Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Ghaznavids. Yamin al-Dawla Abu'l-Qasim Mahmud, AH 388-421 / AD 998-1030. Dirham (Silver, 19 mm, 2.79 g, 12 h), bilingual dirham with Arabic and Sanskrit legends, Mahmudpur (Lahore), AH 419 = AD 1028/9. Central field, within circular border, in four lines: lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / yamīn al-dawla / wa-amīn Maḥmūd al-milla (‘There is no god but God / Muhammad is the Messenger of God / the Right Hand of the State / and the Trusted One, Maḥmūd, of the community’ in Arabic). Above: al-Qādir. To left: bi-llāh. Margin: bism Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi-Maḥmūdpūr fī sanat tisʿ ʿashar wa-arbaʿ-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this dirham was struck in Maḥmūdpūr in the year four hundred and nineteen’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, within circular border, in Śāradā characters: avyaktam eka / muhammada avatāra / nṛpati mahamūda (‘The Unmanifest is One / Muhammad is the manifestation / King Mahmud’ in Sanskrit). Margin, in Śāradā characters: ayam ṭaṅkaṃ mahamūdapure ghaṭita tājikīyera saṃvati caturśata ekonaviṃśati (?) (‘This tanka was struck at Mahmudpur in the Arabic year four hundred and nineteen (?)’ in Sanskrit). Album 1610. Mitchiner 773a. Very rare. Well struck for this type with clear bilingual legends. Small areas of weakness, minor marks and small flan faults on the edge, otherwise, good very fine.



This bilingual dirham belongs to a small and historically important Ghaznavid series combining Arabic Islamic formulae with Sanskrit inscriptions in Śāradā script. Maḥmūd’s authority in the Indian frontier regions was commemorated by renaming of Lahore as Maḥmūdpūr.