on the coins of the dynasty of the hindú kings of kábul / by edward thomas
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Aar. VI.?On the Coins of the Dynasty of the Hindu Kings of
Kabul. By Edward Thomas, Esq., Bengal Civil Service.
[Read OthJune, 1846.]
In a work by M. Reinaud, entitled, Frngmens Arabes et Persans
relatifs ? l'Inde, lately published at Paris, is to be found the followingtranslation of a passage from the Arabic Manuscript of A bul Rihan
Mohammed Alb?r?n?, which enables Indian numismatists to fix both
akingdom and a dato for a class of coins, regarding
thehistory
of
which much uncertainty has uj) to this time prevailed: Alb?r?n?'s
original Arabic version, designated Tarikh-i-Hind,was
composedin
India between the years 1030 and 1033 a.D. His evidence, therefore,
in thepresent
instance is of thehighest value, as
having been com
mitted towriting
in thecountry
to which it refers, at aperiod
imme
diately contemporaneous with the existence of one of the short list of
kingswhoso
historyit concerns.
"Lo dernier roi de cette
dynastie*
fut Laktouzcman. Ceprince
avait ?>our vizir un Brahmane nomm? Kaller. Ce vizir ?tait favoris?
par la fortune, et il trouva dans la terre des tr?sorsqui
lui donn?rent
do la force et accrurent sa
puissance.
D'un autre c?t?, la fortune
tourna le dos ? son ma?tre. En effet, il y avait bien long temps que
cette famille ?tait ma?tresso dupouvoir.
Laktouzemanj>rit
une direc
tion mauvaise; il se livra ? une conduite honteuse; et, comme les
plaintesarrivaient de tout c?t? au
vizir, celui-ci fitcharger
leprinco
de cha?nes et renferma pour lecorriger.
Ensuite le vizir se laissa
aller ? la tentation d'?tre le ma?tre unique:il avait des richesses
sufiisantes pour lever tous les obstacles. Ils'empara
donc du tr?ne et
eut pour successeur lo Brahuic Samanda. Celui-ci fut remplac? pur
Kamalava, puisvinrent successivement Bheema, Djayap?la,
Anauda
pala,et
Nardadjanp?la.Celui-ci monta dit-on, sur le tr?ne l'an 412
de PHcgirc(1021 de J. C). Son fils, Bhccmapnla, lui succ?da au bout
decinq
ans. La souverainet? Indiennes'?teignit dans la personne de
co dernier, et il no restaplus d'individu de cette famille pour souiller le
feu2."
Prior to thediscovery
of this passage, the kingdoms andepochs
1 The Turk Kings of Kabul. The previous relation closes with the reign of
Kank.* u
La nouvelle dynastie me parait avoir remplac? le Bouddhisme par le
Brahmanisme, et j'attribuea ces
princes la s?rie de m?dailles que M. Wilson a crue
d'origine Rajepout."?Reinacd.
N 2
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assigned to the dynasty who had issued the series of coins, heretofore
denominated Rajput, were manifold indeed. However, admitting all
the doubt reasonably attendant upon the early discovery of a limited
number of medals, andmarking
the various and unlooked-for ramifica
tions into which this class of coinscvcutually extended, we
may, in the
case inpoiut, fairly
claim adegree
of credit of noordinary
character for
the science of Numismatics, which in spite of all obstacles enabled thoadmirable Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, James Prinscp,to announce with confidence so
long agoas 1837, on information
derived almost solely from the medals themselves and their places of
discovery, that the species of coins which form the subject of the
present notice, extendedtf
upwardsto the Brahmanical rulers of the
Punjab, and probably of Kabul:" an opinion now seen to be justifiedto the very letter.
Professor Wilson also, in adjudging the coin of Prithvi Raja to
its right owner, the Lost Hind? king of Delhi (a.D. 1192), was able to
conjecture,with sonic
certainty,that the
early princesof the
dynasty,
win? had introduced medals of the liko device, had reigned in tho
Punjab at the end of the tenth, and early part of the eleventh cen
tury. In addition, then, to a confirmation of thespeculations
of Pro
fessor Wilson and James Prinscp, we derive, from this passage in
Alb?r?n?, the distinct information, that a Brahmanical
dynasty
suc
ceeded a race of Turk kings inKabul. A full list of these Brahman
sovereigns, broughtdown to a timo when other Mohammedan authors
beginto notice Indian
history,enables us, in a most
satisfactory
manner, to make a correct attribution of avery extensive, if not
important,class of medals.
The dates of the reigns of the last two princes of this line are fixed
by Alb?r?n? ; and these alone would be sufficient to enable us to form
an approximate estimate of tho epoch of Samanta, and that of his
predecessor,the founder of this
dynasty.Wc have, however, in addi
tion, asingular piece of collateral evidence, illustrative of the period
sought,in the discovery
of one of Samanta's coins,so
latelyas 1842,
at aplace
calledObrzycko,
in the provinceof Posen, in company with
those of thirty different kings of Europe and Asia, all of whom reigned
priorto 015 a.D.1 Considering
the distance thissolitary
coin of
Kabul had to travel, (probably ouly in the simple course of commerce)
prior to its inhumation, in seeking for a satisfactory era for thismonarch, we may justly admit a margin of forty or
fifty years, pre
For the notice of this discovery, asbearing upou the era of the Brahman
kings of Kabul, we ?re indebted to M. A. de Longperier, whose valuable commu
nication on this subject is printed at the end of M. lleinaud's work.
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viou8 to this date, and assume his accession at any period proximate
to i)35 A.n. Over and above these evidences,we find a more
specific
date for ourpurpose, and one less removed from the
periodin
question, in the known fact of Jeip?Ps existence as king of Lahore,
priorto the death of
Aleptegin,which took
placein 706* a.D., as
Jeip?l is noticed by Mohammedan historians asopposing Sabak
tagin in his early expeditions into India, while this last was still onlythe
general ofAleptegin: allowing, then, forty years upward.?
from
07? (a dateby
no meansproved
to be that of the commencement of
Jeip?l's reign,)for the united reigns of Samanta, Kunilowa, and
Bhiin, we shall scarcelyerr in fixing the accession of the first of the
three asearly
as 9.35 A.D. This mode ofcomputation, however, under
any circumstances, is butimperfect,
and the utmost the materials
at our command enable us to assert with any degreeof
certaintyis
that Syala's usurpation took place early in the tenth century.
Before entering upon the question of the identification of any of
the doubtful names in ourlist, it is
necessaryto
premise,that great
latitude is to be allowed in any attemptto reconcile Hind? names,
writtenoriginally
in the Sanskrit character, with atranscription of
the same into Arabic. All who areacquainted
even with Ihe
letters of these twolanguages
will beprepared
to admit the difli
eultyhere adverted to. Tho Arabic
Manuscriptfront which the
presentFrench translation has been made is
acknowledgedto be of
modern execution: hence, asmight be
expected,we labour under full
disadvantageof tho errors of
succeeding manuscript copyists. These,
werethey
notamply notorious, are
sufficiently provedto have existed
inperhaps
more than their usual force in the present instance, where
M. Iteinaud is found giving four possible readings of the name of
Nardadjanp?l from his own manuscript, besides adverting to three
other readings by Otbi and Ferishtah.Keeping
the above in view, then, wepropose, instead of endeavour
ingto
identifyHindu names
through the mazes ofuncertainty
of the
Arabic manuscript, boldlyto correct the Arabic from the
unquestion
able records of the coins themselves; and instead ofapplying
coins to
kings, applythe kings
to their own coins.
Beforeproceeding
with the nomenclature of the Brahmanical kinjrs,
it may bo proper to notice in thisplace,
the coincidence between the
Arabic name of tho celebrated Turk king, Knnk, jCxT, and the Sri
Vanka dev ^ft ^ of the Elephant aud Lion type of coin which
precededthe Bull and Horseman money introduced
bythe Bralnnans.
The similitude of names and the needfulcorrespondence of all avail
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able evidence, arcsurely
sufficient to authorize ourindicating
Vanka
dev, as the hero the history of whoso rule immediately precedes the
extract abovegiven.
The first king in this Kabul dynasty, named in the Arabic, "Kalar
Brahman," is, wc have little doubt, theSyalapati
of our coins. There
is less difference in sound between Syala and Kalar, than would at
first be imagined, so that if our translator Alb?r?n? wrote his Arabicversion from oral tradition, this slight chango in the initial pronunciation of tho name would be fairly probable. If this supposition be
rejected, there is still in reserve the very likely substitution by suc
ceeding copyists of the Arabic Manuscript, of a& for an?j?. It will
be seen that in this argument, all account of the latter part of tho
name found on the coins is rejected. The Pati was probably,as it is
at thepresent day,
used as a secondname;
or we
may fairlylook
upon Syala as a popular abbreviation of the somewhat long title of
Syala pati dev.
For the third king's identification, it must be confessed, that wo
have to demand to the full, all tho consideration above claimed, to justifyour appropriation of the medal bearing the legend Khvadavayaka, or
Khedavayaka, to our Arabic author's king, \A>+S, Kamlowd: Khcdava
and Kumlowa are not, even to liberal cars, quiteaccordant in sound;
still their soumis, with the causes of disturbance stated above, might
well be farther removed one from the other.Supposing
theoriginal
native name to havo beencorrectly
rendered into tho Arabic in
the first instaucc, the mutation from Kad?v?, JAxf > to Kamlowd,
\JUJf, might easily have occurred. A blot in tho middle of the
word, or a carelessrunning
of one letter into another, wouldreadily
convertAj. dav,
intoA^>,
inlu. Thestylo
ofcoin,
as well as tho
metal it iscomposed of, agree exactly
with those of three out of tho
four first rulers of ourvery limited
dynasty;so much so, and so much
evidence does it bear of belonging to one of the earlier kings of this
race, the laterprinces
of our listhaving adopted
a mixed silver and
copper currency, that wemight almost assume from the
negative fact
that it does not bear the name of any of the other three princes, that it
was once the propertyof the third Kabul Brahman.
Referring to the name of Nardadjaiip?l, seeing theuncertainty
as
to its correctorthography
avowedby
M. Remand, wonaturally
hesi
tate in any attemptat numismatic
identification,more
especiallyas
we are disposed to doubt whether the denomination here quoted is a
name at all, ami whether it is not rather a mere indication of the rela
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.
tionship of tho successor of Anungp?l to his grandfather, the great
Jcip?l. In the lithographed Persian copy of Ferishtah, the words
JUa?. */?>>> "gra"dson
ofJeip?l"
have beenadopted. The R?zut
al-saf? as well as itsabridgment
the Habib-al-sair, both works of
early date and high authority, give no name, mentioning only the
accession of Pal, the son of Auungpal.
Thereadings
of the coins of the three other sovereigns in Albi
rt'ini's list of whose moneywe have specimens,
do not appear to
require any special notice, as the Hindi and Arabic namesagree most
satisfactorily.
With a view ofassuring ourselves of the
probablewealth and
extent ofkingdom
of each ruler of this race, it may be as well that we
should advertgenerally
to thocomparative abundance,
as well as to
the localities in which this class of coins is discovered. The medals of
Syalaare found in considerable numbers in Afghanistan. They are,
however, comparativelyless abundant in the Punjab,
ami North of
India; whereas, the monies of Samanta,common as
theyare in and
around Kabul, are, weimagine,
even moreplentiful
in thePunjab,
and
the north-western provincesof Hindustan. We can at all events,
from our ownexperience,
assert that theyare met with in
surprising
quantities
in the North of
India,
aud in actual amount and number
nowpreserved,
far surpass those of any other Indian king antecedent
to the Mohammedan conquest. We are, asyet,
aware of the exist
ence ofonly
fourspecimens
of the money of Khedava. The coins of
Ilium are found in K?bulistan, but are seldom, if ever, met with in
India. The coins ofAnungp?l
are common, and arcplentiful
in the
Punjab, and the northern parts of tho Ganges D??b. Of Jeip?l,
Nardadjanp?l,and
Bh?mp?lno medals are known.
Numerous as Syala's coins arc, their bond fide production, both
from his mint and front his own resources, does not appear beyondthe
reach of probability, explained as it is, in a measure, hy Albinmfs
mention of his great riches.
To account for the enormous amount of the money of Samanta,
there may bo assigned two different causes; either, an actual legi
timate issue from his mint of the number of coins of which the medals
now extant are therepresentatives, (rendered possible by
the mag
nitude of his possessions); or, tho recoinagc of the money of his
predecessor, arising from a desire of aggrandizingeither himself as
an individual, or thereligion
of which he was aprominent follower,
by replacing with his own name and asymbol
of his creed, those of his
predecessors of anopposing faith. Samantas celebrity,
from whatever
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source derived, is evidencedby
the uniform retention of his name on
the coins of his successors, from the time of Anungp?l down to tho
Mohammedan conquest of Delhi in 1192 ; by the adoption of the device
of Nandi, superscribed by his appellation, by tho later Ghaznevidcs;and
bythe
assumptionof the Horseman reverse of a
coinageat that
time completely identified as his, by the Ghorians, on their first exten
sion of their dominions. It would appear also, from the number ofSamanta's proper coins still extant, and the
varietyof countries they
are to be found in, that ho must have held under his sway some
very rich and extensive kingdom. That under him the originalKabul territory of Syala was carried to tho extreme limits of the
Punjab and Sirhind, is rendered likely by the number of his medals
still found in those parts, and by the fact, that coins bearing the Brah
manical deviceconjoined
with Samanta's name, andevidently
imita
tions from the Kabul originals,are found in use
byhis
earlysucces
sors, andregularly
continued as the currency of those countries for
nearlytwo centuries.
Keepingin view, in this
inquiry,that Samanta
was not the actual founder of hisdynasty,?at
all events as far as
the original kingdom of Kabul is concerned?if he had not made
himself remarkable, eitherby conquest,
orby
the advancement of
Hind? ascendancy, it is difficult to explain why the name of Syala,the first of the
line,
was not the one chosen for a mintmotto,
or oven
that of Bhini, the last Brahmanpredecessor (as
we shallpresently
show)of those who introduced the use of bi-nominal coins. This
custom, be it observed, was in all likelihood derived from tho prac
tice of Hie Mussulmans inscribing the titles of the mundane head of
their religionon the reverses of their medals, but in the present
instance the name of Samanta supplied the place of the Moslim
Imam; if the idea now advanced be correct, it in itself supplies us
with another indication, over and above those we have yet to advance,of Samanta's
priestly supremacy.
It may be as well here to notice, that the silver and copper coins
bearingthe single word "Samanta" over the bull, without any name
on the reverse, cannot, under any circumstances, be taken to be tho
coins of a class of nionarchsusing
oneparticular form of medal,
as distinguished from one individual bearing the appellation; as
Samanta's immediate successors inscribe their own names above the
figure of Nandi, on the obverse of their own coins.
It is somewhatworthy
of remark in thisplace, and with reference
to thisparticular
view of Samanta's greatness, that Ward, in his list
ofKings
of Hindustan, extracted from the Pu ranas, notes Sumoodru
Palu, as the founder of aYogi dynasty of paramount nionarchs,
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numberingsixteen kings; among these sixteen, we find the names of
no less than three princes,whose coins we now have to show, bearing
the identical Bull and Horseman device of the Kabul Brahmans. Two
of these, Bhiin and Anunda, correspond in name with two of tho
successors of Samanta recordedby Alb?r?in?. Moreover, this same
list of Ward's, brought down through many Ilajas, ends in Prithvi
Raja, the last Hind? monarch of Delhi, andone
who,we
have alreadyseen, retained Samanta's name and
styloof coin. If we
acceptthe
evidence of the Punir?as in this coincidence, it will be seen that fol
lowingWard himself, we must
entirely reject theirchronology.
That Samanta should, from a motive of individualvanity, have
recoined, in his own name, all the money of hispredecessors within
his reach, is highly probable; indeed, we have an instance of a like
act in acountry
not too far removed to have furnished him anexample;
as the author of the Raja Tarangini informs us, that Toramana, king
of Kashmir, from 415 to 430 a.d. melted down the ancient coin of the
country,and struck di?ara in his own name.
Saman ta's renown as aking, whether he were a
conqueroror not,
wasprobably
connected with the progress of Brahinanisui, inopposition
to Buddhism, the former of which is shown by Colonel Sykes to have
made suchimportant
advancesjust about this
period1:at the same time
there is evidence sufficient, aided by that afforded by Alb?r?n?, to
justify us in supposing that the Turk kings of Kabul were Buddhists.
Fromreligious
zeal to advance Brahmanism, it waspossibly Samantas
objectto remove, as
earlyafter the
usurpationof the
monarchy byhis
familyas he
safely could, all traces of Buddhistascendancy.
In the
East, where these thingsare much considered, in no
way would a
man's ideas turn morereadily
in anattempt of this nature, than to
the destruction of the coins of formerkings, and the increase of his
own.
Were there nothing intrinsically indicative of areligious motive in
the assumption by these Brahman kings of the Nandi type of coin, the
entirechange
in the device of the coinage of akingdom, concurrent
with the accession of aruling power professing
a different creed, would
in itself attract attention to thesubject, especially when, in addition,
we have reason to think that the coins of the Turkkings, in their die
of the elephant, refer to the Buddhist faith. The fact of the entire
absence ofany single specimen
ofthe silver coinage of the Turk kings
of Kabul is most remarkable; especiallyas the copper pieces, bcarin?'
theirelephant
and lion device, areplentiful,
we cannot with any
1Vide Journal Royal Asiatic Society, No. XII., Art. XIV.
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reasonimagine thcso
kingsor their
countryso
poor,as to have been
absolutely wantingin a silver currency. The careful suppression
of
these silent recordsby
a successful adversary, then, isperhaps
one of
the few ways ofaccounting
for their non-existcucc. The copper coins
beingmore
perishable, may have been allowed to escape; nay more,
of so little importancedoes the copper currency
seem to have been
considered, that we have instances of Samanta's name appearing on
coins of the old die,even after
Syalahad introduced copper money of
the same form and size as his silver currency. The issue of these
elephantcoins may, indeed, have occurred
earlyin Samanta's reign,
before his bigotry gained head, otherwise itmilitates somewhat againstthis
explanation of the causo of hisapparent
wealth.
The association of the names of Hindu Deities in several distinct
instances, on the coins ofMadanp?l,
Prithv? Rajaand others, as
prefixesto the name of Samanta, testifies in an obvious manner the
sacerdotal eminence of this last.
It will be remarked, on a reference to Alb?r?n?, that a notablo
change takesplace
in the termination of the names of the sovereigns
after the fourth on the list.Syala, Samanta, and Blum, call themselves
d?va; Jeip?land the rest are all
palaelevas. At the same time, our
plate shows a considerable variation in thostyle
ofcoinage;
in the medals
of
Syala,Samanta, Khedava, and Bhim d?va, we have the name over
the bull on the obverse, the reversebeing occupied by
tho horseman,
accompanied by what, as far as we know, are mere mint marks, ami
the Arabic word J?? (just), whereas, in thomoney of Anung pal d?va
we find the designation placedon the reverse, occupying the place of
the mint marks just noticed, the bull on the obverse being superscribed
(as has been before mentioned) by the title of Samanta; and this
practice is continuedby succeeding
nionarchs of the race. Tho in
scription of the name of a preceding prince on the coins of his suc
cessors cannot butpoint,
notonly
to thecelebrity
of the former, but
to the acknowledged relative inferiority of the latter; hence we
naturally inquire,if Khedava and Bhim considered themselves
equal
to their immediate predecessor, why Anung pal,and most
probably
Jeip?l, admitted their own subordination] We havo it, on tho autho
rityof Ferishta.li, that Jeip?l was the son of Hisp?l; and we learn
that he was king of Delhi, and that he extended his dominion
to Lahore'. This must be taken to mean, thatJeip?l conquered
theprovince of Lahore, and as we find him noted as one of the suc
cessors of the Kabul dynasty, we might well suppose that he con
' Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Useful Table*.
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quered Kabul ?also; but Abul Fazl tells us that Aleptegin possessed
himself of Kabul as well asGhazni, and we know from Ferishtah and
Mirkhond, that Jeip?Ps dominions extended westward only to Peshawar
and Lughm?n; clearly proving that ho did not own Kabul. If such
bo the truth, theonly way of accounting
for Jcip?l's being recorded as
aking
of tho Kabul race, is, to conclude, as Samanta's coins giveus
reason to do, that the early princes of the line possessed the Punjab,
and that Jeip?l, in taking this from them, succeeded to all they then
had left, and, with their lands, took the honours of one of their line.
It is possible also, if the Brahmans did not possess the Punjab, that, on
their loss of the kingdom of Kabul, leaving, as it did, the owner of
tho land of the five rivers, the nearest neighbourof tho advancing
Mohammedans, Jeip?l may have put himself forward as the"
Fidei
Defensor,'* and,as such, called himself successor to these
priestly
kings. In identifying the Jeip?l of Delhi with Albir?ui's king of
Kabul, we may very fairly conjecture that, being of the Delhi Tuar
line, Jeip?l was a Tuar Rajput and no Brahmau. If objection be
taken to the sufficiency of the data upon which the identification of
the Delhi with the Lahore monarch is founded, there is still much to
favour thesupposition
that Jeip?lwas a
Rajput;his name as well as
tho caste of hispeculiar subjects
admit theprobability
of his being
aBh?tt?,
orshepherd.
Thischango
of caste in a line of Hind?
monarch?, would at onceexplain any acknowledgment
ofinferiority.
There are, however, objectionsto the too
readyadmission of this
solutiou of thedifficulty,
as Ferishtah unquestionablymentions
Jeip?l
as "of the Brahman race:" this, in a Mohammedan author, may
merelymean one of a line heretofore of that caste, or as a
king
identified with Brahmanism by promoting and defending that creed.
The samo remark, indeed, mightbe
appliedto the statement of Albi
r?n? himself, on tho subject of the caste of the early Kabul king1?,
exceptthat the allusion to the Brahman origin
ofSyala
and Samanta
is distinct and reiterated; whereas the othersovereigns
areonly
indicatedby
name assucceeding
each in his turn, without any precise
reforonco to tho class from whencethey sprang.
It is not a little singular,amid the profusion
of the medals of
other kingsof the dynasty,
that nosingle specimen of the
pro?luce of
Jcip?l'smint has as
yetbeen brought
to light.It would be unreason
able to infer from this that Jeip?l did not coin money; the Eastern
feelingon the
subject,his long reign,
and his richkingdom, all
oppose this deduction. We must conclude, then, that the extensive
currency of Samanta sufficed for the generalwants of the time, ami
that Jeip?Ps frequent employment inwar, left him little time to attend
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to the arts of peace, and induced him to content himself with a verylimited issue of coin.
Touching the extent of the kingdoms possessed by each prince of
the line, but little information is accorded to usby Alb?r?n?; he
simply alludes to the revolution which placed the first of the race at
the head of the kingdom of Kabul, and then satisfies himself with
ascanty notice
ofthe rest of the dynasty.
We have already ventured to infer from the record borne by
medals, that one of the first kings of this dynasty added tho Punjabto his somewhat limited Kabul state. Tho dominion of Jeip?l is
shownby Mohammedan authors to have "extended from Sirhind to
Lanigh?n, and from Kashmir toMultan." Tho Hind? annals of the
countries themselves bear witness that he was alsoking
of Delhi.
Anungp?l,in
succeedingto theso
possessions,was not able to retain
the full vigour of his sovereignty against the repeated attacks of theMohammedans. In his
reignJessalmir is noted as
tributary,and
held under him by a local king. This and many other states, regard
ingwhich no distinct information has come down to us, there is reason
to believe, must have been attached to the kingdom during Jeip?Fs
time. Indeed, whatever the peculiar dominions of each king mayhave been, all testimony
on the subject demonstrates that Jeip?l,
Anungp?l,and his successor, were
recognisedas
paramountnionarchs
of Northern India. The readiness with which the troops of the local
rajas were collected at their demand, their usually being found at the
head of the army when assembled, and theprotection they
extended
to states not in their own immediatepossession,
all show this supre
macy.It would seem never to have been the custom of Indian con
querors to occupy the kingdoms they subdued, they satisfied them
selvesapparently
withexacting submission, demanding
as aproof
of
such,cither a nominal tribute or an
obligationof service. Narda
djanp?l (known among the Mussulmans as Jeip?l IL), finally lost
Lahore, which from thisperiod became an
appanage of the Ghazne
vides. In the absence of any other evidence, we mustconjecture
thatBh?inp?l succeeded to tho territories his father was ablo to save
from Mohammedan conquest.
While on the subject of the coins of the kings of Kabul, itmay be
proper that we should briefly advert to several medalsdisplaying
more or less relation to the original type, but inscribed, at the samo
time, with Cufie letters. No. 19 of ourplate
is a coinevidently
imitated from Syala's money, bearing on the one side the bull, but
little altered, with the exception of the removal of the sign of the
trident of Siva from the animal's haunch to a moreprominent position
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on tho field of the coin ; the space usually occupied by the name of
Syala, is here supplied by that of the Khalif, ???b .j?Jt+H AI Muk
tadir billah;on the space above tho bull is also to be seen a mono
gram, apparentlyone of the Sanskrit double letters, ?T??,found on
some types of the money of Syala, reversed; this mark, in itself,
identifies the coin most intimately with those we suppose it
to bo derived from: the reverse exhibits the horseman, somewhat
altered from the original,in the absence of the spear, and the nearer
approximation of the head-dress to tho form used by the Imams;
tho whole is superscribed Jul=*. ?JJ"
Lilian Jafer," Jafer being
supposed to bo tho real name of tho Khalif himself, or that of bis
Vizir, to either of whom, itcorrectly belongs. This coin is
conjec
tured by M. A. de Longperier to have been issued by some quondam
Hind?princo newly
converted to Mohammedanism, who must have
been in a measure connected with the state of Kabul. There are
several casts of similar coins in the British Museum, and oneoriginal
in thoBiblioth?que
du Roi at Paris. That thero was much intercourse
and someunexplained connexion between the Hindus and Moham
medans in the days of Syala, there is further evidence in his coins
themselves: for the curious monogram )-f- in front of the horse on bis
medals and those of his successors, is discovered from a clear cut die
of a coin of Khedava, to be astrange perversion
of the Arabic word
jAcAs the Mohammedan specimen
errs in its reversal of a Hindi
letter, and would seem to indicate itself the work of a die cutter
versant in Cufie, but ignorant of Sanskrit; so, the coins of Syala,both in this instance and those about to be noticed, prove their art ist
a master of Sanskrit, though wofullyuninstructed in Arabic. On
other of Syala's coins (especially on three presented to tho British
Museumby
Colonel Lafont),are to be found what, at
present, in
theimperfect
state of the medals themselves, appears to be a some
what lengthenedPersian inscription, in front of the horseman. These
coins are hero alluded to, in thehope
ofdrawing the attention of
possessors of betterspecimens
to thesubject,
with a view to its full
elucidation. In order to embrace a reference to all medals having any
bearingon this
question,wo
may note the publication of four coins in
the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vide Plate XLIX.,Vol. IV., Figures 27, 28; and Plate XI., Vol. II., Figures 14 and 17.
Tho Sauskrit inscriptionon these has not been satisfactorily deci
phered. The Persian reads clearly j4>vlL LJjJl y^UN?sir
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cd-din, it is to be observed, was the title of Subuktagin,a title adopted
by no succeeding Indian potentate till 1210 a.d.
In the scries ofkings using tho bull and horseman currency wo
have a break extending from Bhimp?l to Prithvi Raja, aperiod of
nearlya
centuryand a half. Into this extensive gap
wo are at
present able to introduce, with historical certainty, onlyone king,
Mndanp?l. (Fig. 15.) The name of Sallakshanp?l (vide Figs. 11 and
12),claims insertion in our
list, but the local annals extant do not
enable us to fix its due position. Tho make of the coins, and the
form of character with which theyare inscribed, suffice to point to an
early reign; as such, we have placed this king before Madanp?l. We
have, also, the coins of threeprinces (Nos. 16, 17, and 18 of our
plate',) who will probably be found to have reigned during this
interval ; however, thepaucity
of specimens, and the abrasion of the
letters on themargin
of these medals, do notpermit
us tosuggest
the full titles they once bore. The name of Mahap?l is distinct on
the smallpiece, Fig. 1.5, and the devico seems to bear some
affinity
to the Kabul type. This will probably be found to bo a coin of
Mahip?l,otherwise Bh?p?l, king
of Benares and G?ur, a.d. 1027.
We must not omit, in this casual mention of the coins ofMadanp?l
and Prithvi Raja, to allude to tho titles of M?dhava and As?wnr?, to
be discovered on each
respectively.
M?dhava is ono of the
manynames of Krishna, and its
adoptionon the money of a
kingof Kano?j,
for as such woidentify Madanp?l,
isappropriate,
inasmuch as tho
classic land of Mathura, the birth-place of this divinity, was in all
probability a fief of Kano?j. The As?wuri, another title of D?rg?,
may evidence a separate dynasty and a race of kings of a different
Rajput family, who may have adopted for their local goddess, tho
mountain-born Parvuti.
The unassigned coin ofWT'" ^ (Fig. 16), displays the As?wuri,and hence may teach us to look for the identification of its master
> Sec also Figs.21 and 28, Plate XIX., Ariana Antiqua.
*Were it not venturing beyond what the strict reading of the inscription on
this coin altogether permits,itmight well be attributed to Sdmcswar, the Choh?u
King of Ajmir, the fourth in descent from the great V?sala dev.
In the transition state of the Dcvanagari alphabet at this period, the initial letter
of the name, which undoubtedly (referring to the modem forms) looks more like a
Tj p than any'othcr consonant, may possibly have been used to represent an s^f,
and what appears of the remainder of the word tallies well with^ffti^? "?cT
"Somcswar dev." Vide Tod, Vol. I. p. 225; and Vol. IL p 451.
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among the families of tho Chohans, or the Tuars, to whose throne
theysucceeded.
That the whole countryof Hindustan was, during
thecentury
and
a half above adverted to, in a state of extremeanarchy,
incident
upon the frequent inroads of the Ghaznevides, there can be little
doubt; that there was agreat subdivision of monarchies and con
sequent general insignificance of their rulers, we have cvidenco
enough to show, did wo not find proof of it in bearingof the com
bination of no less than ono hundred andfifty kings
to oppose the
invasion of Mohammed bin Sain
It is dillicult, amongso
many sovereignties,to know where to turn
to seek the owners of our coins, or toconjecture
in what line, andby
what process of descent, theright to strike these medals was continued
from monarch to monarch, till we find it fixed in Prithvi Raja. It is
possible that the mere possession of the capital, in itself constituted its
lord a nominal Maharaja, and that with the capital also went the die,which had long been in use for the currency of the dependent coun
tries. That this particular species of coin was regarded as the fixed
currencyof tho dominions of the successors of the Kabul
kings,is
sufficiently proved by its acceptation, in part, by Ibrahim; its beingfound in use by Prithvi Raja; and its recognition and retention by
Mohammed bin
S?m,and his successors on the throne of Delhi. At
tho sametime, it is not
unlikely,as the
prestige attachingto the
lordshipof the old scat of government gradually
became weaker,as
itsprinces became less
powerful, that thiscoinage, in
continuingto be
recognised among the Hindus as atype of their faith, was adopted at
will by any of the numerous rajas of that belief, who, for the time
boing, attainedascendancy
sufficient to entitle them, in any way,to
assumo the leadership of their brethren in their opposition to the
advance of Mohammedan conquest.
It has been mentioned above, that the Mohammedanprinces
of
Ghazni and Ghor imitated, in part, the coinage of the Kabul kings:somo notice of these currencies
may not, therefore, be out ofplace
in ourpresent inquiry. The copper money of the later MiiHsulm?ii
kings of Ghazni has ono of its surfaces ornamented with the bull N?ndi,
abovo which is inscribed, as in his owncoins, the name of Samanta;
the other surface bears the name and titles of the Mohammedanprince
in Cufie characters. The first Ghaznevide of whom we have moneyof this
description, is Ibrahim(a.D. 1058), Plate, fig. 20, and its use
seems to have been continued until the close of thereign
of Khusr?
Shah (11(10). The adoption of asymbol so
purely Hind?, superscribed
by the name of a Hind?king, by
a sect sobigoted in these matters as
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the followers of Mohammed, is singular, but may bo accounted for,
cither by the supposition that the Ghazni sultans, in virtue of their
conquestof a
partof the territories of Samanta's successors, assumed
a reverse for their coins indicative of such success; or, moreprobably
still, this device may have been borrowed by the Ghaznovides from
motives of policy, originating in a desire to conciliate the feelings of
their new subjects, in continuing a symbol connected with tho Hind?faith, to the rejection
of the invocation of Islamism, up to this time used,
in itsplace,
on their own coins. It is to be observed, that this change
was not made till the sultansbegan
to trust themselves among their
Indian subjects, by taking up their residence at Lahore The last of
the race of tho Ghnznevidcs, Khusru Malik, discontinued tho use of tho
bull reverse, and issued money having Cufie inscriptions on both sides.
The house of Ghor appear to have assumed one of thesymbols
of the Kabul money, after they had won Ghazni in 1171: instead,
however, of following their fellow-Mohammedans in aflecting the
bull, they adopted the opposite surface, and issued a copper cur
rency, decorated, on oneside, with the horseman, accompanied by
the words Sri Haniira,W *?*m.i, inscribed, on tbo reverse, with their
own titles. The device thusadopted
was continued, on the ono hand,
through the Delhi successors of Mohammed bin Sam up to the time
of N?sir-ed-d?n Mahm?d (a.d. 1266), and on the other, having been
employed severally by Mahm?d (Plate, ?g. 22), the son and Afghansuccessor of Gh??th-cd-d?n Mohammed bin Sam, and
T?j-ed-d?n,tho
slave king of Ghazni, it fell with this last territory into the hands of
its Kharizm conquerors, by whom it was retained in a slightly altered
form (Plate, fig. 23) till the fall of their family in 1231. This styleof coin was also employed by another slave of the house of Ghor,
Kub?cha of Sindh, whose money may be referred to in fig. 19, Plato
XX., of Ariana Antiqua.
In addition to adopting the reverse just noticed, Mohammed bin
S?m, on his conquestof Delhi, continued the use of the Bull and Horse
man coin of Prithvi Raja, in the full purity of its original device,
varying only the inscriptions, the "Sri Samanta dev" being replaced
by his own titles, and theplace of the Hind?
king'sname over tho
horseman being supplied by the "Sri Haniira" already inscribed on
the Ghazni medals. Specimens of this moneyaro extant, carrying
the
Delhi Mohammedan succession down as far as Al?-ed-d?n Mas?ud,
a.d. 1216.
A remark occurs to us, relating to this, the latest specimen of the
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Kabul imitations, which may, with propriety, be introduced in this
place. It is singular that the word Hamira,so
long supposedto
bo aproper name, and so
eagerly soughtfor in the annals of the
Hind? kings of India, proves to bo a title which must even have
borno reproachto the cars of the votaries of that faith, being
simplyan abbreviation of the full title of the Khalif of Baghdad,?
"Amir ul Muminin," continued
by
the Mohammedans in this cur
tailed form, from the Arabic reverses of their own Ghazni money,when
they adoptedthe
styleof coin found current in the countries
theyhad
subdued. Thisreading
of themeaning
of thismuch-disputed word, is
wellupheld by
the fact, that the earliest instance of its use is on the
reverse of the firstoccupying
Mohammedan conqueror of Delhi ; as
well asby
its retention unalteredby
his successors, solong
asthey
continued to employ this form of coin: tho abbreviation of the full
titles of the Khalif into Sri Hamira will be seen to have been necessary,
as the space occupied bythe device did not admit of the intro
duction of manymore Hindi letters, of the size it was the custom to
employ.
Woappend, in a tabular form, for
facilityof reference, a list of
the kingsof the Kabul
dynasty, giving the names in Arabic, as found
in Alb?r?n?; and in Hindi, as found on the coins themselves; where
possible, adding the dates, ami the probable kingdoms ruled over byeach.
VOL. IX. O
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Since writing tho above, we have had anopportunity of examining
the Arabic copy of the J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh in the Library of the RoyalAsiatic
Society,as well as a valuable Persian MS. of the same work
in the British Museum', the texts of whichgive
us some reason to
questionthe accuracy of the Paris MS. of Alb?r?n?, in as far as
regardsthe
passage quotedat tho commencement of this article. It
is not by anymeans
proposedto
impugn tho generalcorrectness either
of the Arabic version or M. Rcinaud's translation, at tho samo time we
cannot be too cautious inreceiving
asfact,
a relationbearing upon
a
period, the history of which has hitherto been completely obscure, and
regardingwhich we now for the first timo obtain any written evi
dence; keeping in view also that this testimony (with the exceptionof the collateral support to be derived from coins) stands alone, it is
requisite, should there be any doubt of its exactitude, to submit it tothe most
rigoroustests within our reach. The first in order, aud
perhapsthe
onlyone available on this occasion, is that which may bo
said to be contained within itself, the due correspondence of different
copies. Unfortunatelyno second transcript of Alb?r?n? is available,
wherebyto check the errors of the MS. whence M. Reinaud derives
his text; we are therefore necessitated toapply
to aseparate
com
pilation, which however displays so much of the letter and spirit of
theoriginal,
that its version may readilybe accepted in correcting a
doubtful passage even in a copy of that original itself; it is to bo
borne in mind that the absence of a record of any given fact in
the work of Rashid-cd-din docs not in any way shake theveracity
of
tho author whom he quotes; it is only in cases of actual discrepancythat there is reason to
questionthe accuracy of the sole existing
tran
script of Tarikh-i-IIind of Alb?r?n?.
Itmay
bonecessary briefly
to allude to the connexionexistingbetween these two works, and to mention that Rash?d-ed-d?n, the
author of the J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh, acknowledgesto have derived all
tho materials for the composition of that part of his history which
relates to India, from tho Arabic version of Alb?r?nTs Tarikh-i
Hind. Tho formerproduction
wascomposed
in Persian about the
year 1310 a.D., and almostsimultaneously
translated into Arabic, one
1This MS.(No. 7G2H, Addit.)
is also a
veryancient and
seeminglytrust
worthy copy. It is said to have been once the property of the great Oljaitu Khan
himself, under whose auspices part of the work was written. Be this as it may,
there seemsgood reason to believe that it was once owned by Shah llokh, the
son of T?in?r. The MS. is the work of different hands, and badly written at tho
part quoted below.
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of tho earliest copies in whichlanguage
we are now in aposition
to
cite as ourauthority1.
It is true that, underordinary circumstances, a
transcriptof an
originalwork ought to be considered a better
authoritythan a com
pilationformed from extracts of the same; but, in the present instance,
we find that, although Rash?d-ed-d?n left unnoticed much that was to
be found inAlb?r?n?,yet
in the case of the extract to which we refer,
as in many others, he transferred whole passages in all their original
integrity, though,of course, not
alwaysin tho identical words, in
which they wero found in the Tarikh-i-Hind.
Hence thequestion,
as to the confidence duoseverally
to tho
London and Paris Arabic MSS., resolves itself into whether, allowing
even for re-translation, an extract collated under the eyeof an
eminent scholar and admirablelinguist
like the author of the J?ini
al-Taw?r?kh, tho actual document of whichwe are
ablo to refer to,and which was
engrossedso
long agoas 1314 A.n.
supportedas it is
by unexceptionable parallel passages in a secondlanguage,
be not
preferableto a modern copy of an
original, which, for all we know,
may havepassed through
the hands of an endless series of mero
mechanical transcribers.
The Asiatic Society's Arabic MS. iswritten in so careful a manner
and so clear a hand, that it is next toimpossiblo
to err in the mere
perusal; and with referenco to tho subjoined extract, the exactness of
its text isstrongly
corroboratedby
acounterpart
account to be found
in tho British Museum Persian copy, and in several MSS. of tho
Tar?kh-i-Bin?kit?, anabridgment of the J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh, under
taken during the lifetime of the author of this last; thus in pointof date being nearly equal
to itsoriginal,
andpossessing
anadvantage
in the presentcase over
any actual copy of the work from which it was
compiled,inasmuch as, issuing
from the same source, its information is
brought down to us through another and independent channel.
We now transcribe our Arabic version, adding its translation,as
well as tho Persian extracts from the J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh and tho
Tar?kh-i-Bin?kit?, merely pausingto notice that
"Kuttuur" is men
tioned by Elphinstonoas tho ?amo of one of the tribes of Kafirs
of tho Hindu Kiisli', and that Barnes informs us that the chief of
Chitral to thisday
bears the title of "Shah Kutore," and boasts of hi*
Macedonian lineage'.
1For full accounts of this manuscript, vide Join nil of the Royal Asiatic
Society, No. XI., p. 20.*
KlphiiiHtoue's Cabul, Vol. 11., p. 37?.3 Uurnes's Bokhara, Vol. IL, p. 20?, Hvo. e.lit.
0 2
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s y ?~ ^
Cl>^ l\?J**jy? &y^? j^ >* 3 **i?$3 J' ?S? 2^>j ^
uuvX\ c^Xsj ^uai ?j x^- JL?j 3 cl^y? J?? ^
^O - ^ ? - O - si
?XJUL? ?Xxj?* ^ JuLoLw?*?>!jjJ! ?*p^*
cJC? *jUj?x*j ^ S?515
to
t * * *fK^j
x?Xxj ^ ^XJ*"
And Kank returned to his country, and he was the last of tho
Kutaurman kings, and ithappened
that tho times were prosperous
for him, and fortune exalted him; and ho lighted upon many of tho
treasures of formerkings,
and grew strongin consequence;
and ho
shone with these sources of wealth and treasure until ho grew proud,and
forgothis
duty,and committed some
great wickedness, and the
people turned from him in complaint towards his vizir because
of his wicked deeds, and confined him for correction. Then he ac
quired dominion again, and after his death there reignedover them
of Brahmans, Samund, and after Samund, Kumloo, and after him
Bhim,"&c.a
Corresponding Persian passage from J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh in the
British Museum.
/^jlibLinJU (-r^j-2*' 3 *y cIjJjIa* ?ys* clXi?^lj ?ou $
?lib *x?jjjL* 2 jQ&Z? ?,'y^ 3 ^-^l^ *4jVjI
**aSU(jjl?-i
***
i Sic in orig.*
J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh, Tart III., Sec. 5, Royal Asiatic Society.* This translation is from the pen of Mr. 11. T. Friusep.*
?U?X?JU
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> S> _
jAJ)?J*S ?JA r?/J* ? ?Old? <Jbtt>. *Lo *y?
*?A?V^/?
Jy^o tiLc^ fl>j?i? $ ?/ irf^ 3 ?"fi. Srv.*?H* 'p1
"And Kank returned to his own country, and was the last of tho
Kutaurman kings. Fortune so favoured him, that he found many
treasures of(formor) chiefs, and in consequence ho became
proudand
exalted; at length he gave way to disgraceful conduct, on which
account tho people complained of him to his vizir. The vizir took
him into custody for the purpose of correction, and confined him. Anda second time he became ruler over the kingdom.
After his death
Sam und, from among tho B rah mans, becameking,
and after him
Kumlowa, and after him Bhim," &c.
The Persian sentence, correspondingwith the commencement of
the above, from twocopies
of tho T?r?kh-i-Bin?kit?, reads thus:?
8
*yi izJ^jy? (j^Lal?iM^CU^1 ? 3?^ 3 /' *** ^"and after him [came] Kank, and he was tho last of tho Kutaurman
kings."
A similar extract, from another lessperfect copy,
runs
** * * *?X? A?sl> JuLcLm *+&\jJ j\ s f\
Tho informationacquired by
this variation from thoreading
of
the Paris MS., (supposingit to be correct), does not in any material
degreo affect thopositions assumed in the abovo paper
on tho Coins
of the Kings of Kabul.
It nowappears that there was a direct
usurpationof the sove
reigntyof Kank
byhis vizir, and that no other monarch of Kank's
8 No. 119, Royal Asiatic Society, and a copy of Sir G. Ouseley's4
Sic in orig.9
Tar?kh-i-Bin?kit?. Brit. Museum : Rich Coll., No. 7b"27.
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race filled the throne of Kabul after his death. The non-introduction
of Syala s name in our MSS. but little affects his identification as that
vizir: his coins, in their make and execution, indicate their ownposi
tion aspreceding
those of Samanta,as well as the Brahman origin
of
him whose namethey
bear. The re-accession of the last of the Turk
kings explainsto us, in a measure, how Samanta came to be looked
upon as a founder of a. dynasty, without at all detracting from tho
celebrity,either religious
ortemporal,
heretofore attributed to him.
The very legible penmanship of the Arabic MS. of the J?mi-al
Taw?r?kh supplies us with another version of the name of the second
Jeip?l; he is thero called ?Lo^. *?Xj Tudau Jeip?l. Tho Persian
J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh has JLa^- L*\XJ Nundowa Jeip?l.
Inbringing
these observations to a close,we
may add, that wo
have not failed to consult the Persian copy of tho J?mi-al-Taw?r?kh
in the Library of the East India House, but this MS., among its other
imperfections,has unfortunately
a lacunajust
at tho exact pointin
the history of Rank's reign where itmight othorwiso have served to
elucidate the present inquiry.
[Since tho printingof the preceding sheet a coin has been found
at the East India House, which confirms thoconjectural reading
of
"Souicswara," suggested by
tho writer in Note 2, p. 188.?Ed.
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LISTOFTHEKINGSOFTHEHINDUDYNASTYOFKABULANDLAHORE.s from
Alb?r?n?;
theSanskrit ones from Coins.
No.
Name.
Syala
SamantaKhvadava
Bhim Jeip?l
Anungp?l
-?Jeip?l
Bh?mp?l
Madanp?lPrithviRaja
NameinArabic.
NameinSanskrit.
Dateof Accession.A.D. 920 935 975
10001021
1026 1070U7C
Recorded Kingdoms,andAuthorities.
Kabul.Alb?r?n?
Do. Do. Do.
Lahore. FerishtahDo.Lahoreannexedto
Guzni,1023a.D.
Delhi.
PrinsepU.T.Ab?ifazl?
Do.
Do.Perishtali
Tod
OtherStates. Jessulmir(tributary)Kano?j
Ajm?r*f
Mcutioued as kinc of Kano?j, and contemporary with Raj
apa1<>r
Benares. This l
recorded in inscriptions aa king o? Ivau?uj'iu 1090'
a.d.
Vide Bird's
3? C Q to O GJ CD
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Contents op TriE Plate.
Note. The weights of the silver coins of the Kabul kings, Nos. 2 to 8 inclu
sive, average in the specimens engraved, forty-eight grains. The mixed silver aud
copper coins of the Lahore princes and their successors, Nos. 9 to 18, range as
highas
fifty-two grains. The best specimen of the copper money of Vanka dev,
No. I, only reaches
forty-three grains.
Nos. Coins of
1. Vanka dev 15ft ^
2. Syala 15ft^ujff ?fr
3. 4. Samanta 13ftWT7?r
5. 6. 7- Khvadava 13ft ?T^TTcR!
8. Blum tqItfn ^
9. 10. Anungp?l, Obv. ^jr ^,Rev. T$ nntf******
11. 12. Sallakshanp?l, Obv.^ft Wim ^,Rev. 15ft^gUSKUMlg
13. Madanp?l, Obv. (mrer) ^ft Tff?a^,Rev. TjftHMIc5 ^T
14. PrithviRaja,
Obv.^rcrpr$ ^ft ^rjr^r,
Rev.^ft Hvjlq^ ^
15. Mahap?l yft H^MItf ifa*
16. Obv. t$ l?f?** ^ (fa?- ^W??H Tjft T&Ftt).
17. 18. Obv. i# ngtfe** ^,Rev.
**VJ$ ^ WfT ^.
19. AI Muktadir billah, Obv. ??U .Jj?U!) , Rev. Ji*>- <?J,
20. Ibrahim ofGuzn?,
Obv.^
^l|m^,
Rev.
JojmJI ^UaLJl
21. Mohammed biu S?m, Obv. Tjft R^TR^ *TR, i???- Tjft ^HiC.
22. Mahmud bin Mohammed? j^?^ ?A^.a? ^.l?c^l ^ILJLJl
23. Al?-cd-d?nMohammed of Kh?rizm, Obv. bJ^ll? Ja?5|^HaLJI
24. Fac-similc copy of tho Arabic word \?c from a coin of Khvadava.
1 It has been considered unnecessary to introduce a coin of Mohammed bin
S?m of this type, as the piece here givenresembles his coius, from whence it is
derived, in every respect except the name it bears.