Shams ud din Mahmud, Gold Pagoda / Varaha, 3.83g, Obv: Mahmud Shah al-Sultan, Rev: Shams al-Duniya wa al-Din (Not listed in G&G). Very fine+, exceedingly rare. Qutb al-Din Mubarak succeeded Ala al-Din Muhammad Khilji ij 1316 and soon faced rebellions in the Deccan from the Yadava and Kakatiya vassals. He launched a campaign to quell these and moved to Deogir in the Deccan which he renamed ‘Qutbabad’. While he was pursuing campaigns against the rebels, an old courtier named Azzad Khan hatched a plot to kill him and install a young prince named Shams al-Din Mahmud on the throne. The plan apparently went ahead, as known from extremely rare coins known in the new Sultan’s name but Qutb al-Din survived the attempt on his life and was successful in stopping the rebellion from spreading. Mahmud Shah’s very short reign came to an end with the putting down of this revolt.This is the second known coin of the Mahmud Shah in the South Indian ‘pagoda’ system – the first was sold in 2007 at an auction in London. Quite likely the south Indian system was preferred because of the ease of payment to the local soldiers who had joined the rebellion.