Who was the medieval King responsible for Introducing the silver coin called ‘tanka’ in North India?

The correct answer is A) Iltutmish. Iltutmish (r. 1211-1236) is credited with issuing the standard silver tanka, weighing about 175 grains, alongside the copper jital. He also placed the Abbasid caliph's name on his coins, which gave the Delhi Sultanate a recognised monetary system. That is why most textbooks link the tanka to his reign.

Why the others are wrong:

• Razia (1236-1240) ruled briefly and is known for her political career, not for introducing the tanka.
• Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316) did issue silver tankas and reformed the market, but he built on the coinage Iltutmish had already standardised rather than introducing it.
• Mohammad bin Tughluq (1325-1351) is famous for the token currency experiment of 1329-30, in which copper tokens were issued at tanka value. It failed, and it was an experiment, not the introduction of the silver tanka.

Mains angle: Delhi Sultanate coinage shows how the state built fiscal control and a monetary economy, a theme that links to medieval economy and state formation.

Trap: aspirants pick Alauddin or Muhammad Tughlaq because both are strongly linked to coinage. The question asks who introduced the tanka, not who minted it most famously.