MEDIVAL COINS

The Arabs conquered Sindh in 712 AD and ruled it as a province of the Caliphate. By the 9th Century AD, provincial governors established independent rule and struck their own coins. However, it was with the emergence of Turkish Sultans of Delhi in the 12th Century that a decisive break was made with the past and the existing motifs were gradually replaced by Islamic devices, largely calligraphy. The unit of account came to be consolidated and was referred to as the 'tanka' with the 'jittals' as the smaller value coins. With the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 AD) came the attempt at standardisation. This period was marked by a considerable expansion of the money economy. Coins were struck in gold, silver and copper. In the monetary system, the equation between gold and silver was probably at 110. The Khilji rulers issued coins in abundance with grandiloquent titles (Ala-ud-din Khilji struck coins assuming the title Sikandar al Sani, the second Alexander) as well as honorific epithets for mints (the Delhi mint bore titles Hazrat Dar-al-Khilafat, etc









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