[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [History of the Qaraunah Turks in India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936) › c8.112 # History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c8.112 History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c8.112 - **Language:** English ### [c8.112](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8.112) Having resolved to increase his resources, the Sultan introduced his token currency. There is nothing to show that on this subject he consulted his ministers. Paper was not favoured, because it was liable to be rapidly damaged, and because it had no tangible value whatsoever, and the Indian people, long accustomed to metallic money which they could weigh and feel, would not accept it. Copper tokens were issued, and a royal decree proclaimed that they should be used in all transactions and should pass current just as the gold and silver coins had passed. The various texts of Barani contain only the words مس (copper coin), while Firishta alone writes مهر مس (copper and brass coins) and he is supported by numismatic evidence.⁵⁶ The Sultan must have foreseen the possibility of public opposition, but, like a stern mediæval despot, he felt himself strong enough to carry the measure through even in the teeth of popular prejudice or resistance offered by the moneyed classes. That he was not fraudulent is beyond cavil or dispute. A man of remarkable probity both in private and public life, he was rather oppressed with the anxiety to show to his people that he was not actuated by motives of avarice or greed, and that he had no desire to enrich himself at the expense of his subjects.⁵⁷ In striking contrast with Qublā or Gai Khātū, no royal ordinance was issued, laying down drastic penalties to compel acceptance of the token currency. On the contrary, the Sultan is designated on the coins as ‘slave Muhammad bin Tughluq hopeful of the money of God.’ One coin issued in 730 A.H. bears on it the superscription ‘struck as a lawful dirham in the time of the slave, Muhammad bin Tughluq.’ To enforce the acceptance of his new currency he had recourse not - [Previous: c8.111](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8.111) - [Next: c8.113](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8.113) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8.112](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.prasad-1936.c8.112) · Pramāṇa