Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s experiment of introducing token currency could not succeed on account of

Q. Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s experiment of introducing token currency could not succeed on account of

(a) rejection of token coins by foreign merchants

(b) shortage of copper for minting token coins

(c) large-scale minting of spurious coins

(d) poor quality of token currency

Ans: (c) large-scale minting of spurious coins

Explanation:

 (c) large-scale minting of spurious coins.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s experiment of introducing token currency could not succeed primarily due to the large-scale minting of spurious coins. During his reign as the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351, Muhammad bin Tughlaq implemented several ambitious and innovative reforms, including the introduction of token currency. The idea behind the token currency was to replace the existing currency with coins made of cheaper metals, such as copper, while maintaining their face value. However, the experiment failed as there was widespread counterfeiting and minting of spurious coins. This led to a loss of public trust in the currency, as the value of the coins was not maintained, and people were unable to distinguish genuine coins from counterfeit ones. The large-scale minting of spurious coins undermined the effectiveness of the token currency system and contributed to its failure.