The Mishnah and a Coin from the Delhi Sultanate

In a short article entitled "a Minor Detail Concerning Jewish Influence on Muslim Coinage" (1954) [original Hebrew; English summary], Leo A. Mayer discusses the inscriptions on a copper coin issued by the Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad b. Tughlaq (r. 1325-51 AD):

Mayer noted that the obverse inscription is derived from the Mishnah, tractate Abot 3.2:

Mayer, who did not have access to the internet and digital databases, suggested that Ibn Tughlaq may have had a Jewish mint-master. However, he considered this possibility unlikely. Instead, he proposed that this quote is probably taken from the Classical Islamic sources, where it is ultimately derived from the Mishnah. He found the saying in the Tarikh-i Fakhr al-Din Mubarakshah (completed in 1206 AD) [Google Books], where it is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. 

Taking advantage of al-Maktaba al-Shamila al-Haditha, I have found that Mayer was correct about the saying being found in Classical Arabic works. The earliest occurrence that I found is in the Book on Teachers (Kitab al-mu'allimin) by al-Jahiz (d. 255/869): 

In his edition of the Book on Teachers [Archive], Ibrahim Geries notes that this saying is derived from the Mishnah. Al-Jahiz does not attribute the saying to anyone. He also adds to it a similar saying about a cattle-herder and his cattle. In the Mishnaic saying, there is reciprocity: People are devouring each other, but in the saying about the cattle-herder there is a hierarchy of sorts between cattle and predators. Is al-Jahiz saying that some people are like cattle while others are like predators, or is he merely saying that when people are left to their own devices, they viciously attack each other like predators? Be that as it may, al-Jahiz mentions the Mishnaic saying, and may even be the first Muslim author to do so. He does not attribute it to the Prophet.

After al-Jahiz, the saying appears in The Beneficial Teacher of Knowledge and Destroyer of Doubts (Mufid al-'ulum wa-mubid al-humum) of Abu Bakr al-Khawarizmi (d. 383/993):

It is unclear to whom al-Khawarizmi attributes this saying. Based on the preceding context, the person who said it may be the Prophet or his Companion Ibn 'Abbas, or another unnamed figure. Al-Khawarizmi includes this saying in a chapter about "the Virtue of the Sultan." This chapter opens with the same quote from Q 4:59 which is on the reverse side of the coin from Delhi. Perhaps, Ibn Tughlaq or members of his court consulted al-Khawarizmi's book before designing the coin. Also note that al-Khawarizmi, like al-Jahiz, does not allow the Mishnaic saying about the government to stand alone. He adds to it a saying about the virtue of religious scholars. This addition serves as a reminder that the government is not the only force keeping society in tact, and that it must be supported by religious observance.

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Some related links:

• L. A. Mayer, "A Minor Detail Concerning Jewish Influence on Muslim Coinage," Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society 18 (1954), 230-32 (link).

• A discussion about this coin in a numismatics forum (link).

• Nice images of the coin from an auction house (link).

Published February 2021