Muhammad bin Tughluq's monetary experiments are among the most disastrous in medieval Indian history. Around 1329, he introduced a token currency in copper and brass intended to substitute for silver tanka — a scheme so aggressively counterfeited by the general population that merchants refused the coins entirely and the sultan was eventually forced to redeem the debased tokens at face value from the treasury, reportedly ruining the royal finances in the process. Ibn Battuta, who served at the Delhi court, documented the collapse firsthand.
Whether this specific paika denomination circulated during the token currency crisis or predates it remains a point of scholarly dispute.
Muhammad bin Tughluq's monetary experiments are among the most disastrous in medieval Indian history. Around 1329, he introduced a token currency in copper and brass intended to substitute for silver tanka — a scheme so aggressively counterfeited by the general population that merchants refused the coins entirely and the sultan was eventually forced to redeem the debased tokens at face value from the treasury, reportedly ruining the royal finances in the process. Ibn Battuta, who served at the Delhi court, documented the collapse firsthand.
Whether this specific paika denomination circulated during the token currency crisis or predates it remains a point of scholarly dispute.