IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 
167 
first Ahsan Shah appears to have retained in use the issues 
of the Delhi mint, but soon there appears a stamp of coin 
PI III N 36 apparently not met with in the north. 
This medal bears on one side the name of 
the king s^ijlAi-yj A^«a-» and on the reverse ^V«5\JoUJ\. In 
make and general appearance this issue follows the character- 
istics usual to the small copper and billon issues of the Delhi 
and other Pathan mints, but differs therefrom in some minor 
particulars. His " forced" tankahs are also frequently met 
with still. These thick brass coins, weighing approximately 
140 grains, bear on the obverse ijU? .i^^a^ 6.wj 
(struck as a legal "tanka" by the hopeful slave 
Mahomed Taghlak), and on the reverse round the margin 
the name of the mint town and year of date, and in the 
centre (^\.i=LJ\gU=\ ("who obeys the king obeys 
the Merciful one"). The commonest date on these coins is 
730, though a few have 731 and fewer still 732, a fact which, 
as Thomas points out, affords strong proof of the rapidly 
increasing unpopularity of the scheme. How complete was 
the success of Ahsan's revolt and the consequent severance of 
the provinces over which he ruled from the court of Delhi is 
evidenced by the fact that no issues of later Pathans occur in 
the south, while the rebel coinage, as we shall see hereafter, 
is continued through a long succession of rulers. 
Nor do we find issues in any number of other Maho- 
medan princes (the Mysore usurpers of course excepted) till 
we come to the times of the later Moghals. A few stray 
issues naturally occur as one would expect when we remem- 
ber that swarms of Hindu pilgrims from the north yearly 
flock to the temples of Tripati or Conjeveram or the sacred 
shrine of Ramesweram, there to present as money offerings 
any coins they may have in their possession, brought hither 
from the countries whence they came, and of no other use 
to them here. To attempt to touch on these, however, would 
