Silver damma of governor Shibl, bilingual type with Arabic and Brahmi inscriptio

Description

Three dots, stylized Brahmi "Sri" above, Brahmi letters "Ta" and "Pa" in fields, below Lillah Sa'al in arabic / Nagari legend Sri Ja Yan / Ta Ra Ja . 12.5mm, 0.59 grams. Unpublished and very rare.
The arabic legend gives the name of "Sa'al" - probably the name of the local Ummayad governor of Multan. The Brahmi legend "Sri Jayanta Raja" might either name the local Hindu ruler, or might be the epiphet for the Governor Sa'al, as it translates "Victorious lord King". The name of "Sa'al" has been variously read - "Sa'al" is my reading....
These coins are derived from the earlier "Sri Tapana" pre-Islamic Multan coins we are also selling on our site. These probably have the destinction of being among the very first Islamic coins struck in India. These early Islamic types were first discovered some 10 years or so ago, and were never properly studied or published. They are often attributed to the Habbarid rulers of Sindh and Multan, but the names on these coins do not correspond to the names of the known Habbarid rulers, and these coins are probably . I am currently working on an article on these coins which will be hopefully published in this summer's issue of JONS.