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1 Mohur - Ahmad Shah Dar al-Sultanat Kabul mint
| Issuer | Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1762 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by a Persian poetic couplet in praise of Ahmad Shah Durrani, rendered in elegant Nasta'liq calligraphy arranged in three curved horizontal registers within a dotted inner border. The inscription is surrounded by an outer beaded border following the irregular flan. The regnal year appears to the left of the central text panel. The overall design is characteristic of Durrani-period hammered gold coinage, with the calligraphic lines flowing gracefully across the planchet. |
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| Reverse description | Central field bearing the mint name Dar al-Sultanat Kabul and the regal year formula inscribed in Nasta'liq calligraphy, arranged in sweeping curved registers across the flan. The mint epithet 'Dar al-Sultanat' (Seat of the Sultanate) identifies Kabul as the issuing authority. The legends are contained within a dotted inner circle and an outer beaded border, consistent with Durrani hammered gold coinage of the mid-eighteenth century. The irregular planchet and bold script are typical of hand-struck issues of this series. |
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Ahmad Shah Durrani was in the middle of consolidating the first Afghan empire when this mohur was struck at Kabul, then designated Dar al-Sultanat — "seat of government." He had taken the throne in 1747 following the assassination of Nadir Shah, elected by a loya jirga at Kandahar. By 1762, his campaigns into the Punjab were relentless; the sixth of his nine invasions of India occurred that same year, culminating in the sack of Amritsar and the destruction of the Harmandir Sahib. Gold coinage from Kabul in this period served his military machine as much as his treasury.