678 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [December, 1910. 



90. —On some Copper Coins of the 'Adil Shaht 



Dynasty of Bijapur. 



In the month of August last (1910) Mr. Henry Cousens, 

 M.R.A.S., then Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of 

 India, Western Circle, forwarded to me 249 copper coins, 

 sent him from Bijapur, the well-known capital of the District 

 of that name in the Southern Division of the Bombay Presi- 

 dency. Though with an occasional good specimen amongst 

 them, most of the coins were in poor condition, battered and 

 worn. Seven of them were square, all the others being round. 

 From this material, sufficient indeed in quantity, but of inferior 

 quality, Mr. Cousens set himself a task of reconstruction. 

 Skilfully piecing together a bit from one coin and a bit from 

 another, he was able finally to build up both the Obverses and 

 the Reverses of nine different types of coin. As I now write, 

 photographs of the coins thus reconstructed, and the copper 

 coins themselves, lie before me, and a comparison of both 

 reveals how remarkably true to the originals are these recon- 

 structions. Not a stroke nor a dot is lacking, and the propor- 

 tions and shapes of the letters have been reproduced with an 

 almost absolute fidelity. Thus the accompanying Plate of these 

 reconstructed coins may confidently be accepted as exhibiting 

 facsimile representations of the original dies. 



I have said that the coins came from Bijapur, and the 

 question at once suggests itself, Are these then coins of a 

 distinctive Bijapur currency ? On this point the coins them- 

 selves are tantalizingly reticent, giving no clue as to the affini- 

 ties of the kings who caused them to be struck. Not one 

 records the place of mintage, and with eight exceptions they are 

 dateless. They do, however, give the name (though never the 

 father's name) of the regnant king, and hence we learn that 

 the 249 coins were struck during the reigns of just five kings, 

 an 'All, an Ibrahim, a Muhammad, a second 'All and 

 Sikandar. But, when the names are written in this order, any- 

 one familiar with the history of Bijapur will at once^ see that 

 these are the very names of the last five kings of the 'Adil Shahl 

 Dynasty. This fact of itself affords strong presumptive evi- 

 dence in favour of the attribution of the coins to that dynasty. 

 Confirmatory evidence is supplied by the dates on the eight 

 dated coins. Six are of the reign of Ibrahim, and the years 

 recorded are 1022 and (perhaps) 1024, 1025, vears thus that 

 fall within the reign of Ibrahim II of Bijapur (A.H. 988—1037). 

 Two other coins, struck in the name of the Sultan Sikandar, 

 are dated A.H. 1086, 1087, and Sikandar of Bijapur reigned 

 from A.H. 1083 to 1097. Then, too, the inscription on 

 one of the types (No. IX) bears associated with the king's 

 name 'All the title 'Adil Shah, a title distinctive of the 

 dynasty that held sway in Bijapur from A.H. 895 till 



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