2019-05-27 Mon

Shah Mahmud Hotak was Afghan ruler of the Hotak dynasty. He overthrew the heavily declined Safavid dynasty to briefly become the king of Persia from 1722 until his death 1725. His father, Mirwais Hotak was the chief of the Ghilji Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan, who made the Kandhar region independent from Persian rule.

During the reign he issued gold and silver coins from various mints such as Isfahan, Kashan, and Qandhar. These coins were struck in the denomination of Ashrafi, Shahi, Abbasi, and Rupi.

Depicted here is gold Ashrafi issued during his reign from Isfahan mint in 1137 AH. The obverse of a coin depicted the Kalma ‘La Ilaha Illahu Muhammadur Rasullullah’ with AH year. On the hand, the reverse of a coin has couplet which read as "Foru ravad be-zamin mah o aftab-e monir za reshk-e sekkeye Mahmud Shah-e alamgir Zarb Isfahan".

Image Source: Heritage Auctions