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النشر الإلكتروني

NUMISMATIC SUPPLEMENT. (With Plate III).

*NOTE-The numeration of the articles below is continued from
p. 74 of the Journal.

I. ANCIENT INDIA.

8. The Kşaharāta Dynasty, circa A.D. 100 (Of. "Indian Coins" §§ 77-79)

Of this dynasty which preceded that of the Western Ksatrapas as governors (probably originally under the Saka princes of Northern India-the line of Maues, Azes, Azilises, &c.) of Surāstra and Malwa, only one member, Nahapāna, has hitherto been certainly known from coins.

I have recently discovered another, who, I think, may have been the predecessor of Nahapāna.

Pandit Bhagvānlāl Indrāji in his account of "The Western Kşarapas," edited by me in J.R.A.S., 1890, p. 643, attributes certain copper coins to Nahapāna. He notes that they bear on the reverse the symbols which appear on Nahapāna's silver coins-an arrow and a thunderbolt. They are found "in the coasting regions of Gujarat and Kathiawad, and also sometimes in Malwa." They bear on the obverse "the Buddhist symbols, a standing deer and a dharmacakra, and also show traces of inscriptions which have not hitherto been deciphered." (A specimen is given in his Plate, la.)

Now, the copper coinage which has been assigned with certainty to Nahapāna is rather different. An undoubted specimen, actually bearing the name of Nahapāna, is given in Cunningham's Coins of Medieval India, p. 6, Pl. I, 5. No. 4 in the same plate belongs to the class described by Pandit Bhagvānlāl. On studying the six specimens of this latter class in the British Museum, I was fortunate enough to succeed in reading one of the inscriptions-the Brahmi inscription-with certainty. The inscription which is found on the opposite side is certainly in Kharosthi characters, but these are so fragmentary and so carelessly executed that without the help of this Brahmi reading I should not have been able to suggest any restoration of the Kharosthi inscription. We may, however, assume that, as on the coins of Nahapāna, practically the same inscription occurs in the two characters; and the fragments of the Kharosthi inscription which remain, certainly justify us in taking this view.

The following is a description of the coins. The fragments of the

inscriptions are given as they appear on the different specimens.

Obv. Arrow and Thunderbolt: Brahmi inscription (restored) Kşaharātasa Ksatrapasa Bhūmakasa.

Rev. A Deer and a Dharmacakra, together forming what may be intended for the capital of a pillar. Kharosthi inscription (restored) Chatrapa-Chaharata-Bhumakasa or Chaharadasa chatrapasa Bhumakasa.

Brāhmi Inscription (Reverse).

The clue to the inscription is given by a coin in the Bhagvānlāl collection, No. 70. The Brahmi inscription on its reverse is quite clearly

(1) Kşahar[ā]

pasa Bhūmakasa.

The name Bhūmaka is fairly clear on another specimen from the same collection (No. 4= Pl. la. of the Pandit's article in the J.R.A.S.). The other specimens do little to confirm this reading, and I cannot explain, either as Brahmi or as Kharosthi, the curious inscription on the reverse of the coin published by Cunningham, C.M.I., Pl. I. 4.

Kharosthi Inscription (Obverse).

Cunningham, C.M.I., Pl. I. 4.

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On No. 70 of the Bhagvānlāl collection, there is a full obverse inscription in, apparently, Kharosthi characters, but I am unable to read it. It must, no doubt, have been the same as the reverse Brāhmī inscription.

There can be no doubt that the name is Bhūmaka, and that, like Nahapāna, he takes the titles "Ksaharāta" and "Ksatrapa." The readings (1) and (3) show the family title Kşaharata in the first place, the military title Ksatrapa in the second place, the two titles as well as the name being in the genitive case. The reading (2) seems to change this order, and also to denote that only the name was in the genitive

case.

I may add that these copper coins, by reason of their fabric and their types, seem to take us one step farther back in the direction of the Saka princes of Northern India, whose governors the Ksaharātas have been supposed, on other evidence, to have been. They somewhat resemble the copper coins of Spalirises with Azes, which have for their reverse type a bow and arrow and a discus (v. Gardener, B.M. Col. p. 102, Pl. XXΧΙΙ., 4.1)

III. SULTANS OF DEHLI.

9. Shamsu-d-dīn Kayūmurş.

R. Weight, 169 grains. Size, 1"0.
Mint, Dehli.

E. J. RAPSON.
Brit: Mus:

This extremely rare coin was obtained in October, 1903, nearly 40 years after the first specimen was discovered by the late Pandit Ratan Narain of Dehli, with whose collection it passed into the possession of Mr. J. H. Durkee of New York (U.S.A.) many years ago. That coin was edited by Mr. J. G. Delmerick in the Journal of this Society for 1881, and again by Mr. J. Gibbs in the Numismatic Chronicle in 1885. The coin recently acquired is similar in type to other rupees of this period and bears the following legends :

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Shamsu-d-din, the son of Muizzu-d-din Kaikubad, was only 3 years old when he was placed on the throne of Dehli as the ostensible Sultān by Jalālu-d-din Firoz Shah after the murder of the Sultan Kaikubād. Three months later when Jalālu-d-din had succeeded in consolidating his own power, the infant Sultan was also put to death. This was in the year 689 A.HΗ.

10.

Shihābu-d-din Umar Shāh.

G. B. BLEAZBY.

R. Weight, 172 grains. Size, 10
Date, 715 A.Н.
Mint, Dehli.

Pl. III. 2.

1 The discus is regarded by Prof. Gardener as a mere symbol on the coin; but I think the actual weapon is intended. I think it is represented also on the silver coins of Nahapana by the round dot which always occurs in conjunction with the Arrow and Thunderbolt. (see Cunningham, C.M.I., Pl. I. 3; Bhagvānlāl, J.R.A.S., 1890, Pl. I: Rapson, J.R.A.S., 1899, Pl. I.)

This coin which is in perfect condition has the following legends

enclosed in circles :

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The brief history of this puppet king is told by Thomas in his Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Dehli, pp. 176 and 177.

The first rupee of this Sultan turned up at Jaunpur a few years ago. It was acquired by the Government of the United Provinces and is now in the Lucknow Museum. That coin, however, is in comparatively poor condition. The coin now being described was acquired subsequently at Nahan (Sirmur State), and judging by its appearance cannot have been in circulation for any length of time, every letter on both sides being perfect. These two specimens in silver and a few copper coins are all the coins known of this unfortunate young Sultan. G. B. BLEAZBY.

11. Muhammad bin Tughlak. A coin struck in memory of his father.

Pl. III. 1.

The striking of coins in the name of his father is a well-known incident in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlak. Two such coins-one gold, the other silver-are noticed by Thomas on p. 212 of the Chronicles. Though the name of the Mint is indistinct on the gold coin and is not recorded on the silver piece, it is probable from their appearance that the coins were issued in the Dekhan. Another coin bearing the name of Ghiyasu-d-din Tughlak but struck after his death is described on p. 190 of the Chronicles, and the crude rendering of the word السلطان on the reverse area, together with the absence of any distinct margin, led the author to catalogue the coin as one struck by the first Tughlak in A.H. 721. Subsequent finds have however fixed the dates of issue of this class of coin as 726 and 727, and their origin was the Dekhan, specimens being known struck at both Daulatābād and Telingāna.

The object of the present note is to draw attention to a similar gold coin struck at the capital Dehli. This coin I believe has only once been noticed-by Major F. W. Stubbs in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1870, p. 302. On that occasion it was

pronounced counterfeit for reasons which appear to be inconclusive The coin has as far as I know never been figured.

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هذا السكة بحضرة دهلي في سنة سبع و عشرین و سبعمايه

السلطان الغازي

غياث الدنيا والدين

ابو المظفر

The weight is 173 grs., and size 9"

Major Stubbs gave the following six reasons for believing the coin to be not genuine :-

1. ناصر is written نامين. This criticism is obviously due to a mistaken assignment of the dots on the coin. The two dots which have been taken to represent the letter "ye" really belong to the two "nuns" in the word just below it viz. : مومنین It is noticeable that on this coin as in several other specimens of Muhammad bin Tughlak's coinage the dots distinguishing various letters are scrupulously recorded. Cf. Chronicles No. 182. It is true the curve of the is not very full. It is, however, not unlike the form of the same letter on some other coins of the period.

(2) Date in figures impossible.

(3) Difference of date in words and figures.

These remarks refer to the figures ۴۲۱ in the reverse area. Major Stubbs assumes that they represent a blundered date, a different date being given in words in the margin. It is difficult to conceive that anyone who was able to imitate with such precision and intelligence the entire inscription of a coin, and must have been aware of the meaning of that inscription, should stumble through ignorance over a date in figures and for vrv should substitute the figures ۴۲۱ Some other explanation of these figures must, I think, be sought for. This I am unable to supply, but it is worth remembering that equally unexplained figures appear on coins of Islam Shah Suri, vide Chronicles No. 359, Pl. V, 190.

From the above considerations it may, I think, be assumed that the figures ۴۲۱ were not a blundered representation of vrv. They possibly have no connection with the date of the coin.

)4( The word ضرب is omitted.

This does not appear to me a serious objection to the authenticity

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