Ghaznavid bilingual coinage

The coins of Mahmud Ghazni struck in India with Arabic and Sanskrit legends on obverse and reverse respectively, show a number of varieties in so far as the legends, the dates and the lettering and its arrangements are concerned.

[1] Ghaznavid control largely continued in the existing administrative system.

Thus Ghaznavid coins issued in North western India have bilingual legends written in Arabic and Sharda scripts .

Some carry Islamic titles together with the portrayal of the Shaiva Bull, Nandi and the legend Shri samta deva.

A dirham struck at Lahore carries a legend in the Sharda script and a rendering in colloquial Sanskrit of the Islamic Kalima.

Coinage of Mas'ud I of Ghazni , derived from Shahi designs, with the name of Mas'ud in Arabic.