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!
Jital - 'Ala al-din Muhammad
| Issuer | Khwarazmian Empire (Khwarazmian dynasties) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1220 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Central field bearing a three-line Arabic inscription set within a plain inner circle, the whole enclosed by a prominent beaded border. The legends, rendered in a cursive Kufic or Naskh hand, reference the ruling sultan 'Ala al-Din Muhammad of the Khwarazmian dynasty. The flan is irregular in shape, characteristic of hammered coinage of this period, and the strike is off-center, leaving portions of the beaded border partially visible. The coin exhibits an olive-green patina consistent with prolonged burial, with areas of bronze corrosion across the upper field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field displaying a multi-line Arabic inscription contained within a plain inner circle, surrounded by a beaded border typical of Khwarazmian jital coinage. The legends, executed in a cursive Arabic hand, are partially legible due to the off-center hammered strike and surface wear. The flan displays the characteristic irregular, scalloped edge of hand-struck medieval Islamic bronze coinage. A dark patina with traces of green cuprite covers the surface, attesting to the coin's age and burial history. |
| 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 |
Muhammad II of Khwarezm was, by 1218, arguably the most powerful ruler in the Islamic world — then Genghis Khan arrived. These jitals were struck during the years Muhammad spent aggressively dismembering the Ghurid sultanate and consolidating control from the Caspian to the Indus, before his catastrophic decision to execute a Mongol trade delegation triggered an invasion that erased the Khwarazmian state entirely within four years.
The jital denomination was inherited from earlier Ghurid and Hindu Shahi monetary practice — a small bronze unit that kept commerce moving at the bazaar level across Central and South Asian trade routes.