I've been pretty quiet the past few months due to some medical issues, which are getting better now, so hopefully I will have more time to spend on this board. Here's one of several coins I purchased in January but haven't had a chance to research and post until now: Khwarezmshahs. Kurzuwam mint. Ala ad-Din Muhammad (1200-1220 AD). AE jital (13 mm, 2.69 g). Obverse: Elephant facing right. Reverse: Inscription. Tye 228.2, Album 1735.1. This coin: Purchased from @Orielensis . The Khwarezmshahs or Khwarezm Dynasty were a major power in Persia and Central Asia from the late 11th to early 13th centuries AD. The dynasty was originally of Turkic origin but adapted Persian culture. Their last powerful ruler, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, took power in 1200 AD and defeated two other major states, the Kharakhanids and the Ghorids, greatly increasing his own territory. By around 1220, the Khwarezm domains were quite extensive: (map taken from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons license) In 1218 AD, Genghis Khan sent a trade mission to the Khwarezm domains. However, the governor of the town of Otrar branded the ambassadors as spies, confiscated their goods, and executed them. Genghis Khan demanded reparations, which Ala ad-Din Muhammad refused to pay. Genghis Khan reacted in his usual fashion: launching a massive military campaign and killing huge numbers of people. In 1219 he destroyed the major Khwarezm city of Bukhara, and in 1220 the capital of Samarkand. Ala ad-Din Muhammad fled, pursued by a small Mongol force, and died on a small island in the Caspian Sea shortly afterwards. The Mongols proceeded to capture and destroy other cities in the former Khwarezm lands, including the city of Kurzuwan in 1221. Ala ad-Din Muhammad issued a number of different coin types; Steve Album lists this variety as Scarce on his rarity scale. I like this coin as a reminder of an empire at the height of its power, right before its precipitous fall. Please post your related coins.
Glad you are feeling better. This example looks quite similar to yours but is attributed slightly differently. I don't know this series; I mostly compared this with coins on Zeno. Ghorid empire, Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad b. Sam (558-599 AH / 1163-1202 AD). 2.2g Jital AE13 Elephant / Inscription "As-Sultan / Al-a'zam 'Ala / ud-duniya wa ud-din / Muhammad bin Sultan". Tye 231; Zeno: Ghorid, 540-612 » Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad b. Sam, 558-599
Sorry to hear about your medical issues. Hope your recovery will allow you plenty of time for new research. This category of coins is probably more complex than it seems at first sight. The Tye Jital catalog still is the best reference. It does however, not show all subtypes and the distinction between types and subtypes may sometimes be not to straight forward. I would not call the openingpost coin a Tye#228.2 type. The arrangement of the text is a bit different, but more important is that there's a horizontal stick between the legs of the elephant which is absent in Tye#228.2. I would rather call it Tye#228.3 or 229, where the difference between the two is not so clear in the Jitals catalog. The stick between the elephant legs may not just be a detail. It could have had a symbolic meaning: "I have shackled the Elephant". Where the elephant could signify both the Ghorids and al-Hind, the west part of India. Here's a typical Tye#228.1: Ed's attribution is a bit of a mix-up. The Tye#231 and text transcription are correct. But therefore, it is not Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad b. Sam. Here another Tye#231 type with some essential text elements a bit clearer. In the second textline at the left, there's something looking like "V_C". That's " 'Ala". If you see this, it is a coin issued either by Ghorid Mu'izz-ud-din Muhammad bin Sam, or Khwarezmshah 'Ala-ud-Din Muhammad. "Ghiyath" looks quite similar to " 'Ala" but never has the "V" shape. To distinguish between a Ghorid and Khwarezm issue there is a consensus rule among researchers. If the last line reads "Muhammad bin Sam" it is definitely Ghorid. If the last line reads "Muhammad bin Sultan" it is the Khwarezmshah. So this also is a Khwarezmshah Jital. The one below is a Ghorid Ghiyath al-Din elephant from Kurzuwan (Tye#140.2). This also has the mintname at the top of the text side.
Thanks for the kind wishes @Ed Snible and @THCoins. As for the "shackles" on my coin's elephant, I had thought that was just a die crack (given that the flan has a couple of holes and there is a big area of weak strike, one more flaw wouldn't be surprising), but your interpretation makes sense. I agree that this area of numismatics is complicated- I have the Tye catalogue, but still find the various issues hard to tell apart. Thanks THCoins for the additional images and information to help clarify the attribution of my and Ed's coins.
Very interesting coin and nice write-up @Parthicus. I'm familiar with the history since I took a course on Central Asian history while in college. All of this just before the Mongol tide swept across Asia and the Middle East.
Wish you a speedy recovery, Perthicus! Thanks for that informative history, good lesson , "never tick off the Mongols, and Genghiz Khan!" Better trade then war.
