of such monetary units as tenge , tanga , dangkh , money , taka , etc. ^[3] . However, perhaps this word has Malay roots ( Malay. Tikal ) and is an ancient local name for one of the units of measure of mass and / or monetary units ^{[4] [5]} . In the 16th century, this concept began to be used by the Portuguese, first in Siam (now Thailand ), and then in Burma (now Myanmar ) to denote both the coins of local minting and the silver mass contained in them, equal to about half the tern ounces ^[3] . The local name for tikal in Myanmar is “ kyat ” (or “ keyat ”), “cha” (or “ja”) ^{[2] [6] [7] [8]} .

The monetary system of Burma, to a greater extent than in other states of the region, was oriented to India , so coins could have a denomination in both local currency units and Indian ones. The latter had the following basic relationships ^{[9] [10]} :

• for silver coins: 1 rupee (Burmese equivalent - tikal or kyat) = 16 ann (ne) = 64 paise (pya) = 194 or 192 paya (piya) ;
• for gold: 1 muhr (golden rupee) = 15 or 16 silver rupees.

Own key Burmese monetary units in different periods had the following two series of ratios ^[2] :

• 1 kyat (tikal) = 4 mata = 8 mu = 16 ne = 64 pya;
• 1 kyat = 5 mats = 10 mu = 20 pe = 80 pya.

The first coins of Burma were minted during the reign of King Mindon (1853–1878) at the rate of 1 silver kyat = 1 rupee, 1 golden kyat = 1 muhra ^[2] :

• from gold - 1 and 2 annas (1852), 2 + ¹ ⁄ ₂ mu (1866; equivalent to ¹ ⁄ ₄ Indian mukhra ), 5 mu (1878; ¹ ⁄ ₂ mukhra);
• from silver - 1 kyat, 1 ngamu (literally "five mu");
• from copper - drunk (1865 and 1878).

Banknotes were not issued during this period.

In 1883, some of the provinces, and in 1885 all of Burma became a British colony (a province within British India ), and the Indian rupee was officially proclaimed its currency; however, previously issued coins were demonetized only on April 1, 1892. Indian coins and banknotes remained legal tender in the colony until April 1, 1939. Moreover, in 1897-1922 the government of British India issued banknotes of the same type as Indian rupees, especially for Rangoon , and in 1917 and 1927-1937 for the entire territory of Burma, which are sometimes called the Burmese rupee ^{[11] [12]} .

• Bruce CR II, Michael T., Cuhaj G. Unusual world coins. - 4th ed. - Iola: Krause Publications, 2005 .-- 515 p. - ISBN 0-87349-793-7 .
• Cuhaj G., Michael T., Miller H. Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000. - 39th ed. - Iola: Krause Publications, 2011 .-- 2345 p. - ISBN 978-1-4402-1172-8 .
• Cuhaj GS Standard Catalog of World Paper Money. General Issues 1368-1960. - 12th ed. - Iola: Krause Publications, 2008 .-- 1223 p. - ISBN 978-0-89689-730-4 .
• The Free Dictionary . - Farlex, 2011.
• Merriam-Webster . - Springfield: Merriam-Webster Inc., 2011.
• Global History of Currencies . - Global Financial Data, 2010. Archived April 4, 2014 on the Wayback Machine
• World Currencies: Reference Book / [Authors: Butakov DD, Zolotarenko ED, Rybalko GP] / Ed. Borisova S.M., Rybalko G.P., Mozhayskova O.V .. - 5th ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Finance and statistics , 1987.
• Numismatic Dictionary / [Author: Zvarich V.V. ]. - 4th ed. / Publ. Dictionary of numismatists. Description of coins . - Lviv, 1980. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .
• Dictionary of numismatists / [Authors: Fengler H., Girow G., Unger V.] / Per. with him. M. G. Arsenyeva / Resp. ed. V.M. Potin. - 2nd ed., Revised. and add. / Publ. Dictionary of numismatists. Description of coins . - M .: Radio and communications, 1993. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron . - SPb. : Semenov typolithography (I.A. Efron), 1890-1907. - Wikisource