2018-01-30 Tue

Ghiyath-Al-Din Balban who ruled India as the Sultan of Delhi from 1266 to 1287 AD was one of the greatest Sultan of Medieval period.

The coins of Balban and of his three predecessors do not differ much. He minted coins in all principal metals gold, silver, billon and copper. The Kalima was not on them, but on one side were the name and titles of the king and on the other the name of the Khalifah. Both sides of both Rupees and Mohurs had a margin, which contained the name of the mint and the year, in Arabic words. Balban was the last Sultan to use the horseman design on billon issues. Such coins are very rare and were soon replaced by a new, bilingual type, containing around 0.3 grams of silver.

The above shown gold Tanka of Balban which weighs around 11.04g was minted at Hadrat Delhi in 617 AH. The obverse of the coin is inscribed with Persian legend ‘Al Sultan Al Azam Ghiyat Al Dunya Wal Din Abul Muzaffar Balban Al Sultan’. The reverse of the coin read as ‘Al Imam Al Muntasir Ameer-ul-Mominin’, mint name and date in the margin.