Ghiyāth al-dīn ‘Iwaḍ (AH 609-624, AD 1213-27)

Coinage

Towards the end of the year 616, ‘Iwad must have felt his position secure enough to declare himself independent of the Dehli sultanate. In that year, he struck coins in his own name with a date that has been read as both 12 Dhū’l Qa’dah or 19 Ṣafar. The engraving is very crude. Three varieties of this coin are known for this year, one with only the year mentioned and two with the month and day. They all quote his father, al-Ḥusain, and have the Shahada on the reverse, with the date in the margin. There is no mint name on any of his coins. The next issue is dated in the month of Rabī‘ II 619. These coins quote both the caliph al-Nāṣir as well as ‘Iwad’s heir apparent ‘Alā al-Ḥaqq wa al-dīn. He also now calls himself al-sultān al-a‘ẕam (the supreme sultan) instead of al-sulṭān al-mu‘aẕẕam (the great sultan). There then follows another series of coins, struck in 620 and 621, also seemingly in the month Rabī‘ II. These continue to quote the caliph al-Nāṣir but also, on the obverse, after the sultan’s name and titles, a second person who is termed sulṭān al-salāṭīn (sultan of sultans) nūr or mu‘izz al-dunyā wa al-dīn abū al-muẕaffar ‘alī burhān amīr al-mū’minīn (witness of the commander of the faithful). Yet other coins bear the additional name of mu‘izz al-dunyā wa al-dīn ‘alī sher bin ‘iwaḍ or more usually without bin ‘iwaḍ. Whether these two ‘Alī’s were the same person is not known.

Legends

The standard legend is: السلطان المعظم غياث الدنيا و الدين أبو الفتح عوض بن الحسين ناصر أمير المؤمنين = al-sulṭān al-mu‘aẕẕam ghiyāth al-dunyā wa al-dīn abū al-fatḥ 'iwaḍ bin al-ḥusain nāṣir amīr al-mū’minīn (= The great sultan, helper of the world and the faith, father of victory, ‘Iwaḍ, son of al-Husain, commander of the faithful). On the later coins the word nāṣir is replaced by qasīm (قسيم helper).