Traversing history at the Taka Museum

Suppose that you are curious about a civilisation that met its demise thousands of years ago and the history of that civilisation is not recorded in detail anywhere. Even then, how can you learn and understand at least a little bit about the history of that civilisation?

The answer, however, is rather simple – from the coins used during a certain period of that civilisation. The coins will help you easily get a basic understanding about the history, traditions, and customs of the civilisation within a certain period of time.

Hence, learning history with the help of currencies is very popular all over the world. Almost every country has its own money museum and Bangladesh is not an exception in this regard.

The Taka Museum is a numismatic museum located in the capital's Mirpur that displays currencies used in Bangladesh from the ancient times to the present. And there are ancient wooden boxes and iron chests for storing coins. The minted silver coins found at Wari-Bateshwar are also displayed at the museum. It also displays currencies of different countries of the world.

Established in 2013 and run by the Bangladesh Bank, the Taka Museum has a good collection of cowries that were used as currencies for small transactions in Bengal till the nineteenth century as well. Apart from various types of coins and paper notes made or printed from the ancient time to the present era, coinage products such as dice for making coins, traditional ornaments of Bengal made on coins, earthenware for storing grains, and items used in various economic activities, are also on display at the museum.

The "Koch" and "Aham" or "Assam" coins during the Mughal Empire, the gold, silver and copper coins of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah of Delhi, and Mughal emperors Shahjahan, Aurangzeb, and Farrukhsiyar will let you know the history of the subcontinent before the arrival of British in Bengal in a chronological manner.

Illustration: TBS

The coins used in British India will help you learn about British rule. In the same manner you will get an idea about the Pakistan regime from the coins used during that period, while the evolution of modern Bangladesh will be seen with the help of the currencies used in the last fifty years of independent Bangladesh.

There is also a scope for viewing all the commemorative coins and notes issued by the Bangladesh Bank in memory of the Language Movement, the Liberation War, various important events, days and epoch-making personalities together at one place. A special attraction is the special paper notes and coins issued on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Coins of several former colonial regimes and countries including Portuguese India, Portuguese Cape Verde, Portuguese Mozambique, Katanga, British East Africa, Muscat and Oman, Qatar and Dubai, Rhodesia, Zanzibar are also found in the museum. Banknotes of extinct countries such as Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union, British Burma, British India, Japan Burma, Japan Malaya, British Ceylon and many more, are also on display.

And yes, surely you have heard this expression – money does not grow on trees.  But the Taka Museum offers you the opportunity to see a money tree. Needless to say, the tree is not a real one.