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Tye 381.1, Deyell 320, G &G D55.
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Sultans of Delhi, Shams-al-din Iltutmish (1210-1236 A.D. = 607-633 A.H.). Billon jital of Lahore type (tentative average silver content 16%), Delhi mint; 3.28 g. (average weight 3.6 g.), 14.98 mm.max., 2.49 mm. thickness, 90◦.
Obv: Horseman bearing lance facing right, Sri Hamirah, in Nagari/Sarada script, above.
Rev: Shams al-dunya / wa'l din abu'l muzaffar / iltutmish al-sultan (in Arabic script).
Tye rarity rating Abundant.
Shams-al-din Iltutmish was the second ruler of the Mamluk/Slave dynasty and founder of the Delhi Sultanate. The early Ghorid rulers had maintained a coinage system based on the bull-and horseman coins in place at the Delhi mint. In response to the lack of silver, Iltutmish introduced a bimetallic coinage system consisting of the silver tanka and the billon jital.
Those jitals issued by Iltumish at the Delhi mint of the Delhi type (Tye 386) have a silver content ranging from 5.7% to 10.8%, whereas those of the Lahore type (Tye 381) have a silver content ranging from 13% to 16.4%, thus remaining closer to the Chauhan standard of around 18%. Tye speculates that the debasement of the Delhi type caused almost all other mints to abandon the type. The Delhi type contains various control marks on the jhula/saddle-cloth and rump of the bull (there are 25 varieties which essentially coincides with the number of years in Iltumish's reign). Tye speculates that these marks permitted the mint to identify the silver content in the coins.
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