26 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal [N.S., XVII, 
of silver and 20 ratis copper is one-eighth of the tanka and 
was known as a hashigani. A coin with 24 ratis of silver and 
6 ratis of copper would be a shanzdahganit or one-fourth of a 
tanka. 
The first obvious type of hashigant is the coin of 
‘Alau-d-din Muhammad with Persian legends on both sides 
(No. 135). This is followed by the rare billon of Shahabu-d- 
din ‘Umr (No. 141) and those of Qutbu-d-din Mubarak 
(Nos. 147 ‘and 151) Nasiru-d-din Khusra (No. 156) and 
Ghiasu-d-din Tughlaq (No. 164). The other billons of 
Mubarak, (at any rate Nos. 148 and 152), are chaharganis or 
y¢ Of the tanka. This value may also be given to the small! 
billons of Firdz Shah and his successors. (I.M.C. No. 445. 
Thomas Nos. 229, 243, 269, 279). We cannot expect to find 
further hashtganis of this weight, as in the days of Muhammad 
bin Tugh aq this coin changed its character to a marked 
tent. 
That the shanadahgani was a known coin is clear from 
the forced currency type (No. 199) which claims to be one- 
fourth of the tanka. We probably find it in its true form 
among the so-called silver smal] pieces of Muhammad bin 
Tughlaq, especially No. 192 and possibly No, 189. Of the 
others No. 194 is certainly a hashtgani, while No. 193 and 
This gives an inconvenient piece of six annas, which must 
have been very difficult to distinguish from the coin of 25 
rd 
Muhammad bin Tughlaq we find a new type of billon which 
proved extremely Popular. This was a piece of some 140 
grains or 80 ratts (Thos. No. 215) and it was repeated in the 
common undated billons bearing the name of Al Hakim 
Shah (Nos. 228 and 230), Zafar (No. 247), Tughlaq II 
(No. 250), Abibakr (No. 255), Muhammad (No. 265), Sikandar 
(No. 272), Mahmid (No. 277), Muhammad bin Farid (No. 293), 
and. ‘Alam Shah (No. 297). Now Thomas (pp. 282, 283) 
Suggests that these coins, - though possessing distinctive 
characteristics, bore very different values. His difficulty arose 
