The origins of the State Bank of India can be traced back two hundred years to the establishment of the Bank of Calcutta. The keen interest shown by the directors of the bank in maintaining records found an echo in 1975 when R.K. Talwar, a former chairman of the State Bank, commissioned an account of the bank's evolution from its earliest days. Written by noted economist Amiya Kumar Bagchi, The Roots 1806??"1876 , relies not only on those records but diverse other sources to provide a fascinating look into the progress of banking in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Banking in those days was a far cry from what it is today??"an unbiased, uniform system that has led to increased purchasing power across classes. At the time, even though the rupee was the unifying currency, there also existed a confusing array of coinage whose value could vary by the region. Besides the cowrie??"sea shells brought in from the Maldives??"were the sicca, the Arcot rupee, notes issued by various banks and copper, silver and gold coins that the British tried to introduce as a standard coinage. Only the wealthy Indians and the Europeans had any use for bank notes??"