Coins of the Khiljis

The coins of the Tughlaqs (1320-1412 AD) were superior in design and execution to those of the Khiljis. Muhammed bin Tughlaq (1325-1351 AD), took personal interest in his coinage, however, his monetary experiments were a failure and the cause of much misery. The first experiment was to make his coinage reflect the gold/silver price ratio prevailing in the free market. When this experiment failed the old gold and silver coins of about 11 grams were reintroduced. The next experiment was inspired by Chinese paper currency which had spurred the development of trade and commerce. Tughlaq attempted to establish a fiduciary system of coinage between 1329 to 1332 AD. He attempted to issue tokens of brass and copper. These tokens bore the legends such as : ‘Sealed as a tanka of fifty ganis’ together with appeals such as ‘He who obeys the Sultan, obeys the Compassionate’. Mass forgeries rendered the experiment a total disaster and Tughlaq, to his credit, redeemed all tokens, forged or genuine, in specie. It may be noted that the experiments of Tughlaq were genuine experiments: while they were forced on the populace, they were not dictated by a bankrupt treasury. Gold coins were issued in very large numbers during the reign of Muhammed bin Tughlaq, thereafter gold coins became scarce. By the time of the Lodhis, coins were struck almost exclusively of copper and billon. In the provinces, the Bengal Sultans, the Jaunpur Sultans, the Bahamanis of the Deccan, the Sultans of Malwa, the Sultans of Gujarat, etc. struck coins. In the South, however, the Vijayanagar Empire evolved coinage of different metrology and design which was to remain as a standard in the region and influence coin design up to the 19th Century.