46 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S. , XIII. 



nieu coins made of the original value so that his subject- 

 might know what a, dirham actually was, and might be assessed 

 to aim* strictly on the basis of the ancient law-books. 



' The amount of property subject to the tax of Zakcit 



(alms) is called a >->Im. A nisab may consist of flocks, 



chattels, money, etc. A nisab of silver is equivalent to 200 

 dirhams. Every ten of these dirhams must weigh seven 



misqals, i.e., 1 dirham = 7/10 misqal ( JlaJLc ). Such a dirhain 



is called a legal dirham [^^A^y * * *. According to the 



above data, the weight of a legal dirham is 44-6 grains.'" 

 {lb., p. 437). 6 



Now this is the question that lies before us— Is it 

 possible to substantiate either of these conjectures ? In other 

 words, is it in our power to quote from any of the contem- 

 poraneous histories of Aurangzeb any reference, direct or 

 indirect, connecting these dirhams with the payment of dowries, 

 the assessment of zakat, or the levying of any other tax or du< 

 which it was the duty of the Faithful to pay and the privileg 



t u r « . t0 dernand > according to the accredited exponents 

 of the Muhammadan Law ? I am not aware that any such 

 testimony has been actually cited, and I may be therefor 

 permitted to quote the little that I have been able to a lean on 

 the subject. Let me first take the question as it relates to 

 dowries, and mention the only instance within mv knowledge. 

 in which the dowry of a daughter-in-law of Aurangzeb was 

 fixed, by the express orders of the Emperor, at five hundred 

 ot these new-fangled dirhams. The passage occurs in tb 



Mad 



Kh 



RoU , ' _r . ™-, Vt x"ttyat-uiian jyian, the Wazir or 

 Bahadur Shah, Shah < Alam I. In his account of the events of 

 the year 1092 a.h. this writer says : 



HW *~- igftUab U ^ ^ b y 9 ^ ^^ ^ ^ U)ii 



(Bibliotheca Indica Text, p. 210, 11. 16-20). 



escorted 11 ^ K- ir - e6n u h ° f R ^MlQ92 A . H .] Sidi Yahy 



and she e„ £^ T' ^ daURhter ° f '*""»» of Bi W" 



Raiab she h^H t G ^ arem ° f Honour - 0n th " twentieth of 

 Kajab she had the felicity of having her marriage with tbe 



