Safavid-Mughal Relations

the numismatic evidence

Dr Sanjay Garg
Assistant Director
National Archives of India,
Ministry of Culture,
New Delhi 110 001 (INDIA)
sgarg30@hotmail.com
The Mughal & Safavid Empires
 The Mughal Dynasty
• Descendents of Tamerlane and
Chingiz Khan

• Ruled India from AD 1526 to 1858

 Shah Ismail I and Babur
1511:
Provided military assistance to Babur to recover his Transoxanian
dominions.

In return, Babur promised to have coins stuck and Khutba read in the
name of Shah Ismail.

Babur captured Samarqand in October, sends back the Iranian troops.

1512, May:
Uzbegs drive Babur out of Samarqand and Bokhara.

Shah Ismail I sends a force under the command of the vaqil Amir Yar
Ahmad Isfahani to rescue Babur from Hisar-i Shadman.
Shah Ismail I and Babur
 Tahmasp I and the Mughals

Tahmasp I (1524-76) 1. Babur (1526-30)

2. Humayun (1530-40 – 1st reign)

Suri Dynasty (1540-55)

Humayun (1555-56 – 2nd reign)

3. Akbar (1556-1605)
Tahmasp I and Humayun
15 May 1540:
Humayun is defeated by Sher Shah Suri at
the battle of Bilgram near Kannauj.

Unable to find asylum in India, he fled to

Persia.

September 1545:
Humayun occupied Kabul and Qandahar.

1555
Humayun captured Lahore (February), Agra
and Delhi (July) and once again became the
ruler of northern India.
Tahmasp I and Humayun
Vassal Coinage:
Shah Tahmasp of Persia

Qandahar, nd
Shahrukhi std.
Tahmasp I and Humayun

Kabul, 952 AH
Shahrukhi std.
 Akbar and the Safavids

Akbar 1. Ismail II
(1556-1605) (1576-77)

2. Mohd. Shah Khudabanda

(1578-87)

3. Shah Abbas I
(1587-1629)
Shah Ismail I

Nad-e Alian mazhar-ul Ajayeb

Tajid hu unan laka fin nawayab
Kullouhammin wa ghammin Sayenjali
Be walayete ka ya Ali ya Ali ya Ali

Call upon Ali, the manifestor of miracles;

Thou shalt find him a help unto thee in adversities.
All care and grief shall vanish
By thy holiness, O Ali, O Ali, O Ali
 Persian Bait us-Sikka
Shah Ismail II : Coin dated 984 [AD 1576]

Ze mashriq ta ba magrib gar Imam ast

Ali wa Aal-i-U mara tamam ast

If an Imam there be between the East and the West

Ali along with Ali’s house for us is best.
 Akbar
Allahabad

Couplet Type

Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh by Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni.

• Akbar came to Allahabad in AH 991 (28 Ilahi/ AD 1583);
• Coins were struck there with the following Persian
couplet composed by Sharif Sarmadi:

Hamesha hamchu zar Mihr-o-Mah raij bad

Ba Gharb-o-Sharq-i Jahan, Sikka-i Ilahabad

May always be the gold current like Sun and Moon

In the East and West of the World, the coin of AIlahabad.
Jahangir
Jahangir

Obv. Qaza bar Sikka-i-zar kard tasveer

Shabih-i-Hazrat Shah Jahangir

Rev. Haruf-i-Jahangir-o-Allah-o-Akbar
Ze roz-i-Azal dar ’adad barabar

Obv. Destiny has drawn a picture on Coin of gold

(Of) the portrait of Hon’ble Shah Jahangir.
Rev. The letters of ‘Jahangir’ and ‘Allah-o-Akbar’
are equal in value from the beginning of the
time
Jahangir
Jahangir and Shah Abbas I
 Jahangir and Shah Abbas I

1000 Muhr,
Agra

“I gave one gold muhr of 1,000 tolas, which is called Kaukab-i Tali to Yadgar Ali, the
ambassador of the Shah of Iran” Tuzuk-i Jahangiri (19 Farwardin RY 8 = 10 Apr. 1612).
Jahangir
Obv.
(in the Centre)
Abu al-Muzaffar Nur ud-din Muhammad
Jahangir Badshah Ghazi

(around)
Hazar guna sharf yaft ru-i Sikka-o-zar
Ze naqsh-i nam-i Jahangir Shah Akbar
Ajab na bashad agar zar zu-i Sikka-i u
Ba Sikka-khanah ash ayad ze asman Akhtar

The face of the Coin and gold received a

thousand kinds of honour
From the impression of the name of the Jahangir,
son of Shah Akbar
It would not be surprising if in the yearning of his
coin
Stars come from the sky to his Coin-house.
Jahangir
Rev.
(in the Centre)
Sanh-i Julus 8 Mutabiq 1022 Hijri , Zarb Dar
al-Khilafah Agra

(around)
Ze Faiz-i-didan-i-Muhr-i-hazar tolach ash
Hazar bar bi balad ze zauq-i-nur-i-nazar
Ba nam-i-nami-i-u bad Sikka-o-Khutbah
Ba dahr ta buwad az Sikka-o-ze Khutbah athar

Through the bounty of seeing his 1000 tola Muhr

The light of vision increases thousand-folds in
ecstasy
May the Coin and Khutbah be (current in) his
illustrious name
As long as there is vestige of Coin and Khutbah
in the world.
Shah Jahan

Sikka-i Shahjahanabad raij dar jahan

Jawidan bada banam-i Sani Sahib Qiran

May the Coin of Shahjahanabad, be current in the world

Forever in the name of the Second Lord of the Conjunction
Legacy of Timur
Shah Abbas II

Sāhib-i Qirān

(lit. Lord of the

[Fortunate]
Conjunctions)

Shah Jahan
 Legacy of Timur
Nine Mughal emperors have adopted the ‘alāmāt Sāhib-i Qirān (lit. Lord of the
[Fortunate] Conjunctions) in its five distinct variants.

The same title was adopted in two variants by four Safavid rulers.

Sāhib-i Qirān Murad Bakhsh and

Jahandar Shah
Sāhib-i Qirānī Shah Alam Bahadur Abbas II
Shah I and Shah Alam II Shah Safi II (Sulaiman I)
Tahmasp II
Sāhib-i Qirān Sānī Shah Jahan I,
Shah Shuja,
Muhammad Shah and
Akbar Shah II
Sānī Sāhib-i Qirān Shah Jahan I
Sālis Sāhib-i Qirān Farrukhsiyar Abbas III
Aurangzeb

Sikka zad dar jahan chu Mihr [or Badr]-i munir

Shah Aurangzeb Alamgir
[Struck coin in the world like the shining Sun [or Moon]
King Aurangzeb, the World Seizer]
Parody of the Coin Couplet of Auragngzeb

Coin Couplet: Parody:

Sikka zad dar jahan chu Mihr-i munir Sikka zad ba qurs-i panir
Shah Aurangzeb Alamgir Aurangzeb Beradar-kush Pidar-gir
[Struck coin in the world like the shining Sun [Struck coin on frozen cheese
King Aurangzeb, the World Seizer] Aurangzeb, brother-slayer, father seizer]
 Successors of Aurangzeb
 Azam Shah, Qutb ud-Din Muhammad (1707)
 Kam Bakhsh, Muhammad (1707-1709)
 Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I, Qutb ud-Din Muhammad (1707-1712)
 Azim ush-Shan, Azim ud-Din Muhammad (1712)
 Jahandar Shah, Muiz ud-Din Muhammad (1712-1713)
 Farrukhsiyar, Muin ud-Din Muhammad (1712-1719)
 Rafi ud-Darjat, Shams ud-Din Muhammad (1719)
10: Regular Kings
 Shah Jahan II (1719)
 Nekusiyar (1719) [No coin found] 8: Claimants/Puppets
 Ibrahim, Zahir ud-Din Muhammad (1720)
 Muhammad Shah, Nasir ud-Din (AD 1719-1748)
 Ahmad Shah, Mujahid ud-Din Muhammad (1748-1754)
 Alamgir II, Aziz ud-Din Muhammad (1754-1759)
 Shah Jahan III, Muhi ud-Din Muhammad (1759-1760)
 Shah Alam II, Jalal ud-Din Muhammad (1759-1806)
 Bedar Bakht, Nasir ud-Din Muhammad (1788)
 Akbar II, Muin ud-Din Muhammad (1788, 1806-1837)
 Bahadur Shah II, Siraj ud-Din Muhammad (1837-1857)
 Nadir Shah Afshari (1688-1747)
TAHMASP II, Ag, Abbasi
As Viceroy of the East (Khorasan)
Zarb Mashhad Muqaddas, 1140 AH

Az Khorasan sikka bar zar shud ba Tawfiq-i Khuda

Nusrat-o-Imdad-i Shah-i Din Ali-ye Musa Raza

From Khorasan coins minted in gold with God’s grace

With victorious help from the King of Faith, Ali Musa Reza
 Nadir Shah Afshari (1688-1747)
ABBAS III, Ag, Abbasi
As Waqil ud-Daulah and Naib us-Sultanat
Zarb Qazvin, 1147 AH

Sikka bar zar zad ba Tawfiq-i Ilahi dar Jahan

Zill-i Haq, Abbas Salis, Sani Sahib-i Qiran

In this world struck coin on gold by the grace of God

The Shadow of God, Abbas III, Second Lord of the
[Fortunate] Conjunctions
 Nadir Shah Afshari (1688-1747)
As King of Iran Ag, Rupee
Zarb Qazvin, 1149 AH

Sikka bar zar kard nam Saltanat ra dar Jahan

Nadir-i Iran Zamin wa Khusru-i Gaiti Sitan

The stamp on the Gold has famed the kingdom in the world
The Phoenix of land of Iran, The world-conquering King
 Nadir Shah Afshari (1688-1747)
Nadir Shah in India Ag, Rupee
Zarb Shahjahanabad, 1151 AH

Hast Sultan bar Salatin-i Jahan

Shah-i Shahan Nadir Sahib Qiran

Over the Kings of the World, is the King

King of Kings, Nadir, the Lord of Conjunctions
Thank You