NEW DELHI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Indian laborers recently accidentally found 62 silver coins which appeared to be from 13th century Delhi Sultanate period in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, the private Indo-Asian News Service said Thursday.

    A group of 50 labourers digging a drain in Bareilly district, 250 kilometers from the state capital of Lucknow, came across the silver coins Tuesday, the report quoted a local official as saying.

    The laborers did not reveal their finding and distributed the coins among themselves. However, some of the laborers were not satisfied with their share and told the authorities about the coins, said the report.

    Authorities have taken over the coins and put them in a treasury. The area from where the coins were recovered has been cordoned off and no one is allowed to enter it, said the report.

    The coins bear Arabic inscriptions and are dated equivalent to the period 1218-1229. A team of the Archeological Survey of India officials from Lucknow has been called to study the coins.

    A great part of India was controlled by Delhi Sultanate Muslim rulers from 1206 to 1526.