Mubarak Shah and Alexander Shah: A Historical Study of Some of their Archaeological Coins (695-719/ 1296-1320)

The Islamic Numismatics Institute in Tubingen, Germany includes a unique collection of Islamic coins, among which the researchers have selected five coins for historical study; these coins are made of billon that had not been published before. After the previous reading of the coins' inscriptions, it becomes clear that their inscriptions include the names of two sultans of India, Mubārak Shāh I and Alexander shāh II, and their titles, as well as the name of the ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-ʿAḍid. Hence, the study includes the history of Mubārak Shāh I, and Alexander shāh II, who belong to the Khaljīs dynasty in India, and the most important historical events that took place during their reign. Additionally, the paper explains the purpose of the ʿAbbāsid Caliph's name on such coins and the definition of the mint city of Delhi. Furthermore, an analytical study of the Nastaʿlīq Persian script, the type of script in which these coins were inscribed, and the titles of the Sultan Mubārak Shāh I and Alexander shāh II such as; Quṭb Al-Dunīā wa Al-Dīn (the Axis of the World and Religion), ʿUlā al-Dunīā wa Al-Dīn (The Sublimity of World and Religion), Yamīn Al-Khilāfa (the Covenant of Caliphate, Nāsir Amīr Al-Muminīn (the Defender of Commander of the Faithful).