2017-03-17 Fri

Ghiyath Shah, who was a son of Mahmud Shah I, ruled the Malwa Sultanate in the 15th century. He has also served under his father as a military leader. He abstained from drinking and also was a religious man; therefore he gave instructions to his attendants that he should always be woken at the hours of prayer and that they were known to pull him out of bed while he was asleep. He propagated female education and also built a Madrasa to teach the female population of his court.

Ghiyath Shah issued coins in gold, silver, and copper. Initial coins of Ghiyath Shah were round but after a few years; probably after the year AH 878, the bulk of his coins were struck on a square flan. Gold coin which he issued is of two main series; round coin which were struck from 873 to 878, and square ones which he struck during rest of his year. Round coin which he had stuck are scarcer than square ones.

This gold tanka which he had issued in the year AH 888, which weighs around 10.9g was sold for INR 50,000 at Classical Numismatics Gallery. The obverse of the coin reads as ‘Al Wathiq bi’l Malik Al-Multaji Abu’l Fath Ghiyath Shah’ and reverse of the coin is inscribed as ‘Bin Mahmud Shah Al-Khalji Al-Sultan Khallada Mulkahu’ with the date AH 888 written at the bottom left side.

Check out details about a similar coin on our website.