Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Dugani - Ghiyas-ud-din Balban
| Issuer | Delhi Sultanate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1266-1287 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dugani (1/4) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse field is entirely occupied by a multi-line Arabic legend in bold, deeply struck Naskh script, reading 'Al-Sultan al-A'zam Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din' (The Supreme Sultan, Protector of the World and the Faith), the honorific titles of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Balban. The lettering is arranged in two to three horizontal registers filling the flan, with characteristic irregular hammered surfaces and slightly ragged edges typical of Delhi Sultanate billon coinage. No figural or decorative elements are present, consistent with Islamic numismatic tradition. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse displays the Arabic word 'Balban' prominently in the central field within a plain linear inner circle, identifying the issuing sultan. The surrounding marginal legend is inscribed in Nagari script, reading 'Sri Sultan Gayasadin', rendering the sultan's name and title in the vernacular script for the benefit of the local population. The bilingual layout — Arabic in the centre and Nagari in the margin — is a characteristic feature of certain Delhi Sultanate issues reflecting administrative bilingualism. The strike is irregular and the flan shows typical hammered texture. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Balban's coinage represents a deliberate assertion of authority following decades of weakened sultanate control under the Slave Dynasty's later rulers. Having served as a powerful regent before seizing the throne outright in 1266, he used administrative and ceremonial reforms — including strict court protocol borrowed from Persian imperial tradition — to project an image of absolute sovereignty. His billon issues, struck in the lowest denomination, were the coins most ordinary people actually handled.
The dugani circulated at a period when Delhi's monetary system was still finding its footing between older regional traditions and the centralizing ambitions of the sultanate.