Delhi Sultan ; Shams ud din Iltutmish ( AH 607 – 633 / 1210 – 1235 AD ) ; Budaun Mint ; Extremely Rare Silver Tanka

Description

Delhi Sultan ; Shams ud din Iltutmish ( AH 607 – 633 / 1210 – 1235 AD ) ; Budaun Mint ; Extremely Rare Silver Tanka ;
al-Nasin ; Obv : kalima shahada & al nasir lidinullah amir al muminin within circle, around hijri date in arabic words ;
Rev : al-sultan al-a’zam shams-al-dunya wa’l din abu’I muzaffar iltutmish al-sultan with nasir amir al-mu’ minin, 11.08 g, 24.86mm,(G&G#D31) ; Extremely fine ; Extremely Rare
***** Clear legends across margins is hard to get ******

Note : Iltutmish was the third Sultan of Delhi from AD 1210 to 1235. He was from the Mamluk dynasty, who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus considered the effective founder of the Delhi Sultanate.

Sold into slavery as a young boy, Iltutmish spent his early life in Bukhara and Ghazni under multiple masters. In the late 1190s, the Ghurid slave-commander Qutb ud-Din Aibak purchased him in Delhi, thus making him the slave of a slave. Iltutmish rose to prominence in Aibak’s service, and was granted the important iqta’ of Badaun. His military actions against the Khokhar rebels in 1205–1206 gained attention of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, who manumitted him even before his master Aibak was manumitted.

After Muhammad of Ghor’s assassination in 1206, Aibak became a practically independent ruler of the Ghurid territories in India, with his headquarters at Lahore. After Aibak’s death, Iltutmish dethroned his unpopular successor Aram Shah in 1211, and set up his capital at Delhi. He then consolidated his rule by subjugating several dissidents, and fighting against other former Ghurid slaves, such as Taj al-Din Yildiz and Nasir ad-Din Qabacha. During 1225–1227, he subjugated Aibak’s former subordinates who had carved out an independent kingdom headquartered at Lakhnauti in eastern India. He also asserted his authority over Ranthambore (1226) and Mandore (1227), whose Hindu chiefs had declared independence after Aibak’s death.

In the early 1220s, Iltutmish had largely stayed away from the Indus Valley region, which was embroiled in conflicts between Qabacha, the Khwarazmian dynasty, and the Mongols. In 1228, he invaded the Indus Valley region, defeated Qabacha, and annexed large parts of Punjab and Sindh to his empire. Subsequently, the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir recognized his authority in India. Over the next few years, Iltutmish suppressed a rebellion in Bengal, captured Gwalior, raided the Paramara-controlled cities of Bhilsa and Ujjain in central India, and expelled Khwarazmian subordinates in the north-west. His officers also attacked and plundered the Chandela-controlled Kalinjar area.

Iltutmish organized the administration of the Sultanate, laying the foundation for its dominance over northern India until the Mughal invasion. He introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital – the two basic coins of the Sultanate period, with a standard weight of 175 grains. He set up the Iqtadari system: division of empire into Iqtas, which were assigned to the nobles and officers in lieu of salary. He erected many buildings, including mosques, khanqahs (monasteries), dargahs (shrines or graves of influential people) and a reservoir (hawz) for pilgrims.
Iltutmish’s inscriptions mention several of his grandiloquent titles, including:
Maula muluk al-arab wa-l-ajam (“King of the Kings of the Arabs and the Persians”), a title used by earlier Muslim kings including the Ghaznavid ruler Mas’ud
Maula muluk al-turk wa-l’ajam, Saiyid as-salatin al-turk wa-l’ajam, Riqab al-imam maula muluk al-turk wa-l-ajam (“Master of Kings of the Turks and the Persians”)
Hindgir (“Conqueror of Hind”)
Sultan Salatin ash-Sharq (“the Sultan of the Sultans of the East”)
Shah-i-Sharq (“King of the East”)
Shahanshah (“King of Kings”), a title of the emperors of Persia
In Sanskrit language inscriptions of the Delhi Sultanate, he has been referred to as “Lititmisi” (a rendering of “Iltutmish”); Suritan Sri Samasadin or Samusdina (a rendering of his title “Sultan Shamsuddin”); or Turushkadhipamadaladan (“the Turushka Lord”)