d. Of Bih bud on Husain Bai-qara 's coins.
So far it does not seem safe to accept Babur's statement literally. He may tell a half-truth and obscure the rest by his brevity.
Nothing in the sources shows ground for signal and public honour to Bihbud Beg, but a good deal would allow surmise that jesting allusion to his name might decide for Bih bud as a coin mark when choice had to be made of one, in the flush of success, in an assembly of the begs, and, amongst those begs, lovers of word-play and enigma.
The personal name is found written Bihbud, as one word and with medial h ; the mark is Bih bud with the terminal h in the Bih. There have been discussions moreover as to whether to read on the coins Bih bud, it was good, or Bih buvad, let it be, or become, good (valid for currency ?).
The question presents itself; would the beg's name have appeared on the coins, if it had not coincided in form with a suitable coin-mark ?
Against literal acceptance of Babur's statement there is also doubt of a thing at once so ben trovato and so unsupported by evidence.
Another doubt arises from finding Bih bud on coins of other rulers, one of Iskandar Khan's being of a later date,1 others, of Tlmur, Shahrukh and Abu-sa'ld, with nothing to shew who counterstruck it on them.
On some of Husain's coins the sentence Bih bud appears as part of the legend and not as a counterstrike. This is a good basis for finding a half-truth in Babur's statement. It does not allow of a whole-truth in his statement because, as it is written, it is a coin-mark, not a name.
An interesting matter as bearing on Husain's use of Bih bud is that in 865 AH. (1461 AD.) he had an incomparable horse named Bihbud, one he gave in return for a falcon on making peace with Mustapha Khan.2
' This Mr. M. Longworth Dames pointed out in JRAS. 1913-
2 Habibtis-siyar lith. ed. iii, 219; Ferte' trs. p. 28. For the information about
Husain's coins given in this appendix I am indebted to Dr. Codrington and
Mr. M. Longworth Dames.
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