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Jital - Muizz al-din Muhammad bin Sam Ghorid of Ghazna / Delhi mint
| Issuer | Ghurid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1173-1206 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Tye#185, Mitch WI#2460, Val CCI#105 |
| Obverse description | Stylized equestrian figure of the bull and horseman type, derived from earlier Hindu-Shahi prototypes, occupying the central field. The design features a highly schematized rendering of a rearing or walking bull with geometric body forms, surrounded by decorative scroll and pellet elements. Devanagari legend reading श्री महमद साम (Sri Muhammad Sam) is distributed around and between the design elements in the field. The overall style reflects the transitional Indo-Islamic aesthetic of the early Ghurid coinage at Delhi, executed with bold, deeply incuse hammered strokes on an irregularly shaped flan. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | श्री महमद साम |
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| Additional information |
Muizz al-din Muhammad bin Sam — better known as Muhammad of Ghor — used Ghazna as his base after wresting it from the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1173, and these jitals were among the first coins struck under Ghurid authority at that mint. The leaded copper alloy was a deliberate cost-reduction measure, a pragmatic choice for a ruler perpetually funding military campaigns across the subcontinent.
His decisive defeat of the Rajput confederacy at the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 opened the Gangetic plain to Ghurid expansion and created the administrative need for a Delhi mint issue. Muhammad was assassinated in 1206, leaving no heir — his generals divided the territory among themselves, founding what became the Delhi Sultanate.