1/2 Larin 'Kuda' - Mohamed bin Hajj Ali Thukkala

The larin — a wire coinage bent into a fishhook shape — was the dominant trade currency across the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean littoral for roughly two centuries. The Maldives adopted the form from Persian Gulf merchants, and local production continued long after the type had died out elsewhere. Mohamed bin Hajj Ali Thukkala's reign fell within the turbulent late seventeenth century, a period when the Sultanate was repeatedly destabilized by internal succession disputes and pressure from competing Indian Ocean powers.

KM#9 is among the scarcer sultanate larins. The hand-made nature of larin production means no two examples are identical in shape.