Hakumat or Hukumat

From the beginning, coin issuing and controlling have been the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan, and the name 'Government of Pakistan' has been a prominent feature of the issued coins. From 1948 to 1961, the name Government of Pakistan was inscribed in two languages: English and Urdu. While the name in English was inscribed in a simple font, the name in Urdu is in the form of a Tughra.

As government is translated to 'Hakumat' in Urdu, the text inscribed was ‘Hakumat-e-Pakistan’. In 1964, the name in English was replaced with the name in Bengali. The Urdu one remains the same.

After the creation of Bangladesh, the name in Bengali was dropped, and from 1974 onwards, only the name in Urdu was inscribed. The design was changed from Tughra to a simpler font.

If it were only a matter of translation, it would have been great, but they decided to include aeraab (marks that represent the short vowel sounds of a, i, and u when used above or below other letters in any word) to make the name fancy. Now, if you want to add aeraab to any word in Urdu, you have to find out the root of the word for the correct pronunciation.

The word ‘Hukumat’ is borrowed from the Arabic language. And Arabic has three words with the same alphabets but different aeraab, sounds, and meanings.

حَكَم – means judge, arbitrator

حُكْم – means authority, government

حِكَم – means wisdom, knowledge

Initially, it was thought that the root of the word Hukumat was the first one, so they put Zabr (a tiny slash that produces the sound of ‘A’) above the first alphabet. Coins of all denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 paisa) from 1974 to early 1976 have this text.

Then someone realized that the root of the word Hukumat was not the first one but the second one, which means government, so they changed the aeraab and put Pesh (a little circle with a tail that produces the sound of ‘O’) above the first alphabet. Coins from late 1976 to 1990s have this text.