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



view to meeting the local demand for this strange coast-money 

 that they caused larins to be struck in their own names. That 

 these 'Adil Shahl larins were at any time current over the 

 whole extent of the 'Adil Shahl dominions is very doubtful. 

 Their circulation was, one may well believe, restricted to a 

 narrow tract of country bordering the sea. 



The larin being merely a piece of silver wire, or slender 

 rod, doubled on its middle, affords but a scanty surface for 

 receiving an inscription. Hence many letters on the coins are 

 incomplete. However, by collating several specimens it has 

 become possible to decipher the " some small stamp or other. 

 One prong of the coin seems to read - 



?> 



and the other <fcx*» Jj]^ ^$ ^yi 



The Sultan 'All 'Adil Shah struck the lari coin, year 



ij*C 



£a& is a correct rendering of the original. In favour of the 



combination £>\t ^K it may be remarked that the early writer 



(A.D. 1525) of the Lembrangas das Cousas da India mentions 



that 60 reis equal in value 1 tanga larin. 1 



Some specimens bearing the above legend are dated 1071 

 and some 1077, which goes to prove that this 'All 'Adil Shah 

 was 'All II (AH. 1067—1083). 



As other coins, so larins too bore different legends at 

 different periods. One in my possession has thus far defied 



y&J\y>\ stand out quite clearly 



on one prong, and (perhaps) ^^ 



— for this specimen is dateless — this 'All may be 'All I (A.H 

 965—988), one of whose titles was Abu'l Muzaffar. Can it be 

 that both the silver larins of Bijapur and its copper currency 

 were first issued under the auspices ol this king ? 



Mr. Cousens has taken some admirable photographs of 

 larins, sent him from Ratna 

 prepared. It exhibits the actual larins, and also their inscrip- 

 tions, the latter attached to a plaster background. The sixth, 

 seventh, and eighth inscriptions of the upper portion recur as 

 the first, third, and fifth, respectively, of the lower portion. 

 Unfortunately I am not able to give details as to the weight of 

 each of the coins there represented, but the lengths shown are, 

 I understand, the same as those of the originals. Of the only 



note 2. 



1 Voyage of Pyrard de Laval: Hakluyt Society's Edn., I, 232, 



