Previous Year Question

An important share of the credit for organizing and standardizing the currency system of the Delhi Sultanate is given to Iltutmish. During his reign, the silver tanka and the copper jital were established as standard coins in North India.

Before this, several types of local coins remained in circulation under the early Turkish rulers. Some continued to bear older Indian symbols such as Lakshmi, the bull and horseman. Under Iltutmish, a more systematic Sultanate currency developed.

According to IGNOU, Iltutmish issued gold and silver tankas and copper jitals and standardized the coinage of the Delhi Sultanate.

The silver tanka subsequently became an important standard currency of the Sultanate. NIOS records that from the time of Iltutmish the standard silver tanka weighed approximately 175 grains.

In the North Indian exchange system, the generally accepted relationship was—

1 silver tanka = 48 jitals

although the actual metallic content and exchange relationships could vary across periods and regions.

The significance of Iltutmish's currency reform was not merely economic. A standardized independent coinage also strengthened the political sovereignty and administrative integration of the Delhi Sultanate.

Later, Muhammad bin Tughlaq experimented with token currency based on copper and brass, but he did not introduce the tanka for the first time.

Therefore, the ruler responsible for introducing and standardizing the silver tanka in North India was Iltutmish.