CO INS

The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans in the Cabinet of

Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

SUTAPA SINHA
Department of Islamic History, University of Calcutta, Kolkata

ABSTRACT: In this present paper an attempt would be made to bring into light the collection of the Heberden
Coin Room of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, one of the major coin collections of that country which
remains mostly unpublished. The history of development of this collection, the trend of acquisition of the
coins of this particular series and, most importantly, a brief inventory of the coins of each ruler of Sultan-
ate Bengal extant in this collection have been discussed in detail.
KEYWORDS: Ashmolean Museum, coins of the Bengal Sultans.

INTRODUCTION in India. At times some of them received some

In connection with authorís research project on
ëCoinage and Currency Pattern of the Bengal
Sultanate Periodí taken up at the Centre for
Archaeological Studies and Training, Eastern
India, Kolkata taken up in 1996, the author had
an opportunity to visit the United Kingdom in
the year 19981 and 19992 to study and document
the coin collections preserved in the public
collections in the UK. Four important collections
to have the coins of the Bengal Sultans could be
traced.
Seventeen coins of Bengal Governors and
Sultans belonging to the Ashmolean Museum had
been in the custody of Old Bodleian Library and
were documented and published by Stanley Lane-
Poole3 in 1888. Since then no further publication
on the Indian coins available in the collection came
out that could have helped us form a general idea
about the nature of the present collections of
Indian coins preserved in this cabinet. Never-
theless, coins of the series preserved in this
collection remain the most important source
material for the study of numismatic history of the
Islamic Bengal. The reason is quite obvious. Most
of the pioneering scholars of the period under
review belonging to the nineteenth and the early
twentieth century were either enthusiastic British
bureaucrats, army officers, those who had avidly
collected large number of coins during their tenure
Pratna Samiksha, N ew Series, vol. 1, 2010 (Kolkata : Centre for
Archaeological Studies & Training, Eastern India), pp. 163–75.
amount of those coins as a discount for deci-
phering a coin-hoard. After they returned to the
UK, their collections were subsequently either
donated or sold to the museums in their own
country. The majority of the collection under
discussion was made up of such coins which were
collected, documented, and studied by the
renowned scholars at the initial stage of research
on the Bengal Sultanate numismatics. Therefore,
these coins certainly provide a clear view of the
trend of research, pattern of acquisition of treasure
trove coins, and accumulating contemporary
evidence to reconstruct the history of Bengal Sulta-
nate during the nineteenth and early part of the
twentieth century. Consequently, all these coins
merit a fresh appraisal and reinterpretation in the
light of the ongoing contemporary research, and
also assessing the importance of significant and
hitherto unnoticed coins.
THE COLLECTION OF THE ASHMOLEAN
MUSEUM, OXFORD
Unlike British Museum, the coin collection of
the Bengal Sultans in the Ashmolean Museum
has developed in the twentieth century and that
too after independence of India. The coin room
was formally opened on 24 October 1922 and
named after Charles Buller Heberden, a classi-
cal scholar and Principal of Brasenose since
164 SUTAPA SINHA
1889 who died on 30 May 1921. The original
collection of coins of the Ashmolean Museum,
formerly preserved in the Old Bodleian Library
was transferred to this newly opened coin room
in 1922. The earliest group of sixteen coins came
from Mr J. B. Elliot in 1869 and a single
specimen came from the collection of Lady Frere
through purchase in 1872. Those coins were in
the custody of Bodleian Library and a catalogue
was published by Lane-Poole in 1888. In the
year 1900, two coins were added to the
collection through gift of Rev. J. C. Murray and
in 1911 W. E. M. Campbell donated a single
coin. Since then not a single specimen of the
Bengal Sultans has been included in this
collection even after opening of the Heberden
coin room in 1922.
400
No. 300
of
200
coins
100
0
1840 1860 1880 1900
Trend of Acquisition of Bengal Sultanate coins, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
In 1956, H. E. Stapleton, a retired officer of
the Bengal education service and a renowned nu-
mismatist, bequeathed a large number of coins
to the Heberden coin room, among which 326
specimens belong to the Sultans of Bengal that
forms part around 76 per cent of the present
collection along with some fifteen coins of the
Delhi Sultans. After thirteen years of such large
acquisition of Indian coins, the Museum bought
another group of sixty-nine coins from the col-
lection of P. Thorburn, R. Friel, the curator of
the Shillong Cabinet who had gifted seven coins
to the museum in 1970.
Meanwhile, in 1962 and 1964, one coin each
was bought from Richard Burn as well as Lord
Minto collection. The latest year of acquisition of
Bengal coins is 1989 when four coins were
bequeathed by A. W. Pullan. Now the cabinet has
four hundred and eleven coins of the Bengal
Sultans including a few coins in gold. Only seven-
teen coins were published long back in the nine-
teenth century. Therefore, the number of coins
collected since its inception is almost negligible
except the year 1869 when the core collection of
sixteen coins of the Bengal Sultans was acquired.
For the next hundred years the curve remained
almost at the zero level. In 1956, when H. E. Stap-
leton bequeathed his collection to the Ashmolean
Museum, the collection was enriched and was
subsequently refilled by Thorburn collection.
1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
years
The author would like to draw the attention
of the readers to the contents of the Cabinet so
far as the coins of the Governors and Sultans of
the Bengal between the early thirteenth and late
sixteenth century are concerned.
The earliest collection of coins in the cabinet
of the Bengal Sultans of the Heberden coin room
is of Ghiyath al-din Iwad (AH 609/10-624; c. CE
1213-27). Only two silver coins of Iwad are
there, without any mint name but with dates 616
and AH 620, one form Stapletonís collection and
the other from Thorburnís collection. Surpri-
singly, there is no accession record of the coins
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans
and all information regarding accession history
of any coin is only indicated in the ticket
attached to a coin. Fortunately, the author had
chanced upon the hand-written inventory done
by Stapleton himself for all coins he donated to
the museum.4
Only one coin of Mughith al-din Yuzbak (AH
653-55; CE 1255-57) is in the cabinet which is
typologically similar to that of no. 6 of IMC,5
and with mint name Lakhnauti along with date
653. The mint name could be Lakhnur or Lakor
as suggested by some other scholars.
Again, a solitary specimen of Rukn al-din
Kaikaus (AH 689-99; CE 1290-99) is preserved
with mint name Hadrat Lakhnauti and date AH
695. This coin and the previous one are from
Thorburnís collection and it seems that museum
has acquired good specimens with mint name
and date extant to fill the huge gap between
Iwad and Shams al-din Firuz.
165
Shams al-din Firuz Shah (AH 700-716 and
719-720; CE 1300-1316 and 1319-20) is
represented in the collection by fifteen silver
coins amongst which one from Lady Frere
collection published in Bodleian Catalogue6 ,
thirteen were coins from Stapleton collection
and one from Thorburn collection. Three coins
from Stapletonís collection are part of two small
hoards, one was found at Enayetpur and two
other at Mymensingh. For the other coins of
Firuz Shah, Stapleton remained silent about the
source. Enayetpur find is a minor one of two
coins of Shams al-din Firuz Shah of which one
with mint name Lakhnauti found its way
ultimately to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
The remaining coin of the find probably
remained in the coin cabinet of Shillong. But
from the study of Bengal Sultanís coin hoard, no
find named Mymensingh is known to us.
Perhaps this might be a stray one acquired by
some collector and Stapleton acquired them
afterwards. However, John S. Deyell classified
these fifteen coins under three groups on the
basis of a symbol with three dots (...) on the
word ëal-Imamí which might be a die-cutterís
mark or mint mark.
Shihab al-din Bughda Shah (AH 717-18; CE
1317-18): Only two coins are there, one with
date 717 and mint name cut out of flan and the
other with date 718 and mint Lakhnauti. The
former was found from Murshidabad district,
which Stapleton bought from Calcutta mint on
4 December 1906. There is another coin of
Bughda Shah from the same hoard in the coin
cabinet of the British Museum. Elsewhere7
(Sinha 1999: 173-4), we have discussed that two-
166 SUTAPA SINHA

thirds of the coins found from Murshidabad

hoard were disposed off because they were in
poor condition according to the first reporter of
the hoard. Out of eighty-five coins of the hoard,
only twenty-eight coins have been described in
detail and eleven coins were of Shihab al-din
Bughda Shah, highest number among the others.
There must have been many other pieces of
Bughda Shah which have been distributed to
other museums in India and abroad. In referring
to this particular coin, we have found a note
written by Stapleton which says, ëMurshidabad
dist find, bought from Calcutta Mint, 4.12.06
for Rs. 3. In another sample of the three coins
of this king, Darb Hadha al-Fiddat was visible.
The coins of this king are very rare ñ only three
were found among the 13,500 coins of the Koch
Behar Find ...í. The statement indicates that H.
E. Stapleton was well aware of the contents of
the Cooch Behar hoard before the coins were
melted in the Calcutta mint.
Ghiyath al-din Bahadur Shah (AH 710-24; CE
1320-24): Bahadur Shah is represented by
twenty-three coins in the cabinet. Twenty-one
coins are from Stapletonís collection while two
others are from Thorburnís collection. The coins
are mostly with the mint name Lakhnauti, some
of them are with Sunargaon as well. Different
epithets have been used for the mint Lakhnauti,
like Khittah Lakhnauti, Shahr-i-Lakhnauti and
Mubarak Lakhnauti. There are four coins issued
from Shahr-i-Lakhnauti and one of them
belonged to Enayetpur find. But it belies the fact
that only two coins of Shams al-din Firuz Shah
were there in the Enayetpur find. In that case,
how a coin of Ghiyath al-din Bahadur Shah can
be ascribed by Stapleton himself as the coin from
Enayetpur find. This one must be from some
other find. Bahadur Shah also issued coins from
Sunargaon mint after it was initiated by Bughda
Shah. All these twenty-three coins are of a single
type which is similar to IMC, no. 14, p. 148, and
they were classified again by John Deyell under
eight sub-type, on the basis of mint name and
symbol on the word ëAl-Imamí on the obverse.
Muhammad III bin Tughlaq (AH 725-52; CE
1325-51): There are eight coins of Muhammad
III bin Tughlaq out of which six coins are from
Stapletonís collection and two are from Thor-
burnís collection. These coins are with mint
name and date, and belong to one single type.
One coin from Stapletonís collection belongs to
Mymensingh find. The coin was issued form
Satgaon mint dated AH 734 and belongs to the
same type as the other coins are.
Fakhr al-din Mubarak Shah (AH 737-50; CE
1336-49) There are only twelve coins of Fakhr
al-din Mubarak Shah of which five coins were
given by R. Friel in 1970, six are from Staple-
tonís collection and one is from Thorburnís
collection. Five coins from Stapletonís collection
belong to Sylhet find (1913) for it is mentioned
in the ticket as well as in the inventory prepared
by Stapleton himself. Actually, these coins
belong to Kastabir Mahalla hoard (Sylhet
district) known as Sylhet find. It was unearthed
in 1913, and therefore, we can certainly identify
Sylhet hoard as identical to Kastabir Mahalla
find (Sinha 1999: 176-9). Coins from the same
hoard were poured into the collection of British
Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum too in
1916.
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans
Shams al-din Ilyas Shah (AH 746-58; CE 1345-
57): Ilyas Shah is represented by thirty-three
coins in the cabinet which are divided into six
different types including one new type. Nine
coins belong to type ëAí of which one coin
belongs to Sylhet find and came from Stapletonís
collection. Three coins are from Thorburnís
collection while one is from R. Frielís collection.
Coins were mainly issued from Al-balad
Firuzabad with dates 754 and 757. Type ëBí has
eight coins with mint Hadrat Firuzabad and date
AH 758. These are from Stapletonís collection
except one from Thorburnís. They are broad-
flan thin-sectioned coin with legend intact on
both sides including the marginal legend. Two
coins of Type ëCí are from Stapletonís collec-
tion, one of which was found from Gaur. Both
the coins have mint name Sunargaon and dated
AH 755 and 756 respectively. Six coins with
Hadart Jalal Sunargaon and Shahr-i-Naw as
mint names are there with dates 754 and 750
respectively, one with Shahr-i-Naw dated AH
750 belong to the Sylhet find, i.e. Kastabir
Mahalla hoard. Among six other coins, five are
from Stapletonís collection and one from
Thorburnís collection. Seven coins belong to
Type ëEí of IMC II and all issued from Al-balad
Firuzabad with dates 746, 747, and 751. Six out
of seven are from Stapletonís collection whereas
the seventh one is from R. Friel collection. Some
of the coins have typical ëbeeí-like counter mark
identified as the ëhall markí of the coins of
Cooch Behar hoard (Sinha JBA, vol. 9). One
coin has been identified as of new type, issued
from Arsah Satgaon, the date is off the flan. The
coin was bought at Calcutta on 8 April 1914
from Satish Chandra and it could not be
ascribed this coin to a particular find as yet.
167
Sikandar bin Ilyas Shah (AH 758-92; CE 1357-
89): Sikandar Shah is represented by thirty-six
coins and most of them are from Stapletonís
collection. They have been classified into seven
sub-groups according to IMC II classification.
Three coins of type ëAí have mint names Firuza-
bad and Shahr-i-Naw dated 763 and (7) 59. One
coin is from Thorburnís collection without mint
name and date. Only one coin belongs to Type
ëBí issued from Iqlim Muazzamabad in AH 760.
Ten coins belong to Type D and all of them were
issued from Hadrat Firuzabad having dates of
767, 76x, 77x, 771, 772, and 779. These coins
are from Stapletonís collection except one from
Thorburnís collection. Weight range of this type
of coin is on the higher side of the standard
weight. Twelve coins belong to Type ëEí of IMC
II of which only one coin was published in the
Bodleian Catalogue8 . All the coins of this group
belong to Stapletonís collection except one of
Thorburnís collection. Issuing mint is Firuzabad
with new epithet Balad al-Mahrusa with dates
of 780, 785, 786, 788, and 78x.
Ghiyath al-din Azam Shah (AH 792-813; CE
1389-1410): Thirty-one coins of Azam Shah are
in the cabinet classified under eight groups.
Most of the coins are from Stapletonís collection
and only one coin is published in the Bodleian
Catalogue.9 Type ëAí has five coins and all
issued form Hadrat al-Firuzabad and with dates
81(1), 812, and 813. Seven coins are there in
Type ëBí and issued from Hadrat Firuzabad and
Satgaon mint on 795 and AH 811 respectively.
All coins except one belong to Stapletonís
collection. Five coins represents Type ëCí of
168 SUTAPA SINHA
IMC II,10 which were also issued from Hadrat
Firuzabad on 797 and 810. There are three coins
which are a bit different from Type ëCí issued
from Arsah Satgaon with a date of AH 811. Only
two coins have been grouped as Type ëDí and
one of them is issued from Muazzamabad mint
dated 793. The coin is from Thorburnís
collection. One coin each for Type ëEí and Type
ëFí, the former type has mint name Jannatabad
dated 797 while the latter was issued from Arsah
Satgaon with date 790. The coin with
Jannatabad mint is from Thorburn collection
and mentioned as a very rare specimen. The
latter type from Satgaon mint is unusually large
in size but of standard weight.
Two coins similar to Type ëGí of Corpus,11
one issued from Muazzamabad dated 890; two
coins similar to Type 4 of Bhattasali12 and
issued from Satgaon mint, one without date and
the other with a peculiar date of AH 62. Sixty-
two cannot fit in with any unit and tens of the
eighth and ninth century Hijira era because
Azam Shah ruled during the period AH 792-813.
There are three coins without any mint name or
date and remain unclassified.
Sayf al-din Hamzah Shah (AH 813-15; CE
1410-12) is represented here by only five coins
which belong to one single type. Two coins were
issued form Hadrat al-Firuzabad with date 814
and three of them are issued from Muazzama-
bad with dates 814 and 815. Four coins are from
Stapletonís collection whereas one is from
Thorburnís collection.
Shihab al-din Bayazid Shah (AH 815-17; CE
1412-14): Twenty-one coins of Bayazid Shah are
there in the cabinet. The number is comparatively
higher than coins of this Sultan preserved in the
other collections. Generally, the coins of Bayazid
Shah are relatively scarce and, in this case, most
of the coins are preserved in good condition with
mint name and date extant on them. They have
been classified under six types, three belonging
to Type ëAí of IMC II. All these three are issued
from Firuzabad mint with a date of 815. Three
other coins belong to Type ëBí and issued from
Satgaon mint in 817. Seven coins are similar to
Type ëCí of IMC II,13 and all issued from
Firuzabad mint dated AH 816 and 817. One coin
among them was published in Bodleian
Catalogue14 which is without mint name and
date. The rest of the coins are from Stapleton
collection and remain unpublished. Three coins
of Type ëDí were issued from Muazzamabad
mint and dated 815. One of them is without
mint name and date. Two coins of Type D have
no mint name and date and are from Stapletonís
collection whereas three coins are there in Type
ëFí which is without mint name but with dates
of AH 816 and 818. All these coins are from
Stapletonís collection.
Ala al-din Firuz Shah bin Bayazid (AH 817)
is represented by only one coin which was from
Stapletonís collection. The coin was issued from
Firuzabad mint with date 817. Coin of Ala al-
din Firuz Shah is itself very rare to find. Though
the coin took the shape of a saucer (due to
beating) the legend has been preserved in good
condition.
Jalal al-din Muhammad Shah (AH 818-19 and
821-36; CE 1415-16 and 1418-32): There are
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans
altogether thirty-three coins of Muhammad
Shah of which two are of gold. Muhammad
Shahís reign was intervened by his father Danu-
jamarddana Deva and his brother Mahendra
Deva for two years. In this cabinet, there are
fifteen coins issued during his first reign and
eighteen coins issued during the second reign.
Both the gold coins were issued in his second
reign, one from Firuzabad mint and the other
from Satgaon mint. The first fifteen coins have
been divided into four different groups and the
remaining eighteen coins issued during his
second reign have also been divided into four
groups. Four coins from the first lot and eight
coins from the second lot belong to Group ëAí,
similar to no. 93, p. 161 of IMC II. All these
twelve coins were issued from Firuzabad mint
and dated 818, 819 and 821, 822, 823, 831 and
832/833. One gold coin belongs to this type and
bought from Sir Richard Burn, the only coin in
the cabinet from his collection. One coin belongs
to Type ëCí of the first reign, issued from
Muazzamabad mint dated 81(9). Six coins are
there identical to no. 102 of IMC, Type ëDí, and
all these coins are without any mint name but
with date 818. The coins feature neat execution
of legend. Another four coins dated 818 are
identical to no. 102 of IMC (Bhattasali Type I).
Two coins are with mint names Laknor and one
with Satgaon ñ the latter one is from Thorburnís
collection. Three coins issued in the second reign
period of Muhammad Shah belong to Type ëGí
of IMC II. Two other coins of the series were
published in Bodleian Catalogue15 came from J.
B. Elliot collection and the third one is from
Thorburnís collection. The reading of mint
name has been corrected by Stan Goron, one as
Danujamarddana Deva
169
Dakhil Khulna and the other as Firuzabad. The
third and unpublished one was issued from
Chatgaon but without any date. Five coins are
there which are similar to Type ëHí of Bhatta-
sali.16 These coins are without mint name but
with a date of 821 and are from Stapletonís
collection. Two coins, one from Thorburnís
collection and the other from Stapletonís
collection, have been classified as ëNew Typeí.
One is in gold issued from Satgaon mint dated
823 and the other in silver but without any mint
name and date.
Danujamarddana Deva (S 1339-40/AH 1417-
18) and Mahendra Deva (S 1340/AH 1418): The
coin cabinet of the Ashmolean Museum has a
very good collection of coins of these two Hindu
rulers of medieval Bengal, Danujamarddana
Deva and his son Mahendra Deva. There are ten
coins of Danujamarddana Deva and five coins
of Mahendra Deva. The coins of the former
ruler were issued in three different types (four
according to Stapleton) from three different
mints. Two coins are there with Chatigrama
mint dated 1339 Saka, four coins with mint
Pandunagara and dated 1339 Saka and three
coins with mint name Suvarnagrama and dated
1339 and 1340 Saka era. One coin is there on
which Stapleton read the mint as Devnagar but
it appears to the present author as Chatigrama
with a date of 1339 Saka. Coins of Mahendra-
deva are extremely rare and in the cabinet of the
British Museum, London, not a single coin is
available. However, the Heberden coin room
includes two coins from Chatigrama mint and
three coins from Pandunagara mint, all dated
1340 Saka. All these five coins are from Staple-
tonís collection.
Mahendra Deva
170 SUTAPA SINHA
Nasir al-din Mahmud Shah (AH 837-64):
Only two coins, one in gold and the other in
silver of Nasir al-din Mahmud Shah are present
in the cabinet. It is surprising to see only two
coins of Nasir al-din Mahmud Shah, who ruled
for almost thirty years in a rich collection like
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The gold coin
was purchased from B. A. Seaby which is part
of Thorburnís collection and the type is very
rare, though the coin is without mint name and
date. The silver coin of Mahmud Shah was
published in the Bodleian Catalogue17 and came
from J. B. Elliot collection. The mint name on
this coin is off the flan too while the date is AH
846.
Rukn al-din Barbak Shah (AH 864-79; CE
1434-59): He is represented by five coins of
same type having dates of 867, 873, and 87(x)
with mint names Dar al-darb, Khazanah, and
Jannatabad. One of the coins belongs to Bashail
hoard with a mark of ferrous oxide on it. The
coin is without any mint name or date. Bashail
hoard was unearthed in 191718 from village
Bashail, Karimganj subdivision, district Sylhet,
Bangladesh and was reported in 1919. It was a
find of only ten coins of which four coins were
of Rukn al-din Barbak Shah and six coins of
Shams al-din Yusuf Shah. Among four coins of
Barbak Shah, three coins have neither mint
name nor date on them (Sinha 1999: 184). The
coins present in the cabinet from the Bashail find
is from the latter three. There is another
important coin from Thorburnís collection
which has excellent calligraphy with beautiful
marginal decoration. The marginal decoration
is absolutely unusual in Bengal Sultanate
coinage. Unfortunately the coin is without mint
name and date.
Shams al-din Yusuf Shah (AH 879-85; CE 1474-
81): Only three coins of Yusuf Shah are there of
which one was published in the Bodleian
Catalogue19 and issued from Shamsabad and
dated 884. All coins bearing mint name
Shamsabad reported till date always bears the
date 884. Another coin of Yusuf Shah also
belonged to Bashail find without mint name and
date. Six coins of Yusuf Shah were there in the
Bashail find and probably these coins came into
possession of Stapleton when in 1930 R. Friel, the
then Member of the Shillong cabinet, distributed
some 168 coins from the cabinet to the different
institutions which were duplicate in type.
Jalal al-din Fath Shah (AH 886-92; CE 1481-
86) is also represented by only two coins. One
is from Thorburnís collection with mint name
Dar al-darb dated 890 while the other is struck
from Fathabad mint but without any date. The
latter specimen came as an exchange from Mr
P. Ilott and seems to be a forgery of a coin of
Fath Shah.
Sayf al-din Firuz Shah (AH 893-96; CE 1488-
90): Only two coins of Firuz Shah are available
in the cabinet of Heberden Coin Room, one of
which is made of gold. The gold coin was issued
from Fathabad mint dated [8]93 and is similar
to IMC II, no. 160, p. 171. The silver piece was
issued from Mint Khazanah dated 892 which
poses problem regarding the reign of Firuz Shah.
This enigmatic date of 892 could be explained
as an error of the last digit 6 of the date 896.
Quite often Arabic numeral 6 has been engraved
as 2 which is just the reverse of each other and
found as a very common error made by the die-
cutters of Bengal.
Gold coin of Sayf al-din Firuz Shah
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans
Qutb al-din Mahmud Shah II (AH 896; CE
1490): Three coins of this shortly-ruled Habshi
Sultan are preserved in the cabinet which could
be attributed to Qutb al-din Mahmud Shah, one
of which having a date of 896 issued from
Muazzamabad mint. Remaining two is without
mint and date and was published in the Bodleian
Catalogue.20 These coins of Qutb al-din Mah-
mud Shah is extremely rare to find in any public
collection or in a hoard. Recently, a few coins
of Qutb al-din Mahmud Shah have been found
who ruled between Sayf al-din Firuz Shah and
Shams al-din Muzaffar Shah for a very brief
period.
Ala al-din Husayn Shah (AH 899-925; CE
1493-1519): Fifty coins of Husayn Shah are
available in this coin room, of which two are of
gold and the rest are of silver. These coins have
broadly been classified under four types
according to typology followed in the IMC II.21
First type has three coins, issued from Dar al-
darb in AH 923 and 924, one from Stapletonís
collection while the remaining two from
Thorburnís collection. Both the coins of the
latter collection are identical in type. The second
type comprise five coins which are also issued
from Dar al-darb dated 899, 912, 913, and 915.
Two of them are with broad flan and thin
section with dates AH 912 and 913. This type of
coin popularly known as Nazrana tanka,
diameter of which varies between 3.7 and 4 cm,
1 cm bigger than the average diameter of the
silver coins of the Bengal Sultans. One coin in
the cabinet is issued from the mint Barbakabad
dated 900 which has been classified as a New
Type. The prefix of the legend is absolutely
unusual on the reverse starting with Al-Sultan
al-mutwakkil ali Allah al-fatha balad Nasir
waíl-Nasir ba Ghiyath Amir followed by the
julus name of the Sultan and his pedigree.
Remaining forty-one coins are of single type
adhering to type E of IMC II.22 On the basis of
the mint name engraved on the coins, it has been
subdivided into five groups. Five silver coins and
one gold coin were issued from Khazanah
bearing different dates. The gold one was issued
171
in AH 907 while the silver coins were issued in
899, 908, 910. One of the silver coins is of broad
flan Nazrana tanka with 3.85 cm in diameter.
The gold coins are always small in diameter
with standard weight, the coin in this group is,
however, larger, approximately of 2.01 cm in
diameter. Five coins are from Dar al-darb with
date AH 904. Most of the coins are from
Stapletonís collection barring a few from
Thorburnís collection. The coins struck from
Fathabad are eleven in number issued on one
single date of AH 899. Sometime the date/year
on the coins is frozen to avoid discounting the
coins. Next group of coins are from mint
Husainabad and are seventeen in number. Most
of the coins are issued in 914 while a few in AH
899. One coin with a date of AH 922 and one
with AH 919 are also present in the group.
Though on most of the coins 914 is written in a
typical monogramatic form which we read as
919 for Husayn Shahís coins. Only one coin of
this group was published in Bodleian Cata-
logue.23 Six coins are there bearing Muhamma-
dabad as mint name of which one is of gold. It
came to the cabinet from Lord Minto collection
and was issued in AH 921. Thorburn mentioned
it as an extremely rare specimen and is still
unpublished. The other coins are in silver with
dates AH 913 and 914. The number of coins from
Husainabad mint is higher than those struck
from other mints.
Nasir al-din Nusrat Shah (AH 925-38; CE
1519-32): Fifty-seven coins representing Nasir
al-din Nusart Shahís coinage are present in the
cabinet. They have been classified under several
groups on the basis of the types followed in IMC
II and a clear trend is visible that a particular
type of coin was issued from one particular mint
or two. The first type consists of eleven coins
issued from Dar al-darb in AH 925, AH 927, and
AH 932. The coins are mostly from Stapletonís
collection, only one from Thorburnís collection
and two from J. B. Elliotís collection which were
published in Bodleian Catalogue.24 The second
type also consists of the same number of coins
and all of them have ëFathabad 89í on obverse
172 SUTAPA SINHA

and ëDar al-darb 925í on reverse. Two of these

coins are mistakenly dated 965 instead of 925,
where the numeral 2 has been engraved as 6.
The reason behind such a blunder might be
intentional or might be due to ignorance. Except
one, rest of the coins are from Stapletonís
collection. Third type consists of seven coins
issued from Husainabad mint having dates of
925 and (9)22. No significant piece of coin
among this group is of special note. The coins
of fourth type are six in number and all were Ala al-din Firuz Shah (AH 938-39; CE 1532-
issued in AH 925. All these five coins have 33): Only six coins represent a very short reign
Husainabad on obverse and Dar al-darb or of Firuz Shah. Three of them are issued from
Khazanah on reverse, possibly indicating the Husainabad while two are from Khalifatabad.
name of the city on obverse and place of issuing The coins from Husainabad mint are all dated
coin on the reverse. Fifth group of coins is from AH 939 but those issued from the latter mint are
the mint of Khilafatabad and are four in probably concurrent issue with his father. One
number, struck in AH 922, three of which are coin is without any mint name or date entered
from Stapletonís collection. One coin of the cabinet through a gift by A.W. Pullan.
Muhammadabad mint dated 934 belongs to the
sixth type of coin in the cabinet. The coin came
as a bequest from A. W. Pullan. The next group
consists of seven coins and all issued from
Nusratabad mint in AH 927. One of them was
published in the Bodleian Catalogue while
remaining six from the Stapletonís collection
remains unpublished. Residual ten coins of
Nusrat Shah are similar to no. 214 of IMC II,25
of which four coins have the word ëArsahí as the
epithet for mint name but without any place
name and six coins are of mint-less variety with Ghiyath al-din Mahmud Shah (AH 939-45; CE
different dates on them. One coin was found 1533-38): Twenty-eight coins of Mahmud Shah
from Mahdiganj (Gaur, district Malda) which are there divided into three different groups.
have a mint name of Khazanah al-darb First group consists of seven coins of which three
Husainabad and Stapleton thought that it was coins are from Dar al-darb and four are from
a case of badly engraved coin, misunderstood Fathabad. A few coins have date AH 933
copy of coins issued from Dar al-darb. The engraved on them. The second group is also of
name of the find-spot is most likely Mahadipur, seven coins issued from Husainabad mint and
adjacent to Gaur and not Mahdiganj as stated dated AH 939 and 940. There are one-half and
by Stapleton. Five coins which appear as mint- one-quarter denomination coins of Mahmud
less are actually engraved with some scribbling Shah and both dated 939 belong to this group.
which carry no sense and even the date figures Another fourteen coins of Mahmud Shah belong
are too poor to decipher. Stapleton commented to the third group comprising coins from
in his inventory26 that ëEngraver probably Stapletonís collection. Two coins were issued
ignorant of Arabicí. from Nusratabad dated 933 while five coins are
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans
dated 933, 944, and 945 without any mint name
on them. Two coins have the epithet Arsah but
without any mint name. Thirteen coins out of
fourteen are from Stapletonís collection and
remaining one from Thorburnís collection. One
coin dated (9)44 from the Sonakhira find belong
to this type.
Barbak ibn Barbak Shah: Four coins of
Barbak ibn Barbak Shah are present in the cabinet
which do not belong to main-stream of the Bengal
Sultanate coinage. It is believed to be of
Chittagong trade series having 949 as a frozen
date on them. Three of them are from Stapletonís
collection and the type of coins is similar to no.
24 of Supplement Shillong, p. 160.
Shams al-din Muhammad Shah Ghazi (AH
960-62; CE 1552-54): Only one coin available
with Arkan as mint name and dated 962. These
coins of Ghazi Shah having Arkan as mint name
always have date 962 on them.
173
Ghiyath al-din Bahadur Shah (AH 963-68; CE
1555-60): Fourteen coins are there of which one
is of Chittagong trade series. Remaining thirteen
coins are of mint-less type with dates 965, 966,
967, and 968. The coin of Chittagong series has
a date of 965 and is from Thorburnís collection.
Another coin of Thorburnís collection is dated
967 and of proper Sultanate series. Twelve coins
of the group are from Stapletonís collection.
Ghiyath al-din Jalal Shah (AH 968-71; CE
1560-63): Jalal Shah is represented by eleven
coins and none of them has mint name on it. The
dates on these coins are 969, 970, and 971. Ten
out of eleven coins are from Stapletonís collection
while the remaining one is from Thorburnís
collection.
Daud Shah Kararani (AH 980-84; AD 1572-
76): Fifteen coins of Kararani are available in
this collection with the mint name Tanda and
dates of AH 980, AH 981, and AH 984. Some of
them are without date and mint name. Four
coins were published in Bodleian Library
Catalogue and were from J. B. Elliotís collection.
174 SUTAPA SINHA
N OTES
1. The author is grateful to the Trustees of the
Nehru Trust for the Indian collection in the Victoria
and Albert Museum for her selection as the UK Visit-
ing Fellow for four months in 1998 which enable
her to study the coins of Bengal Sultans in the pre-
miere repositories in the UK.
2. She received another award Hirayama
Trainee Curatorship in Silk Road Numismatics by
the Department of Coins and Medals, the British
Museum, London in 1999.
3. Stanley Lane-Poole, Catalogue of the Moham-
medan Coins preserved in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, Oxford, 1888 (hereinafter referred to as
Bodleian Catalogue).
4. Dr Luke Treadwell, the Curator of the coin
room, provided her with a photocopy of the relevant
portion of the inventory, which carries plenty of
information about the coins in his collection.
5. H. Nelson Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in
the Indian Museum, Calcutta, vol. 2, Varanasi, 1972
(reprint), Coin no. 6, p. 146 (hereinafter referred to
as IMC).
6. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 573 (AR).
7. Sutapa Sinha, ëCoin Hoards of the Bengal
Sultans: Anatomy if the Hoardsí, Pratna Samiksha
6-8: 173, Calcutta 1999.
8. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 574.
9. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 575.
10. IMC, no. 73, p. 157.
There are two unpublished coins, one of them
can be assigned to the Chittagong trade series.
These coins have ëFathabad 44í written on them
and cannot be classified as Bengal Sultanate
coins.
11. Abdul Karim, Corpus of the Muslim Coins
of Bengal (Down to AD 1538), Dacca 1960, p. 59.
12. Bhattasali, N. K., Coins and Chronology of
the Early Independent Sultans of Bengal, New Delhi
1976 (reprint).
13. IMC, nos 89-92, pp. 160-1.
14. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 576.
15. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 577-9.
16. Bhattasali, op. cit.
17. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 580, mint Khalifata-
bad, date 846.
18. A. W. Botham and R. Friel, Supplement to
the Catalogue of the Provincial Cabinet of Coins,
Assam, Allahabad 1919, pp. 163-5.
19. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 581, Lane-Poole
read the mint name of the coins as Sharifabad dated
884. Actually it is inscribed with Shamsabad.
20. Bodleian Catalogue, nos 582-3.
21. IMC, pp. 172-6.
22. IMC, no. 182, p. 174.
23. Bodleian Catalogue, no. 584.
24. Bodleian Catalogue, nos 585-6.
25. IMC, no. 214, p. 178.
26. Dr Luke Treadwell, Curator of the Islamic
coins of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, provided
the author with a copy of detailed catalogue of H. E.
Stapletonís private cabinet. The catalogue with Ara-
bic legend was prepared by Stapleton and it is still an
unpublished manuscript.
 The Coin Collection of the Bengal Sultans 175

R EFERENCES
Bhattasali, N. K. (1976) (reprint). Coins and
Chronology of the Early Independent Sultans
of Bengal, New Delhi.
Botham, A. W. and Friel, R. (1919). Supplement
to the Catalogue of the Provincial Cabinet of
Coins, Assam, Allahabad.
Nelson Wright, H. (1972) (reprint). Catalogue of
the Coins in the Indian Museum, Calcutta,
vol. 2, Varanasi.
Stanley, Lane-Poole (1888). Catalogue of the
Mohammedan Coins Preserved in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, Oxford.
Sinha, Sutapa (1997-99). ëCoin Hoards of the
Bengal Sultans: Anatomy of the Hoardsí,
Pratna Samiksha 6-8: 136-242.