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Jital - 'Ala al-din Muhammad 'Muhammad II of Khwarezm' Elephant right
| Issuer | Khwarezmian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1220 |
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| Composition | Billon |
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears a multi-line Arabic or Perso-Arabic inscription in angular Kufic-influenced script, disposed across the field in horizontal registers. The legend likely contains the name and titles of Sultan 'Ala al-Din Muhammad II, consistent with the epigraphic conventions of Khwarezmian billon jitals as catalogued by Tye. The script is bold but worn, typical of hammered billon issues of this period, with individual letterforms discernible across the central and lower portions of the flan. No mint name or date is visible, consistent with the anonymous dating of this type. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Muhammad II spent much of his reign in open defiance of the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir, at one point attempting to install his own rival caliph — a move that backfired badly and may have contributed to al-Nasir's alleged diplomatic overtures to Chinggis Khan. The irony is sharp: the most powerful ruler in the Islamic east, issuer of coins across a vast stretch of Central Asia, was effectively undone by the political consequences of his own overreach before the Mongols even crossed his frontier.
Jitals of this type circulated widely across the eastern fringes of the empire into the Ghaznavid-influenced zones of the subcontinent, where the elephant type had deep numismatic roots.