Delhi tanka silver coin

Timeline

1. c. 1210–1236Delhi · DelhiModeling the Islamic dinar–dirham system, Iltutmish minted the standard silver tanka in Delhi, setting its weight at about 11 grams with stable silver content, replacing the chaotic preceding currency systems and making it the legal tender of the Delhi Sultanate.
2. 1361Delhi · DelhiUnder Firoz Shah Tughlaq the Delhi mint continuously struck tanka silver coins, the obverse engraved with the sultan's full name and titles, the reverse decorated with Quranic verses and the minting year, alongside copper jital coins issued as subsidiary currency, maintaining the stability of the North Indian monetary system.
3. c. 1351–1388North India · North IndiaFiroz Shah standardized weights and measures and linked them to the tanka; tanka silver coins circulated across the areas covered by the mints of Delhi, Hisar, Lahore, and elsewhere, used for land tax, market trade, and officials' salaries, becoming the common medium of economic exchange in 14th-century North India.
4. c. 1398–1526Delhi · DelhiAfter Timur's invasion the quality of Tughlaq tankas declined and their weight decreased; the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties kept the tanka name but changed its design and fineness, until the Mughal Empire introduced new coinages such as the rupee. The 14th-century tankas of Firoz Shah became an important category for numismatic collecting and research.