Item number: A3565／A3566／A3567

Year: AD 1545-1546

Material: Gold

Size: 10.8 x 10.3 x 0.4 mm (A3565)／10.7 x 11.0 x 0.4 mm (A3566)／10.5 x 10.0 x 0.2 mm (A3567)

Weight: 0.6 g (A3565)／0.65 g (A3566)／0.35 g (A3567)

Manufactured by: Badakhshan Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a gold coin of the denomination of one quarter mithqāl, struck between AD 1545 and 1546 by Humayun, the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, during his period of exile. The form imitates the small gold coins of contemporary Iran. The mithqāl was a weight measure employed across the Islamic world, equivalent to approximately 4.25 grams, which originally corresponded to the standard weight of the gold dīnār. As the dīnār declined in weight and value, however, the term mithqāl became detached from the dīnār and was subsequently extended to serve as a denominational unit for gold coinage.

The obverse of the coin bears the Islamic profession of faith (kalima), inscribed from right to left, top to bottom: “لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله” (lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh), meaning “There is no deity but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

The reverse features at the centre the inscription “محمد همايون بادشاه غازي” (Muḥammad Humāyūn Bādshāh Ghāzī), that is, the titulature “Muḥammad Humayun, Emperor, the Warrior of the Faith.” The title Bādshāh derives from the Persian Padishah, denoting a sovereign ruler of the highest rank, conventionally rendered “emperor.” The epithet Ghāzī signifies a champion of Islam who takes part in holy war against non-Muslims. Above the central line appears the phrase “خلّد الله تعالى” (Khallada Allāh Taʿālā), while below is inscribed “مُلْكَهُ” (Mulkahu), together forming the supplication “May God, the Exalted, perpetuate his sovereignty.” Because the flan is struck slightly off-centre, the legends are incomplete and worn, and any mint-date in the lower left is illegible.

Humayun (Humāyūn) was the second ruler of the Mughal Empire. Having succeeded his father Babur (Bābur) in AD 1530, he was almost immediately confronted with the threat posed by Sher Khan Suri (later Sher Shah), the Afghan regent of Bihar, while receiving inconsistent support from his brothers. His half-brother Mirza Kamran, in particular, established his own power-base in Punjab and Kabul, and refused to provide essential military assistance. Humayun’s early campaigns against Gujarat were unsuccessful and instead enhanced the power of local rulers. In AD 1540, after suffering defeat at the battle of Kanauj, he lost Delhi, Agra, and the whole of northern India, beginning a fifteen-year exile. He fled through Sindh and Baluchistan and eventually sought asylum with the Safavid dynasty, where he gained the support and military aid of Shah Tahmasp I. In AD 1545, commanding more than ten thousand cavalry, he re-entered Afghanistan, captured Kandahar, expelled Kamran from Kabul, and restored his control over these strategic centres, extending his authority even into Badakhshan, where he strengthened his position through marriage alliances and treaties. Over the following years, Humayun systematically eliminated Kamran’s remaining influence, and in AD 1553 decisively defeated him, had him blinded, and sent him to Mecca, thus concluding the long-standing dynastic conflict. Thereafter Humayun rebuilt his power-base centred on Kandahar, Kabul, and Badakhshan, which served as the platform for his reconquest of India. In AD 1555 he marched east, and at the battle of Sirhind defeated Islam Shah Suri, the successor of the Suri dynasty, thereby briefly restoring Mughal rule in northern India. Although he died unexpectedly only a year later, his efforts paved the way for the consolidation and expansion of the empire under his son Akbar.

物件編號: A3565／A3566／A3567

年代: 公元 1545-1546 年

材料: 黃金

尺寸: 10.8 x 10.3 x 0.4 mm (A3565)／10.7 x 11.0 x 0.4 mm (A3566)／10.5 x 10.0 x 0.2 mm (A3567)

重量: 0.6 g (A3565)／0.65 g (A3566)／0.35 g (A3567)

重量: 巴達赫尚造幣廠

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚公元1545 至1546年間，蒙兀兒帝國的第二任皇帝胡馬雍於流亡時，仿伊朗地區本地小金幣的形制所造，面額¼米斯卡爾的貨幣。「米斯卡爾」是一種伊斯蘭世界使用的計重單位，重量相當於約4.25克，等同於初始最標準的迪納爾金幣，但隨著迪納爾的貶值，重量與幣名涵義分離，後續「米斯卡爾」被延伸使用於計量金幣的面額單位。

金幣正面為清真言，由右至左，由上至下為「لا إله إلا الله, محمد رسول الله」(lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh)，即「萬物非主，唯有真主，穆罕默德，是主使者」。

金幣背面中間為「محمد همايون بادشاه غازي」(Muḥammad Humāyūn Bādshāh Ghāzī)，為頭銜加名「穆罕默德·胡馬雍·巴德沙阿·加齊」。巴德沙阿來自波斯稱號「帕迪沙阿」(Padishah)，為擁有最高主權的「大君主」，或直接譯為「皇帝」。 「加齊」意為參與穆斯林對非穆斯林軍事征服的聖戰士，為宗教榮銜。橫線上方為「خلّد الله تعالى」(Khallada Allāh Taʿālā)，與頭銜加名下方的「مُلْكَهُ 」(Mulkahu)組成片語「願真主永固他的王權」。

由於錢幣偏軸且幣圖不完整，又遭磨蝕，故該形制原左下或存在之發行年無法辨識。

胡馬雍(Humāyūn)是莫臥兒帝國的第二位君主，公元1530年繼承其父巴布爾(Bābur)帝位後，甫繼位，他便必須應對來自比哈爾攝政王，阿富汗裔將領舍爾·汗·蘇里(Sher Khan Suri，後稱舍爾·沙)的威脅，而或許是因為胡馬雍的性格原因，此時他的弟弟們卻並未給予一致支持。特別是同父異母兄弟米爾扎·卡姆蘭(Mirza Kamran)，不但割據旁遮普與喀布爾，甚至拒絕提供軍事援助。胡馬雍即位後數征古拉吉特不果，反而使諸侯坐大。胡馬雍在公元1540年根瑙傑戰役潰敗後，徹底喪失德里、阿格拉與印度北部，展開長達十五年的流亡生涯。他先後逃往信德、俾路支，最終投奔薩法維王朝，獲得波斯國王塔赫瑪斯普一世(Tahmasp I)的支持與軍援。公元1545年，他率領萬餘騎兵重新進軍阿富汗，奪取坎大哈並逐出以喀布爾為根據地的卡姆蘭，恢復對這些戰略要地的直接控制，甚至進一步將勢力擴展至巴達赫尚，並藉由聯姻與結盟鞏固後方。此後數年間，他持續清除卡姆蘭的殘餘勢力，最終在公元1553年徹底擊敗卡姆蘭，將其致盲並遣送麥加，結束了長年的宗室內戰。至此，胡馬雍重建了以坎大哈、喀布爾與巴達赫尚為核心的根據地，並以此為跳板於公元1555年揮師東返，在薩那烏爾戰役中擊敗蘇里王朝繼承者伊斯蘭·沙·蘇里，短暫恢復了蒙兀兒帝國在印度的統治。雖然他僅一年後因意外去世，卻為其子阿克巴(Akbar)的統治與擴張鋪平了道路。