The Rupee (₨ or Rs.) is the common name for the currencies used in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Mauritius; in Indonesia the unit of currency is known as the rupiah and in the Maldives the rufiyah. An Indian rupee is equivalent to one hundred new paise or pice (singular paisa).

The origin of the word Rupee is found in the Sanskrit word rupya, meaning 'silver.' The derivative word Rupiya was used to denote the coin introduced by Sher Shah Suri during his reign from 1540 to 1545 CE. The original Rupiya was a silver coin weighing 178gm. The coin was used since then even during the times of British India. Formerly the rupee was divided into 16 annas, and the anna into 4 pice or 12 pies. Decimalization occurred in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1869, India in 1957 and in Pakistan in 1961.

Large denominations of Rupees are often counted in lacs or lakhs (100,000) and crores (10,000,000).

Fictional Uses of the Rupee

Rupees are also the unit of currency in the Legend of Zelda videogame series created by Nintendo. See Rupee (Legend of Zelda).

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See also:

• Indian Rupee
• Mauritian Rupee
• Nepalese Rupee
• Pakistani Rupee
• Seychelles Rupee
• Sri Lankan Rupee

• Indonesian Rupiah
• Maldivian Rufiyah

Formerly used Rupees include:

• Burmese Rupee
• French Indian Rupee
• German East African Rupie
• Gulf Rupee
• Portuguese Indian Rupia

External links

• Picture of original Rupiya introduced by Sher Shah Suri