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Medieval Indian Coinage
Understand Sultanate, regional kingdom and inscription-led medieval coinage contexts.
The Inscription-Led Transition
The arrival of Islamic dynasties in the late 12th century triggered a fundamental shift in the design of Indian coinage. In accordance with Islamic religious principles against representing human or divine figures on currency, mints began replacing the pictorial motifs of ancient India—such as royal portraits and deities—with calligraphic, text-based designs.
Early Sultanate coins featured inscriptions detailing the ruler's name, titles, religious expressions like the Kalima (the Islamic declaration of faith), and a reference to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad to establish political legitimacy. The inscriptions were written in Arabic and Persian scripts, often with translations or secondary legends in regional characters like early Devanagari, creating a fascinating blend of languages on a single coin.
Delhi Sultanate Currency Systems
The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE) established a highly organized monetary system that standardized currency values. The Mamluk Sultan Iltutmish introduced the silver Tanka (weighing approximately 10.8 grams) and the copper Jital. This tanka-jital standard remained the backbone of northern Indian commerce for generations.
Subsequent rulers like Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad coin Tughlaq issued vast amounts of coinage. Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–351 CE), known as the 'Prince of Moneyers', expanded mint administrative capabilities and introduced a famous token currency experiment in 1329 CE. He ordered copper and brass tokens to circulate at par with silver and gold coins. However, because the state failed to prevent counterfeiting, millions of private brass tokens flooded the market, causing severe inflation and forcing the Sultan to buy back the tokens at massive cost to the treasury.
Medieval Regional Kingdoms
During the decline of the central Delhi Sultanate, several independent regional kingdoms arose, each developing its own coinage. The Sultanates of Bengal, Gujarat, Malwa, and Jaunpur struck calligraphic silver and copper issues that matched local weight standards. Bengal coins are particularly admired for their artistic borders and decorative shapes.
In Southern India, regional Hindu kingdoms maintained pictorial coinage. The Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1646 CE) minted gold pagodas (also known as Varahas or Gadyanas) depicting Hindu deities like Venkateshvara, Balakrishna, and Shiva-Parvati, alongside legends written in Kannada, Nandinagari, or Devanagari scripts, reflecting their role as guardians of traditional southern culture.