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Dinar - Mas'ud III
| Issuer | Ghaznavid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1099 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | The obverse field is entirely epigraphic, displaying multiple horizontal lines of raised Arabic Kufic script arranged concentrically within the coin's circular flan. The central legend proclaims the Shahada and includes the honorific titles of the sultan: 'Sana al-Milla, Malik al-Islam, Zahir al-Imam,' along with the laqab 'Majd al-Dawla' and the kunya 'Abu Sa'd.' The legends are separated by horizontal registers, a characteristic feature of Ghaznavid gold coinage. A plain or lightly pellet-bordered inner circle frames the inscription field, while the irregular flan edge is typical of the hammered technique employed. The script is boldly executed in high relief against a smooth, slightly granular field. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse field is fully epigraphic, presenting multiple horizontal registers of raised Arabic Kufic script filling the circular flan. The central legend opens with the Shahada continuation 'Muhammad Rasul Allah' and proceeds with the sultan's full titulature: 'al-Sultan al-A'zam, Majd al-Dawla wa Diya' al-Milla, Mas'ud,' identifying the issuing ruler as the Ghaznavid sultan Mas'ud III. The inscription is arranged in neat horizontal bands, framed by a beaded or rope-pattern border near the coin's periphery, consistent with Ghaznavid hammered gold dinar typology. The relief lettering is bold and well-struck, though the flan shows the typical irregular outline of a hand-struck medieval Islamic coin. |
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| Additional information |
Mas'ud III ruled the Ghaznavid sultanate from 1099 to 1115, presiding over a dynasty already well past its territorial apex — the empire Mahmud of Ghazni had built through Central Asian conquest had by this point contracted sharply under Seljuk pressure. Gold dinars of this reign were struck at Ghazna and Lahore, the latter reflecting the dynasty's continued grip on the Punjab even as its western holdings collapsed. The Lahore mint would outlast Ghazna itself as a Ghaznavid stronghold by decades.