Coin 1
Ghaznavid, Mahmud of Ghazni, 997-1030 AD, Gold Dinar, 4.18g, Nishapur Mint, AH 407, 1017 AD
Nishapur (Nishabur, Neyshaboor) is in Khorasan province of Iran. This date (AH 407) coincides with the raid in India in which the Krishna Janambhoomi temple (Keshav Deo) at Mathura was looted and destroyed.
Coin 2
Ghaznavid, Mahmud of Ghazni, 997-1030 AD, Silver Dirhem, 2.94g, Mahmudpur Mint, AH 418, 1027 AD
Mahmudpur is the honorific name for the city of Lahore in Pakistan.
The Silver Dirhem of Mahmud Ghazni is special in Indian Numismatics as it was the first time a bilingual islamic coin was issued in India bearing legends in both the Arabic and Sanskrit script.
Obverse Field la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah / nizam al-din / abu’l-qasim
“no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God, Nizam al-Din, Abu’l-Qasim”
at 12:00: al-qadir, at 9:00 billah
“al-Qadir billah” (name of the Abbassid Caliph)
Margin bism allah duriba hadha’l-dirham bi-mahmudpur sana thaman ‘ashr wa arba‘mi’a
“in the name of God this dirham was struck in Mahmudpur the year eighteen and four hundred”
Reverse Field written in Sanskrit: avyak tameka / muhammada a / vatar nrpa / ti mahamudu
“The Invisible is One, Muhammad is the manifestation, Muhammad the king”
Margin written in Sanskrit: avyaktiya name ayam tankam hato muhamuda samvati 418
“in the name of the Invisible, this tanka was struck at Mahmudpur 418”
In another variety, the circular legend around reads as 'ayam tankam mahamudapure ghatitah tajikiyena samvatiti 418' (this tanka was struck at mahmudpur in the tajikiya era 418). Tajikiya era here is a substitute for the Hejirah era.
