History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c22: Appendix A. 'Alāuddīn and Nepal

History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c22

Language: English

Appendix A. 'Alāuddīn and Nepal

c22.2

B. Durga Prasad has published a silver coin¹ struck in Nepal in the time of 'Alāūddīn Khaljī. He obtained it in Benares along with another copper coin of Nepal of the Lachchhavi dynasty of the 1st century A.D.

c22.3

¹ *J.A.S.B.*, Numismatic Supplement, No. XLII, 1929, pp. 37-38.

c22.4

The coin weighs 151 grains, about six grains less than the weight of a silver *tankah* of the time of 'Alāūddīn. It is 1.25 inches in size. On the obverse the legend in Arabic reads on the margin "Sikandar us Sānī Nāsirul Amīrul Mauminīn Yāmīnul Khilāfat" and in the middle within a small Ashtakon or double square there is a small winged lion of the Nepal type. On the reverse within a triple circle the Arabic legend reads "Al Āzam Assulatān Abul Muzaffar Muhammad Shāh Alāud Dunya va Dīn", with a small conch in the margin. In the middle, within a small circle, the words "Sri Sri"—with two crescents and stars above each and a floral design below, are inscribed in Nagri characters of the 13th century. The Arabic characters of the legend are rather crude, and it appears that although the die-cutter copied the legend from an original coin of the sultan yet he did not know Arabic and has committed several mistakes in engraving the Arabic characters.

c22.5

The title Sri Sri and the two crescents with small dots representing the triplicate, the Shankhu (Conch) and the circle of the beads are exactly in the later silver coins of Prithvī Nārāyan Sāh Deva and Shri Gurvan Yadha Vikram Sāh Deva of Nepal. B. Durga Prasad further adds that the *tantrik* Ashtakon and the winged lion with raised tail are The unique coin of 'Alāúddin Khaljī struck in Nepal peculiar to the Nepal coinage and establish the mintage of this coin in Nepal.

c22.6

Obv. Rev.

c22.7

The coin is interesting in so far that it is the only evidence which alludes to ‘Alāūddīn’s connection with Nepal. In the contemporary Persian chronicles there is no mention of the sultan’s conquest of that country. Contemporary Hindu accounts, however, allude to the conquest of Nepal by Harasimha Deva of Karnatakula dynasty, the Hindu Raja of Mithila in the time of ‘Alāūddīn Khaljī. Mithila, comprising of about the north and north-west of present Bihar, was not affected by the Muhammadan invaders of the 12th and 13th centuries, who marched into Bengal via south Bihar leaving the territory north of the Ganga undisturbed. Harasimha Deva, the king contemporary of ‘Alāūddīn, had a fairly long reign, and under him had served able ministers like Devaditya, his son Vīrēshvar Thakur and his grandson Chandrēshvar Thakur. Chandrēshvar was an erudite scholar and wrote many treatises in Sanskrit. His main works are *Kritya Ratnākar*, *Dāna Ratnākar*, *Vivād Ratnākar*, *Sudh Ratnākar*, *Grahast Ratnākar*, and *Pūja Ratnākar*. In *Kritya*, *Dāna* and *Vivād Ratnākars* Chandrēshvar claims to have conquered Nepal for his king Harasimha. In *Vivād Ratnākar* he describes² how after his great victory he performed the ceremony of Tula Puruśa or religious gift of gold of the donor’s weight to Brahmans etc. in Saka 1236 (A.D. 1314).

c22.8

² *Vivād Ratnākar* Bib. Ind. Text pp. 670-71.

c22.9

रसगुणभुज चन्द्रैः सम्मिते शाकवर्षे
सहसि धवल पक्षे वाग्मती सिन्धुतीरे ।
अदित तुलितमुञ्चैरात्मना स्वर्णराशिं
निधिर खिलगुणानामुत्तरः सोमनाथः ॥

c22.10

(Translation: In the moon fortnight of the month of Pūsa 1236 Saka, Somnath, who was an ocean filled with all good qualities, offered in charity gold equivalent to his weight on the banks of the river Vāgmatī).

c22.11

The conquest referred to above was, therefore, undertaken some time before 1314 when the ceremony of Tula Puruś was performed. The capital of Harasimha was at Simrampur (modern Simraon) on the borders of Nepal. It is not improbable that Chandrēshvar who was the minister of peace and war (सान्धि विग्र‍हिक) may have carried a successful expedition into the Napal territory and may have snatched some portion of Nepal. But Sanskrit writers depict their slightest success with as much exaggeration as Persian chroniclers, and it is just possible that the conquest of Nepal by Candrēshvar may have only been an ordinary raid into that country.³ Thus it is clear that in the time of 'Alāūddīn an Indian army had marched into the Nepal territory.

c22.12

³ *J.A.S.B.* 1903 part I p. 14.

c22.13

*Dāna Ratnākar* describes Chandrēshvar to having rescued the earth flooded by the Malecchas, but the date when Mithila was attacked by the Muslims in the first decade of the 14th century is not known.⁴ It is however certain that when Ghayāsuddīn Tughlaq marched to Bengal in 724 H. (1324 A.D.) he went through Tirhut and by that time Muslims had gained strength in Mithila. But there is no reason to believe that Mithila had been attacked by 'Alāūddīn and its king had acknowledge the sultan's suzerainty and struck coins in his name, so that when the Raja conquered Nepal coins were struck there in his name as well as in the name of the sultan of Delhi.

c22.14

⁴ *J.A.S.B.* 1915 pp. 405-33.

c22.15

The discovery of a single coin of the type mentioned above cannot lead us to surmise that 'Alāūddīn sent an army to the far off country of Nepal and compelled the ruling Raja to acknowledge his suzerainty and strike coins in his name. Nor is there any mention of commercial relations existing between the kingdoms of Delhi and Nepal, so as to indicate that the coin may be one of the so many used for exchange purposes. The discovery of such a coin is full of interest indeed, but until some further information is available not much can be said on this perplexing point.

Cites (1)

Vivādaratnākara — Caṇḍeśvara, Sanskrit