10/12/2025
Rare coin of khandesh
By mohammed ismail
๐๐ก๐ ๐
๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐:
๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ-๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ก ๐๐ (1457-1503 AD), ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐&๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ง, 10.66g. ๐๐๐ฏ: Arabic inscription ๐๐-๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฬ๐ ๐๐-'๐ดฬ๐ง๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐-๐ท๐ข๐๐๐ฆ๐ฬ ๐ค๐ ๐๐-๐ท๐๐ ๐ด๐๐ข ๐๐-๐๐โ๐ฬ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ โ๐ฬโ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ฬ๐๐๐๐ โ๐ฬโ ๐๐ -๐น๐ฬ๐๐ข๐๐. ๐๐๐ฏ: Shahada within a square border; in four quadrants of the margin, ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐ฬโ ๐ด๐๐๐ฆ๐ฬ๐๐ฬ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ 880 clockwise from left.
๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐
๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
The Sultanate of Khandesh was founded by Malik Ahmad Faruqi, or Malik Raja, who claimed descent from Caliph Umar, one of the four Rashidoon (โrightly guidedโ) Caliphs of Islam. Umar's appellation was โal-Fฤruqโ, hence the name โFฤruqiโ of the dynasty of Malik Ahmad. In the aftermath of the secession of the Bahmani Sultanate from Delhi, Malik Raja established himself at Thalner on the banks of the Tapi river. Firuz Tughlaq appointed Malik Raja as the governor of that region. But soon after the death of Firuz, Malik Raja became completely independent of Delhi. By 1390, he carved out a small kingdom for himself in present-day North Western Maharashtra, in the region traditionally known as Khandesh.
Nasir Khan Faruqi, the successor of Malik Raja, was the first to assert political dominance. He consolidated Khandesh and expanded his realm Eastwards by capturing the fort of Asirgarh from its local Ahir overlords. He established the city of Burhanpur in honour of the Sufi saint Burhanuddin Ghareeb and moved his capital there. He also established matrimonial relations with the Bahmanis. However, these activities did not deter the powerful Sultans of Gujarat to threaten Khandesh and ultimately seek the subugacy of successive Sultans, who accepted the suzerainty of Gujarat.
The great grandson of Nasir Khan, Adil Khan II, was probably the strongest Sultan of Khandesh. He had a long reign and expanded the Khandesh rule further to the East, defeating local Gond rulers. He assumed the title โShah-i Jharkhandโ to mark the conquest of these forested lands. He tried to make most of the rivalries between the Gujarat, Malwa and Gulbarga Sultanates, often allying with the strongest party to eke out yet another chunk of land and expand his territory. He even stopped paying tribute to Gujarat but this impertinence raised the brow of his Gujarati overlord, the great Mahmud 'Begda'. The Gujarat army overran Khandesh in 1498. Adil Khan II agreed to pay the tribute but died soon afterwards. His reign undoubtedly marked the political zenith of the otherwise weak Sultanate.
The inscriptions on the coins reveal that his laqab was 'Shamsuddin'. The qunya โAbu al-Mahฤmidโ (father of the one with laudable qualities) has echoes of similar patronymic titles on the coins of Gujarat and the mention of the family name โal-Fฤruqiโ follows the pattern of similar mentions on coins of Malwa (al-Khalji) and Gulbarga (al-Bahmani). The date AH880 suggests that the coin was struck in 1475-76AD. This was a year close to a political alliance through marriage that Adil Khan II struck with Sultan Ahmad Shah II of Gulbarga, much to the dislike of the Sultans of Gujarat and Malwa.
The coin offers another unique aspect - the mint-name 'Aliyฤbฤd'. There is a small village named Aliyฤbฤd in Northern Maharashtra, halfway between the forts of Salher and Mulher, which could well have been a part of the Khandesh Sultanate. Other centres of power in the Sultanate were Nandurbar, Thalner and the forts of Laling, Narnala and Asir. It is likely that Aliyฤbฤd was an Islamic alias of one of these places.
Source: ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐, ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ง๐จ. ๐๐:
