Vol. VIII, No. 11.] | Numismatic Supplement No. XX. 543 
[N.8.] 
ancient city, dating back as it does far into the legendary 
period. Originally known as Stambha-tirtha, ‘pillar-shrine,’ 
that is to say, the shrine for the worship of Siva under the 
symbol of a pillar, the name modified by phonetic changes,! 
still survives in the modern forms of Khambhat | #urq) and 
Kambayat (evs). The Arab traveller Al Mas‘idi (a.p. 
915) tells of the prosperhy of the place, which even in his day 
was famous for its sandals and its agates. Subject to the 
Chaulukya and later to ae Vagh 14 monarchs of Anhilvad, it 
surrendered about the year 1304 to the army of ‘ Alau-d- din 
Khalji, and for 430 years thereafter remained under Musalman 
rule. About the middle of this period, and especially under 
the fostering hand of Mahmid Begada (a.p. 1458-1511), the city 
reached the zenith of its glory. Early European travellers, 
naturally hicctar acquainted with the.ports of Western India 
than with its inland towns, were wont to call the country of 
Gujarat the Kingdom of Cambay,” and to style the Sultan of 
Gujarat the Prince of Cambay.? 
In 1573 along with the rest of Gujarat, Cambay was 
annexed by the Emperor Akbar, who does not, however, seem 
to have exercised in this city the victor’s prerogative of issuing 
coins bearing hisown name. Already the muhrs and rupees of 
madabad, the Mahmiudis of Sirat, and the Koris of Kach 
and Navinagar doubtless sufficed for local Retr gg It is 
not till the reign of Akbar’s successor that we meet with any 
reference to a distinctively Cambay coinage, Ae even then, it 
would seem, the issue was not for currency purposes but merely 
_ in commemoration 8 west s royal visit to the city. He 
states in his ‘‘ Mem 
‘* At this time ithe- twelfth regnal year] an order was given 
‘*that tankas of gold and silver should be coined twice the 
ee of ordinary 1 muhrs and rupees. The legend on the 

! Stambha-tirtha = Skambha-tirtha, 
= Khambha-tirtha, 
= Khambha-ittha, 
= Khambha- isis (Prakrt), 
== ge on oe 
esi the variants Kthambha, Khambayat, and Kambayat. 
n the sixteenth c y Cambay could be used as a term synony- 
mous per the - mpire of abe. Gren t Mughal. Hakluyt records ‘‘ A letter 
written from Paps enes Majestie to Zelab:lim ee King of 
baia, and sen by John Newbery. In Feb i Anno 1583.’’ Hak- 
luyt’s ‘* eh ges ’’ (Maclehose’s Reprint ), V, 450 
he Gujarat Sultan Mahmad Begada, Machamuth of 
Sale fue reference is made in the well-known li 
‘* The Prince of Cambay’s daily ca 
Is asp and basilisk and toad.’ 
Hudibras, Pt. II, Canto I. 
