53 
1895.] C. J. Rodgers — Coins of the Kings of Ma l hcir. 
against Muhammad bin Tughlaq was one who is styled by Firishta 
‘ Ism‘ail Fath brother of Gul Afghan ’ and it is added :— 
♦♦ ^ 
j4 b # 
j Jjt-vj <> i i> J }^S? 
All throughout Firishta calls him ‘ Ism'ail Fath.’ He did not 
enjoy being king in such troublous times and lie resigned. Hasan 
Gango was elected in his place. This was in 748. So this coin (36) 
must have been struck about 747 or 48 H. It does not really, therefore, 
belong to the kings of Ma‘bar. 
It will be noticed that the first king of Ma‘bar was Jalalu-d-din 
Ahsan Shah. His reign was from 737 to 740H., according to coins. 
Now Hasan Gango became independent in 848H. He made Gulburga 
his capital and called it Hasanabad. So says Firishta, who quotes a lot 
of poetry in which Hasan and Hasanabad frequently occur. But as on 
the coins of the dynasty of Hasan, Gulburga is always called «ib| 
Ahsanabad, the full name of this sovereign was ‘ ‘Alau-d-dunya-wa- 
ud-dln Ahsan Shah Gango Bahmani.’ We must not suppose that 
Jalalu-d-din had anything to do with Ahsanabad. He was only king 
in Ma'bar, which is a long way from Gulburga. Ma‘bar seems to have 
been that part of India opposite Ceylon, and Madura was its capital. 
When Hasan Gango reigned in Ahsanabad, he never seems to have taken 
any notice whatever of Ma‘bar and its affairs. All the descendants of 
Hasan are well known. They also abstained from meddling in Ma‘bar 
matters. 
One thing at first seems strange. The coins of the kings of Ma‘bar 
are found apparently in abundance. The coins of early kings of the 
Bahmani dynasty of Gulburga-Ahsanabad are amongst the rare things 
in our Museum cabinets. The reason is given by Firishta. The Bah¬ 
mani kings quarrelled with the Sarrafs and murdered a lot of them. Coins 
of Hindu kings were melted down, and only Muhammadan coins were 
allowed. When the Sarrafs, however, got a chance they melted down 
Muhammadan coins and made current Hindii ones. In this general 
melting down Muhammadan Dekkan coins disappeared. The Honorable 
Mr. Gibbs rescued a few of them, but nowadays an early Bahmani 
gold or silver coin is rarely met with. 
For nearly all the coins in these two plates I am indebted to the 
courtesy of the Rev. J. E. Tracy, who kindly permitted me to draw 
them. For coins (35) and (36) I am indebted to the Lahore Museum. 
When I made out my Catalogue, I put down coin (36) as an unassigned 
