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.
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.