Rare AE Broad Falus of Mahmud, Sultan of the Ghaznavids 403AH (1012 AD) Bust Mint

Hey all! Here is a coin that I received last week. I first posted it over in the 2 Buck Struck thread in World Coins but I wanted to share it here, too.

AE Broad Fals | 30mm | 5.61g
403 AH (1012-1013 AD)
Mahmud of the Ghaznavid Dynasty
Bust Mint, present day Lashkargah, SW Afghanistan
Album 1614​

I was browsing eBay last week when I saw a lot of five Indian coins for under $4. Catching my eye, I clicked in to see that three were common post-1945 copper pieces but one was an Arabic princely state and one was this. The photos were awful and I didn't expect the two pieces to be much but I've been trying to get better with Arabic coins and figured it could be a fun piece. I posted it in a FB group and someone was able to quickly help ID it.

The coin is very rare piece that does not commonly appear. The "Broad Fals" name is used to differentiate the pieces that are 30-35mm from the more common Fals that measure around 20-30mm. Stephen Album writes "the very broad fulus of Bust were never well struck, and most surviving examples are unpleasantly worn, damaged, or corroded".

An interesting tibit of information I found while researching this piece is that is was issued under the first Sultan. As in, Sultan Mahmud was the first ruler across the Islamic world to use the title.

Here is the Zeno category of which my coin belongs. Below is an auction from Album where a similar AE Broad Fals from Bust, 403 AH sold for $110.

Bonus!


Mystery coin that was also in the coin lot. It looks to be Arabic or Persian, perhaps, and weighs 4.06g. Measures to about 17mm square end or 21mm at the longest.​

 

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Nice piece to venture into the Ghaznavids ! The size adds to its appeal.
Mahmud was also the one who initiated the expansion into India. Resulting in a short-lived experiment with bi-ligual coins like this one:

 

Super nice piece! I haven't seen this bilingual coin before. I read on Wiki that Mahmud crossed into India during invasions something like 18 times. I've actually got quite a few of smaller AR Ghaznavid pieces but I haven't gotten around to properly IDing them.

 

The Ghaznavids were covered in a Central Asian History class that I took. Interesting period of time. Started losing territory in the West to the Seljuk Turks in the latter 12th century. The Ghaznavids were of Mamluk slave-soldier origin.

The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily made up of Turks, as well as thousands of native Afghans who were trained and assembled from the area south of the Hindu Kush in what is now Afghanistan. During the rule of Sultan Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost (now Lashkar Gah). This area was known for blacksmiths where war weapons were made. After capturing and conquering the Punjab region, the Ghaznavids began to employ Hindus in their army.

Like the other dynasties that rose out of the remains of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Ghaznavid administrative traditions and military practice came from the Abbasids. The Arabian horses, at least in the earliest campaign were still substansial in Ghaznavid military incursions especially in dashing raids deep into hostile territory. As evidenced there is a record about '6000 Arab horse' were sent against king Anandapala in 1008 AD and the existence of this Arabian cavalry persist until 1118 under Ghaznavid governor in Lahore.

There were, however, unique changes adopted that met the demands of the geographic situation of the Ghaznavid dynasty. Due to their access to the Indus-Ganges plains, the Ghaznavids, during the 11th and 12th centuries, developed the first Muslim army to use war elephants in battle. The elephants were protected by armour plating on their fronts. The use of these elephants was a foreign weapon in other regions that the Ghaznavids fought in, particularly in Central Asia.

 

I don't know anything about these coins but the "two buck struck" label is priceless! Thanks for the laugh .

 

It's a pretty fun thread to flaunt some of your best deals!