The rupee is a common currency name in South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

It is the name of the official currency of India (INR), Indonesia (IDR), Mauritius (MUR), Nepal (NPR), Pakistan (PKR), Seychelles (SCR). ) and Sri Lanka (LKR).

The rupee was also, from the 17th century, the currency used in the Portuguese (Portuguese India rupee) and French (French India rupee) colonial counters, then it was issued by the British East India Company. Oriental under its own name from 1794, then, from 1858, under the authority of the British Raj.

One of the first "rupees" was put into circulation in the 16th century by Sher Shah Suri, founder of the Suri empire in northern India. The term comes from the Sanskrit rupya, a word for a silver coin.