TIMURID - MUGHAL - THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE GOLD COIN STRUCK BY BABUR, THE FIRST MOGHOL RULER OF INDIA. Zahir al-Din Babur, AH 910-937 (1504-1530). Ashrafi ou Mithqal non daté, sans nom d'atelier (Kaboul). Inscription sur trois lignes entourée de quatre inscriptions dans des cartouches / Inscription dans un polylobe entouré d'une légende circulaire. 4,70g. A -.

D'une importance fondamentale. Très beau.

Notes
This is the first time that a gold mithqal (ashrafi) of Babur, is being offered for public sale. Zahir al-din Babur, the great-great grandson of Timur Gurkan, began life as a Timurid prince of fortune at a time when the Timurid dynasty had reached the end of its days. He was lucky enough to be encouraged by his distant cousin Husayn Bayqara, who received him frequently in Harat and almost certainly helped to form his more humane character and interests. The fall of the Timurid kingdom of Harat and the rise of the Shaybanids in Samarkand, combined with that of the Safawids in Iran, challenged Babur's ambitions. He destroyed the forces of Ibrahim Lodi, the sultan of Dehli, at the great battle of Panipat in the spring of AH 932 (1526). This was the moment at which the Mughal Empire was born, a Timurid state founded on Indian soil, which was to last until the nineteenth century CE. This coin was issued on the conquest of Hindustan in AH 932 and most likely struck after the battle of Panipat to reward the troops under Babur's command, for he was known to be a generous and liberal general. Since this coin is struck in the Kabul style, but without mint or date, this is most likely the first occasion on which he claimed the title Padshah on his coinage. This piece is a campaign issue struck at a military camp. The silver coinage is plentiful, but the rarity of the gold, this being the first one known, suggests that it was intended by Babur for his generals and viziers. Having ousted Ibrahim Lodi, Babur occupied Delhi and Agra to the south, and then led his forces down the Ganges River as far as Jaunpur. His victory over Rana Sauga of Citor in AH 933 (1527) secured the Rajasthani flank for him, while a second victory over the eastern Afghans in AH 935 (1529) gave him control of India as far as Bengal. Babur died on 6 Jumada I AH 937 (26 December 1530) at Agra, having reigned in India for only five years.