I 



580 



Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 



[No. 5, 



bad his Moghal Omrahs got possession of his only son Kaimurs, a hoy 

 of three years of age, and proclaimed him King under the title of 

 Shamsuddin. They were, however, unable to maintain their ground 

 and in three months Firuz mounted the throne, and subsequently 

 caused the young prince to be put to death. This statement has been 

 repeated by all subsequent historians, except the author of the Mirat 

 al'Alum, who, according to Mr. Thomas, changes the name of the 

 prince, from Kaimurs to Kaikaus ; and it is to this prince that I feel 

 disposed to assign the coin under notice. Its shape, size, and style of 

 writing are very like those of the coins of Kaikobad, its legend is 

 mutatis mutandis the counterpart of that of the other, and its reverse 

 has the name of the Khalif Mostasim, given in identically the same 

 words, as on the coins of Balban and Kaikobad, while there is a strong 

 family likeness in the names of Kaikaus, Kaimurs, Kaikobad and Kai 

 Khusro. 



The dates of the coins, however, are opposed to this assignment. 

 The units "one" and "three," are perfectly clear, and they will not 

 admit of our bringing the coins which bear them to the year 687, 

 when Kaimurs was proclaimed king, even if we doubted the term for 90 

 (Sasayin) and read it 80 (Samanin.) The title also is opposed to my 

 assignment. According to a contemporary historian, the prenomen of 

 Kaimurs was Shamsuddin, while that of the Kaikaus of our coin is 

 Ruknuddin. These difficulties, however, may be explained away. 

 There are on record several instances in which Muhammadan Sove- 

 reigns have appeared under different prenomens at different times, and 

 this may be one of them ; and the discrepancy in the dates may be 

 due either to the prince having lived as a fugitive much longer than 

 Ziaa-i-Barni admits, or to a desire on the part of Nasiruddin, Governor 

 of Bengal, to continue his allegiance to his grand son Kaimurs, even 

 after his deposition, and possibly after his death; for he could not 

 readily recognize the usurpation by Firuz of an empire which belonged 

 to his family for three generations. Should this theory of mine be 

 untenable, it will be for others to decide who this prince was, whose 

 coin we have now on hand. 



Obv. "Ul Sultan ul A'zam Ruknuddunia-o-din Abu Mozaffar 

 Kaikaus Sultan ibn ul Sultan ibn Sultan." Rev. " Ul imam ul 

 Mustasim, Amir ul momnin Maz Zarb hazeh ulsikka Saneh suls 

 tasaayin satamaya." 



