214 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Dec. 



mint valuations of Akbar's time; but as it is clear that the principle 

 of a standard (and I would add that I here employ the term to signify 

 the monetary unit,) was not understood, and looking, to the impossibi- 

 lity, in any market, of preserving for any length of time invariable 

 values for two or three metals, I do not think that these regulations, 

 however accurate in comparison with all others which preceded them 

 in India, will guide us much in ascertaining the rate at which silver 

 exchanged for gold in the open markets of India. 



With regard to the passage quoted by Mr. Thomas from Ibn Batu- 

 tah, I see no reason to doubt its correctness. It is simply this :£&- 

 Dehli ritls of rice sold for a silver dinar, the silver dinar being equi- 

 valent in value to eight drachma^ and the drachma (the coin) 

 being a drachma of silver in weight. There is no difficulty whatever 

 regarding the author's meaning here. He makes no allusion to gold 

 coins, and it is more than clear that he did not mean to do so, for 

 although the French translator has freely rendered it pour un dinar 

 d 'argent ; celui-ci vaut huit drachmes, the actual words of Ibn Batutah 

 are " for a silver dinar, and the silver dinar equals eight dirhams," 

 repeating the word silver each time he mentions the dinar, to prevent 

 the possibility of any one making the mistake Mr. Thomas has evi- 

 dently done. He may well say then that there is a difficulty about 

 the word ^^M There is a difficulty : but it is one which the distin- 

 guished savant has himself made. For, if we read a very few lines 

 further, we will find the following passage: JZiydJ' &2r^\ &j{s?\ c^j|; j 



Lfy^' 3 f)^. ^^* ^ ^ J Zjj^lc 1^+**'$ ^ife **AflJ| S^A^sr^ o^l£| j 



That is, "I have seen a very beautiful girl fit for a concubine sold for a 

 single dinar of gold, which is equal to two and half western dinars of 

 gold. I myself bought for about the same price a girl named 'Aash- 

 urali, who was possessed of exquisite beauty ; and one of my companions 

 bought a pretty little boy named Lid a for two dinars of gold. 11 



Nothing can be plainer than that when Ibn Batutah says silver, he 

 means silver, and that when he says gold, he means gold. Beyond this, 

 however, I am sorry to say, I cannot so easily follow him. If the 

 drachma of silver means the Greek drachma^ no silver coin of the 

 day that I am acquainted with will iit. Ibn Batutah came to India 



