A Collection of Indian Coins

India, SULTANS OF DELHI, Jalalat-ad-Din Radiyya Begum (634-637/1236-1240), Tanka, Lachnawti, 635, legend in square within circle, reverse legend in four lines (IMC 93). Some flatness to margin on obverse, otherwise almost very fine, and very rare

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Indian Coins.

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Radiyya, daughter of Altamsh, is the only Moslem queen to occupy the throne of Delhi in her own right. According to the contemporary historian, Siraj "Sultana Radiyya was a great monarch. She was wise, just and generous, a benefactor to her kingdom, a dispenser of justice, the protector of her subjects, and the leader of her armies. She was endowed with all the qualities befitting a king, but she was not born of the right sex, and so, in the estimation of men, all these virtues were worthless". Widely resented this remarkable woman wasmurdered in 637