Tughluqs Coin

Ghiyas uddin Tughluq (1320 - 1325 A.D.) was originally a Karuna Turk, perhaps a mongol tribe settled between Sindh and Turkistan. His son Muhammad Shah Tughluq is known for his experimentation in coinage. He produced abundant gold coins, compared to any of his predecessors, executed fine calligraphy and issued number of fractional denominations. He added the gold dinar of weight 202 grains, compared to the standard weight of 172 grains. The silver Adlis weighed 144 grains.

The coins struck at both Delhi and Daulatabad were curious and issued in his father’s memory. The Kalima appeared in most of his coinage, the titles were “The warrior in the cause of God”, “the trustier in support of the four Khalifs – Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali”. More than 30 varieties of billon coins are known so far.

Most wonderful of his coinage is the forced currency, having two scalable versions. He engraved “He who obeys the Sultan obeys the compassionate”, inscriptions were even engraved in Nagari legend.

His successor Feroz Shah Tughluq (1351 – 1388 A.D.) inherited full treasury, at least six different types were known, they had traditional theme of inscribing the name of Khalifs. The obverse portrayed “the right hand of the commander of the merciful” and “the deputy of the commander”. The later appeared until Bahlol Lodi’s reign.