Silver rupee of Muhammad Yaqub (1879-80), Kabul mint, Afghanistan. Dated to 1296 AH on both sides. 20mm, 9.13 grams. KM #533.

Muhammad Ya‘qub Khan (r. 1879–1880) briefly ruled Afghanistan during one of the most volatile phases of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The son of Amir Sher ‘Ali, he ascended the throne after his father’s death in 1879, inheriting a country divided and under heavy British military pressure. Hoping to stabilize the situation, Ya‘qub negotiated the Treaty of Gandamak, granting Britain control over Afghan foreign policy and key frontier territories - terms that made him deeply unpopular at home. After the murder of the British envoy Cavagnari at Kabul later that year, Ya‘qub was forced to abdicate and was removed to British India. His short reign marked the collapse of Durrani authority and paved the way for Abdur Rahman Khan’s rise and the re-centralization of Afghanistan.