صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[ocr errors]

of the coin. Instances of a similar omission are to be found on other coins of the period, cf. Chronicles Nos. 173 and 174 and J.R.A.S. 1900,

هذا السكة or هذا الدينار p. 775, where the margins commence

(5) M of "Miat" is omitted.

This "

m" is clear enough on the coin now figured.

(6) The usual forms of the letters alif, lām, toe, had thick clavate shapes; in this coin they have the more elegant form first introduced on his coins by Sher Shah.

It is possible that Major Stubbs had not seen any of Muhammad bin Tughlak's more finely engraved coins. Anyone who had handled many of these could not fail to be struck by the similarity between them and the reverse of the coin now figured. In fact it would not be too much to say that the form of the letters on the reverse is characteristic of the coins of Muhammad bin Tughlak. Compare especially nos. 173, 174, 179, 180 and 182 in Thomas's Chronicles. It is probable that for the obverse either the actual die of one of Ghiyāsu-d-din Tughlak's coins was employed, or that one was used as a pattern.

It will thus be seen that the conclusions at which Major Stubbs has arrived will not bear close examination, and it is a little surprising that they have been allowed to lie for 34 years unchallenged. The rarity of the coin may be the reason. During the past ten years I have heard of only two. One of these is the present coin which I obtained by exchange from Mr. Bleazby who has the second specimen. Both were obtained at Lahore. Mr. Bleazby and Mr. Burn, C.S., who have devoted much time to the study of " Pathān” coins, have authorised me to say that they share in my opinion that the coin now figured is a genuine one struck in memory of his father by Muhammad bin Tughlak. H. N. WRight.

[ocr errors]

12. Muḥammad IV. bin Farid.

In the British Museum Catalogue Muḥammad bin Farid is said to have reigned from 837 to 847 A.H., but a coin-No. 458-therein, and another in the catalogue of the Lahore Museum, give a later year, 848 A.H. His reign was almost certainly from 837 to 849 A.H. Compare Elliot's History of India, Vol. IV, p. 86, note 1, where the years 844, 847 and 849 A.H. are mentioned as the last years of the reign. The reference to Budaoni is to the Muntakhab-ut-Tawārikh (Ranking) p. 399, which gives 847 A.H. The date (849) given by Ferishta for Muhammad IV's concluding year may safely be accepted as the most correct. A coin of that year struck in the name of Muḥammad bin Farid is, however, required to settle the matter definitely.

[merged small][ocr errors]

W. VOST.

13. Report on 110 silver coins forwarded by the Collector of Malda to the Asiatic Society of Bengal as treasure trove.

The Collector states that the coins were found in a field in Mauza Belbari, thāna English Bāzār, in the vicinity of the old city of Gaur. The field had been ploughed two or three days previously, and on the night preceding the find of the coins there had been a heavy shower which washed away the covering clods. The coins were found in the furrows made by the plough.

They are with two exceptions of the Sūri dynasty of Dehli Sultāns.

Of the 110 coins

A.H.

2 are of Nasrat Shah, independent king of Bengal

925-939

[blocks in formation]

I. NASRAT SHä, А.H. 925-939=A.D. 1518-1532.

Mint Husenābād, circular areas, date 925, cf. B.M.C. No.
134

1

Mint illegible, circular areas, date 932, cf. B.M.C. 137, 1
II. SHER SHä, A.H. 946-952 A.D. 1540-1545.
Agra, 949 square areas, two varieties-(1) date at top; (2) date
on left side of reverse area

...

2

1

Bhānpura (?) 949, square areas, cf. Chron: 353. R.

[ocr errors]

Gwalior, 951, 952,3 square areas, date on left side of reverse area.
Common. I.M.C. 9270

[ocr errors]

Jahānpanah, 946,1 947, 948, square areas, Joel blm below
Kalima in obverse area, date in reverse area. In the
specimen of 946 ilklu, is omitted. This latter coin is

rare

Kālpi, 950, areas in double lined square. Chron. 354
Satgaon, 950,3 circular areas, cf. Ind. Ant: March 1888, No. 11...
Sharifabad (a), 948,1 square areas. Mint and date in reverse

area. R.R.

[blocks in formation]

(b) 949, circular areas, date in reverse area.
Shergarh (a), 947,1 date in area and mint in left margin of
reverse, cf. B.M.C. 532. R.

R.

2

1

(b) 948,1 949,3 areas in double lined squares, cf. I.M. Cat.
8170. Chron. 346

3

Shergarh (Dehli). 949,1 951,1 square areas. The legends in

J. 1. 30

[ocr errors]

the margins of the two coins are differently arranged.
• Chron. 344 and J.R.A.S. July 1900. R.
Shergarh (Shakk Bakar) 950,1 951,8 square areas: date and
mint in reverse margin

No Mint, (a) 946,8 948,2 949,1 square areas, date in reverse
area Jobelt ulkim below Kalima on obverse. Name of king
arranged in three lines. B.M. Cat. No. 524

(b) 9462 as (a) but date written le

(c) 946, 947,1 948,1 as (a) but name of king in two lines
(d) 946,2 9481 variants of (c), and to judge by the characters
probably struck at Satgaon. R....

(e) 948, square areas, like the coins of Jahanpanah in type.
Last line of reverse area reads dil, R.R.R, Pl. III. 3.
(ƒ) 949,* 950,* 9514. Circular areas. Chron: 348. Common
(g) 949. Circular areas. Chron. 348 (a)

[ocr errors]

2

*4

6

2

4+

3

1

10

1

4

? Mint. Square areas, 9501 (probably of Gwalior) 951 (pro-
bably of Agra), 9471 (probably of Jahānpanāh)
Circular areas, 951,2 double lined circles Jin Kalima in-
stead of J Published in J.R.A.S., October 1900. R.... 2

III. ISLAM S¤Ã¤, A.H. 952-960.
Agra, 955, square areas, date on left side of reverse.
Chunar, 953,2 955,1 square areas, mint in right reverse margin,
date in obverse area ; has not been published. R.R. Pl.
III. 4.

4

Gwalior, 952, 955,2 956,2 957, 958,1 960,2 square areas, date

on left of reverse area. Kā‍pī. 953,1 954,1 square left of area of reverse. Nārnol. 960,2 square areas. Ant. 1888 (29).

Common...

areas, mint in margin and date on R.

Satgaon, (a) 957, square areas.

1

3

13

2

Mint in reverse margin. cf. Ind.

2

[blocks in formation]

in obverse area, Chron. 360 (b) 952, circular areas. Mint and date in reverse margin R. Shergarh (Dehli). 952.2 Square areas. Mint in margin, date on left of area of reverse. This coin has not been publishPl. III. 5. 2

Shergarh (Shakk Bakar) 959.8 Date at top of area and mint

ed hitherto. R.R.

in margin of reverse.
1900. R.

Published in J.R.A.S. October

3

No mint legible, (a) 952, 954, 956, 960 (probably of Agra), square areas

4

(b) 956,* 957, 958, 960, square areas (probably of Gwalior)... 5

(c) 952, 956, areas in double lined squares, date in obverse
area, mint in reverse margin, but indistinct. (Probably
of Shergarh) R.

(d) 954. Circular areas, date in reverse margin. No mint
recorded B.M.C. 620. R.

Date and Mint illegible ...

IV. MUHAMMAD ADIL. 960-964 A.H.

:

Nārnol, 961, square areas, date on left of area and mint in

[blocks in formation]

J.R.A.S.=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Ind. Ant.=Indian Antiquary.

Chron.

Thomas's Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Dehli.

B.M.C. British Museum Catalogue.

=

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

H. N. WRIGHT.

3

14. On the Coins of "Gujarat fabric."

[ocr errors]

But little is known regarding the interesting series of coins designated in the British Museum Catalogue ('Mughal Emperors' Volume) Coins of "Gujarat fabric." They are unrepresented in the cabinets. of the Museums in Calcutta and Ļahor, and thus though one occasionally comes across specimens of them in the province of Gujarat, they probably never had a really wide circulation. In the British Museum Catalogue eight are registered (Nos. 252a-252h). Five of the eight are dated, one being of the Hijri year 992, one of 997, and three of 1215. During a residence of now several years in the capital of Gujarāt, it has been my good fortune to obtain 29 dated and 14 undated specimens of this series, and from the study of these I have gathered the information embodied in this article.

Metal. The Gujarāt fabric coins would seem to have been struck in silver alone. Not a single specimen is known in either gold or copper. Two, however, in my cabinet, remarkable for their unusual weight, one of 66 and the other of 71 grains, prove to be copper silvercoated.

Form. All the coins of this series are round, and fairly thick for their diameter. They look somewhat dumpy, are roughly fashioned

and of a generally insignificant appearance. The lettering, though as a rule legible enough, is never deeply engraven.

[ocr errors]

Weight. Two denominations of these coins are known. The larger ones, of diameter 6 inch, turn the scale at about 85 grains [Maximum 87; minimum, a poor specimen, 78]. Six smaller ones, measuring half an inch in diameter, have an average weight of 40.5 grains [Maximum 44; minimum 39]. Evidently these denominations represent the half and the quarter rupee.

Date. The earliest dated coin known of this series is of the year 989 Hijri. Except the years 993 and 999, each succeeding year up to and including 1000 H. is represented in my collection. Then come the years 1006, 1009, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1019, 1020, 1025, 1026, and 1027. Hence it seems probable that coins of this Gujarat fabric were struck each year from at least 989 till 1027. Then comes a blank for nearly two centuries, after which, strange to say, precisely the same type of coin re-appears, but now with the dates 1215 and 1217 H. (A. D. 1800 and 1802). The figures indicating the year are entered on all the coins near the right-hand lower corner of the square area of the obverse-over the jim of J The figures appear as though lying on their face, having suffered rotation from the upright position through one quadrant to the left. One extraordinary specimen has the year 1026 in the normal place, but the reverse gives the year 1025 in the diametrically opposite corner-the left hand upper-of the corresponding square area.

Legends. On all the coins the legends, or at least the portions within the areas are the same. Within a square area formed by double lines with dots between, the obverse legend reads

اکبر پاد شاه غازي

جلال الدین

The reverse, within a similar area, contains the Kalima arranged in the usual three lines

لا اله الالله

رسول الله

All the coins I have yet seen were evidently much smaller in surface than the die, and they show accordingly only mere fragments of the marginal readings. One undated coin in my possession does, however, read distinctly lie, 'Othman, in the upper margin of the reverse, and with this slender clue we may perhaps venture the

« السابقةمتابعة »