Bantl:). Coins ISBN Number: 969 -8890 -00 -9
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A Corpus '01 bAntl:). Coins ISBN Number: 969 -8890 -00 -9 First Edition. 1000 Copies Year 2005 Published By Aman ur Rahman Photography Aman ur Rahman Layout/Design Art Vision, Karachi, Pakistan Printed At Syed Graphics, Karachi, Pakistan II Zahír-uidin Muhammad Bahur ql g\rumismatic Study %man ur Rahman The proceeds from this work will go to the Himalayan Wildlife Foundation The Himalayan Wildlife Foundation [HWF] was instituted in 1993 in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the aim of protecting the country's natural and cultur resources. The HWF is a non -profit, non -Governmental Organisatation formed and run by business executives, doctors, engineers, architects, archaeologists, Industrialist - and Corporate entities. HWF has been supported by various donors and agencies,includinL Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan Ministry of Culture (National Fund for Cultural Heritage), Government ofPakistan National Rural Support Program - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Premier -KUFPEC BV Royal Norwegian Embassy, Islamabad Shell Companies in Pakistan United States Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation United Nations Development Program /Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment- Worldwide Fund for Nature Private Pakistani individuals IV To 13abur Ahsin Mir Acknowledgment Page Chapter I. Introduction I Chapter 2. Summary of Events of Numismatic Bearings 5 Chapter 3. Commentary 19 General Evolution of Legends Economy and Coin Circulation Mint Town History Countermarked Coins Re- attribution Vassalage Coinage Die analysis and rarity table Chapter 4. Catalogue 55 Central Asian Badakhshan Balkh Ghazni Kabul Qandahar Qunduz Samarkand Mint less Mint less & Date less VII Indian Agra Jaunpur Lahore Luknur Thatta Urdu Countermarks Mis -strikes & Counterfeits Appendix. Genealogical Table 119 Provenance, die numbering andrarity rating. 121 Die link example 127 Bibliography 129 Front & Back Cover - Babur's Official seal dated 928 A.H. froma Farman in the Authors Collection VIII Acknowled8ement I am obliged to the Coin Departments of the Tubingen University Museur I Germany, the British Museum, the Hermitage Museum, the Lahore Museum in Pakistan, the National Museum at Karachi Pakistan,th__ Ashmolean Museum Oxford, the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, and th" ANS for not only allowing me free access to their collection, but alsci permission to photograph and reproduce selected specimens. My speck gratitude is due to my friends at the Hermitage, who were kind enough to make plaster casts of some important specimensthat I requested any to Dr Lutz Illisch of the Tubingen Universityfor his warm hospitality during my stay there. Thanks are also due to the Smithsonian Institute, to the late Dr. Grittlic- Von Mittlewalner, Dr. Becker, Jan Lingen, Jeff Winters, Spink andSor. Sotheby, and my many collector and dealer friends around the worldfor sending me photographs or scans of specimen in their collection.Thest have been of invaluable help in completing this work. Last, but by no means the least, thanks go out to my cousins, Iftikha{- Rasul, for guiding me through the layout, designing and printing thiswork and Salman Rahim for taking on the tedious task of proof reading ant corrections of my drafts. Chapter I Introduction This is a monograph on Babur, né Zahir -uddin Muhammad', the founder ofthe `Mughul' Empire in India. It is an attempt to create acorpus based upon his coinage; to deduce historical evidence unobtainable from written works and clear misconceptionsreported in existing records. The work is based on my personal collection of coins and connectedmaterials gathered over the past several decades. Much of the known historical facts have been culled from translations2 ofBabur's autobiography as supplemented by translations of works written during his lifetime orsoonthereafter'. However, as most readers familiar with these works will know, severalpages of Babur's autobiography, the Babur -nama, are missing. Events during theseyears have been filled in by scholars through exhaustive research into manuscripts of the period,notably those from India, Iran, Turkey, and the Central Asian States. Many questionsremain unanswered due not only to the dearth of records or biased reporting, but also to the rarity of Babur'scoinage. In the numismatic field, one important aspect is the difficultyto assign mint towns or dates to the majority of Babur's issues. Only part of thestory is that they were poorly struck, witha portion of the legend off -flan or heavilyworn. There is also the enigma of why Babur preferredto have his coins struck without dates [`dateless] andor the name of the mints [`mintless') in anage and culture where stamping the minttown and year was a useful propaganda tool. For the uninitiated reader letus explain that an important aspect of muslim ruler shipwas the right to Sikka and Khutba4 Inan age devoid of mass communication media, coinagewas a powerful propaganda tool. By striking theirname, title, place of minting, year of mintage and sometimes even the regnalyear, the king announced to his subjects information about himself, his religious beliefs, theextent of his empire and the duration of his reign. Theabuse of this exclusive right and its exercisewere important enough to attract the death penalty. This data alone is of great value to the historianin supplementing knowledge ofa given rulers scanty written records. Thepresent work attempts toanswer these questions. In undertaking this work. I havesupplemented the specimens inmy collection by a study and record of Babur'scoins in the principalmuseums of the worlds and in important private Collections'. Mostcoins reproduced were personally examined andphotographed, except for those that were culled from publishedliterature or received as a photographor scan; the latterwere computer enhanced for clarity. I. Babur'sname at birth was Muhammad. This was his Alam, or proper name. Among Muslims, there are no familynames as in the Western Societies and the Alam corresponds nearly with the Christianname, as is given soon after birth or at circumcision. Zahir -uddin (Defender of the faith] was his Laqab, or title of honor. See Codringtonp. 56, and Hodiwala p. 290. In passing, it isinteresting to note that all, save one, of the Mughul kings had 2. See Bibliography the same name- Muhammad. 3. See Bibliography 4. `Sikka'was the right to have coins minted in one's name; 'Khutba' was the right of having one's name mentionedas the ruler in the Fridayprayers. 5. Museum collections examined: British Museum; AshmoleanMuseum; Fitzwilliam Museum; Hermitage Museum, St. Lahore Museum, Pakistan; Petersburg National Museum, Karachi Pakistan and ANS. Othersthrough published catalogues: Lucknow Museum & SupplementCalcutta Museum and Supplement Patna Museum; lists from different Smithsonian Institute; auction catalogues & price auction houses /dealers over severalyears; numismatic journals. 6. Severalprivate collectors in Pakistan plus photos /scans supplied by collector and dealer friendsaround the world. JIIILC LIIC uas(s IOCtnis work is numismatic, I have started with a briefsummary of events in Babur's life that havea numismatic bearing, on a Hijri year -by -year basis. This isfollowed by a commentary covering topics suchas evolution of legends, mint economy etc. This is followed by the town history, die study, and Catalogue proper, whichgroups his known coinage into `Central Asian', and`Indian' issues, listed alphabetically, including sectionson counter-marks, counterfeits etc.Following the catalogueare three appendices and consulted. a bibliography of works Within the catalogue section, the obverse legendis reproduced with translation. The a transliteration anda reverse legends have not beenreproduced, as they coinage during this period. are standard for muslim Historical accounts, legends,die -study and epigraphyof the legends have been used to findanswers to his dateless and mintless coins etc. Babur'scounter -stamped coins have been reproducedseparately within the catalogue and a brief discussion ispresented on dating them. The die -studycovers both the obverse and been used to establish die reverse dies employed and these have -linkage as a clueto establishing the possible place gives the provenance, die of minting. Appendix II -numbering and rarityrating. As most collectorswill know from their personal experience, all ofBabur's coinsare scarce. My rarity list is subjective, personal collection based on my or seen specimens. Amongst alltypes of Babur's coins, those with and /or date legibleare rare, and with both, the mint are exceptionally rare. I have alsoattempted to re- attribute some of Babur'scoins in published works and remedysome misinterpretations caused by insufficient writtenor numismatic data. I have not attempted current international transliterationstandards for oriental is partly due to lack of names. This knowledge but mainly becauseI believe that most of for straightforward my readers will settle pronounceable words,even though they may have thus used the spellings seem phonetically inaccurate. I of names and placesas understood and pronounced by the speakers of Urdu, Persian, contemporary Turkic and Arabic. Forreasons of space saving, I have the reverse; this being not transliterated commonly knowledge andalmost similar for the majority coinage. of medieval muslim My approachon classifying various specimens has been to assign distinctivenumbering to each specimen through a numberingsystem indicated as a `XX