137 
1897.] Dr. Hoernle—- Rare Hindu and Muhammadan Coins. 
Khalifahs. On the other hand, the present coin shows the Shi‘ah form 
of the creed, together with the names of the twelve Imams. There is 
the strongest evidence that Timur was a Shi‘ah, 6 and if this gold piece 
was made in India, the marks of the Shi'ah faith may have been put on 
it to conciliate Timur. 
Add to this that hitherto no gold coin of Timur, so far as I know, 
has been discovered. Silver, copper and brass coins of his exist; but 
no gold coins have survived, if they ever existed. Moreover the weight 
of the coin does not agree with the contemporary standard of Indian 
gold coins. 
All these circumstances inspire one with distrust. On the other 
hand, it is difficult to account for a forgery. An imitator would ordinari¬ 
ly require a model to work with. The very difference of the present 
coin from all known coins of Timur makes against a forgery. Then, 
there is the curious resemblance, in the general style, to the contem¬ 
porary coins of India. Also the date and mint agree with the time 
and circumstances of Timur’s transitory invasion of India. The piece is 
probably not a coin at all, but may be a medal for commemoration or 
presentation. This may account for its irregular weight. 
IV. GrHAZNIH COINS. 
In July 1896 a hoard of 739 Ghaznih coins were found near Ed- 
wardsabad in the Bannu. district of the Panjab. A notice of the find is 
published in the Proceedings for January, 1897. They were all coins of 
Sabuktagin, who ruled from 366-387H. = 976-997 A.D., and most of them, 
(718) belonged to the well-known variety, which is shown on Plate V, 
No. 453, of the second volume of the British Museum Catalogue. This 
variety has the name of Sabuktagin on the reverse, and the words 
at-TdHyu li-l-ldhi on the obverse. 
There is another variety of the same type of coin, which reverses 
the position of those words: the name Sabuktagin is on the obverse, 
and at-TdHyu li-l-ldhi on the reverse. This is very rare. I know only of 
the existence of two specimens, one in the Indian Museum, No. 7847 in 
i ts Catalogue, and the other in the India Office, from the Masson Collection, 
noted in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IX, page 305. 
In the Bannu find there were eight specimens of this variety. 
There occurs a third variety, which shows the name of Sabuktagin 
8 See Sir H. M. Elliot’s History of India, Yol. Ill, p. 393. The Tarikh-i-Timurl 
shows the fact clearly. Thus it relates that Timur was one day sitting with 
learned men of Halab. He asked them about their opinion regarding ‘Ali, Mawiyah 
and Yazid. One of them whispered to his friend to be careful what he replied 
because Timur was a Shi‘ah, 
