Ala ud-Din Masud Shah ruled the Delhi Sultanate for less than four years before being deposed by his own nobles in 1246 — a reminder of how completely real power had shifted to the Turkish slave-officer class, the so-called "Forty." His reign produced no significant military campaigns or administrative reforms; the sultanate was effectively governed by Balban and the court faction surrounding him. Coinage from this period consequently reflects continuity rather than initiative, struck to maintain commerce in the Indo-Gangetic plain rather than to project any particular authority.
Ala ud-Din Masud Shah ruled the Delhi Sultanate for less than four years before being deposed by his own nobles in 1246 — a reminder of how completely real power had shifted to the Turkish slave-officer class, the so-called "Forty." His reign produced no significant military campaigns or administrative reforms; the sultanate was effectively governed by Balban and the court faction surrounding him. Coinage from this period consequently reflects continuity rather than initiative, struck to maintain commerce in the Indo-Gangetic plain rather than to project any particular authority.