Bhattasali, Nalini Kanta Coins and chronology of the early independent sultans of Bengal
i
3549 B4B45
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE E0BLY IPEPEHDENT
mm
OF BEiflL.
BY
NALINI KANTA BHATTASALI, M. Curator, Dacca Museum.
W. HBPPBR & SONS. 4,
Petty Curi/, Cambridge,
ENGLAND.
A.
,
HSLf// 28
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE EflBLY
mDEPEHDENT SULTflNS OF BENGaL.
BY
NALINI KANTA BHATTASALI, M. Curator,
A.
Dacca Museum.
W. HBPPER & SONS. \^r;.:
4,
Petty Cury, Canibvidye.
ENGLAND.
1922
d
] Publltlied
III India liy the Aiitliur IX EUROPE BY
:
W. HEFFER & SONS. 4,
Petty Cury, Cambridge. England.
i Ofjiii
Bh B^^
Printed by S. A.
AT THE ALEXANDRA DACCA.
Gunny
S.
M. PRESS,
To
My Teacher And Friend Mr.
F. C.
In
Turner. M.
Need A.,
I.
E. S.
Late Principal of the Dacca College,
oT
?I3
.8 -3 J ,.A
-
.M
/
O
.=!
nM
IS.
—
PREFACE The
Collector of Dacca,
his
in
me
24th April 1918, forwarded to
letter
No. 1440, dated the and report
for examination
346 silver^ coins of the Bengal Sultans found in the wall of a
house belonging
deserted
of Kctun,
village
From subsequent
District.
one IVIahendra
to
inquiry, I
had thus been able
was able
of the
to ascertain that
among themselves and
the finders had quarrelled
to seize the
whole
could be disposed of or
of the coins
Kumar Das
under the Rupganj Police Station of Dacca the Police
of the find before
concealed.
examination, these coins were acquired by
any
After careful
Government under Museums. The
the Treasure Trove Act and allotted to different best 54 to the
have gone to the Indian
Museum and the
Dacca
Bombay,
23
Lucknow, 23
;
Shillong, 12
;
Rangoon, 6
;
British
offered for sale
The
;
;
have been allotted
lor
have been divided as follows:
Dehli, 16
;
Peshawar, 10
Museum
rest
j
Quetta, 9
Museum,
2.
and bought by the
Lahore, 15 ;
Nagpur, 13;
;
Ajmeer, 8
Patna, 8
;
The remaining Dacca Museum.
j
were
46
report asked for by the Collector of Dacca necessitated
unique find. With the progress of was more and more struck by the confusion
a detailed study of this
my
investigations,
I
that prevailed in the field of Bengal numismatics of this parti-
cular period even in standard
works on the
the amount of correction and
new information
afforded.
was therefore
I
in the
subject,
new
find
end led to prepare the present
After doing so, the idea occurred to
monograph.
and also by
that this
me
to submit
Memorial Prize of the Calcutta University. it The President of the Dacca Museum Committee at that time was Mr. J. T. Rankin, I. C, S. and in spite of his multifarious duties as the Commissioner of the Dacca Division, he very kindly for the Griffith
made
time, even in the midst of the Peace Celebrations of 19 19,
to revise the manuscript.
It
was subsequently awarded one of the Memorial Fund. when the paper would be published
five prizes given in 1920 out of the Griffith
There'.being no certainty
by the University in
England
the Royal so
Asiatic
low that
of Calcutta, I
but although
;
I
Society,
it
endeavoured to get
it
published
was accepted by the Council
of
the funds of the Society were then
would have had
to wait
some time before
it
could
VI
have seen the of the I
light,
paper and
I
therefore, in the end, asked
have now ventured
I
may
printing and the plates
fear the
foi-
to ptjblish the
the return
book myself.
not be up to the
mark and the latter certainly will be a great handicap to those who wish to check the readings of the coins from the illustrations. The expenses of the plates were a great discouraging factor
undertaking to publish the book myself and some were obtained by translating portions of this book
in
of the plates
in vernacular
magazines and -accepting the plates illustrating I can only plead the haphazard of honorarium.
them in lieu manner in which
these plates were thus got together in excuse for
their unsatisfactory character. edition, It is
I
If this
book ever
sees
a second
shall of course endeavour to substitute better plates.
always
difficult to turn out correctly printed
books from
mofussil presses in India which are mostly staffed by poorly paid compositors with very little education. I must thank the staff of the
produce
a
Alexandra Press, however, for printed volume.
proof reading, of friends,
all their efforts
satisfactorily I
most
University, viz:
to
In the matter of
have received generous assistance from a number them teachers in the newly established Dacca
of
— Messrs.
H. Bhattacharyya, Md. Shahidullah,
U. C. Bhattacharyya, M. Bhattacharyya, A. C. Basu and S. N. Basu, The last named gentleman very kindly undertook to translate,
from the French of Sanguinetti and Defremery, the narratives Appendix while
of Ibn Batuta's travels in Bengal for the first
}
Maulavi Shahidullah kindly revised and checked the translation with the help of the Arabic for yet another translate for the
text.
labour of love..
I
am
He
grateful to the
Maulavi
cheerfully undertook to
second Appendix, Ziauddin Barni's account
of Fitoz Shah's first expedition to
Lakhnauti of which, up
till
now, no complete translation has been published, although it The involved style is so important for the history of Bengal. of Barni made the work of translating it accurately into intelligible English, one of exceptional difficulty, and the translation, as printed in the second Appendix,
The
is
the result of
much
labour.
book, as at present printed, differs considerably from
Much of the alteration and improvement due to the criticism of the manuscript by Mr. H, E. Stapleton,
the original paper. is
Divisional
Inspector
of
Schools,
Dacca, without whose kind
...iSX^te
Jt
VII
assistance
I
accuracies.
might have failed to remove a number of inMr. Stapleton has in his possession a number of ;,
unpublished coins which he
using as material for a detailed
is
paper on Bengal Chronology that of
the
Asiatic
important
Society
of
from
the
coins
is
appearing in the Journal
Bengal.
I
photographed
Shillong and the Indian
several
Museum
Cabinets for Mr. Stapleton which he obtained to illustrate his
own papers
some of these photographs art reproduced in book with his kind permission. ;
The keenness
my
of
was
who, mind as
my
and aV
I
in the course
he,
Mr. H. Bhattacharyya saved me
friend
from an error into which
this
would have otherwise of
fallen.
proof-reading, raised
to the correctness of the reading of coins
No. /g
Mr. A. W. Botham, C.
of the Shillong Cabinet.
It
douts in
I.
E.,
Secretary to the Shillong Coin Cabinet, very kindly sent these
two coins page 38 of
me
to
examination with the result recorded on
for
this book.
On pp. 92, Hamza Shah
95
and
of the
I
96,
have referred
to
Khulna Find on which
read dates prior to 813 H.
My
criticism
some coins of H. Nevill
Col.
on his reading was
submitted in manuscript to Col. Ncvill, with the photographs of the coins. It was a great encouragement to be assured in
my conclusions and that in reading Shah's Coins as he did, he had been
reply that he agreed with
the
dates
Hamza
on
influenced by the then accepted dates of
am
I
grateful to
P. C. Sen
Gupta
my
friends
Hamza Shah.
Messrs. S. C. Das
for valuable assistance
Gupta and
in the preparation of
the index. I
my
cannot conclude without recording
my
gratefulness also to
Hakim Habibur Rahman who helped me with the reading of many difficult coins in the beginning of my study of this unique series of Bengal Coins, when I knew very little about friend
them and was
in the greatest need of assistance.
To
the Executive Council of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, my thanks are for pemitting me
dm
to print in the third
kingdom
of
Appendix
Bengala by
extracts from
Mahuan
an account of the
published in
their
of 1895.
N. K. B.
Journal
KRRATA For
Read
7
Suplement
Supplement
"
8
No.f
No,^
103
16
^i
^.Ji^i
104
^17
"
-
123
18
extrcmetics
extremities
132
12
ported
period
143
20
naratives
narratives
150
2
look
took
152
26
has
have
155
19
beneficient
beneficent
plunder Ekdala and capture the
plunder Ekdala with the royal elephants
Page 21
160
Line
1 223
<yj
ij
royal elephants
,
CONTENTS. Subject. Introductory
2
Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah
3
'Alauddin
a
Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah
I
'Ali
Shah
.... .... .... ....
5-
Shamsuddin
6
Sikandar Shah
7-
Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah
8.
Saifuddin
9-
lO. I
Page.
I
r.
12. I.v
Iliyas
.
Shah
Hamza Shah
Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah
9 14 i8 19
52
72
90 98
'Alauddin Firoz Shah Ibn Bayazid Shah
107
.
Raja Ganesh, surnamed
Danujamarddana Deva Mahendra Deva Jalaluddin Aluhammad Shah .
Appendix
...
117
122 123
I.
Ibn Batuta's Travels in Bengal
Appendix
II.
...... ......
Sultan Firoz Shah's
Lakhnauti
Appendix Mahuan's Bengala
135
First Expedition to
155
III.
account
of
the
kingdom
of
169
Appendix IV. -
Synchronistic Chart of Hijra and Christian
years
General Index
175
177
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY
OF THE EHBLY IHDEPEPEliT SOLTHNS OF BEN6flL
Nearly
half-a-century
made
Dr. Blochraann
the
has elapsed since his
of
last
famous
Contributions towards the History and Geography of Bengal, in the
of
Journal of the Asiatic Society
Bengal for 1875. His was the
first
remarkable
attempt to arrive at a correct chronology of the
Muharamadan
rulers
of
Bengal,
and unfortu-
nately for Bengal, this practically has also been
the
last.
was,
Dr.
Blochmann's work,
was necessarily
brilliant as
of a pioneer character.
was constantly hampered by lack
it
He
of materials,
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
2
and in writing on the early Sultans, he had practically
Thomas
depend on the testimony of Mr.
to
recorded
as
in
his
Coinage of
Initial
His utilisation of the narratives of the
Bengal.
Riyazu s-Salatin had evident advantages, but was not altogether an unmixed Husain's certain
narrative
directions
difficult to
often
blessing.
prejudiced
it
Ghulam him in
and he sometimes found
it
escape the groove, with the result that
had
at times he
testimony of
to disregard the
coins in trying to reconcile numismatic evidence
with written history.
No work
of
on the
praise
sufficient for the great pioneer
is
Mr. Thomas contained in
Initial coinage of Bengal,
great Cooch-Behar find,
work
is
his
monograph
based on the
but the value of his
sometimes undermined by his arbitrary
reading of dates on the coins described.
few
of
trations
the coins described by and,
as
illustrations are
him have would
misfortune
Very illus-
have
it,
wanting precisely of those coins
which absolutely need re -examination.
When
it
is possible to point out even a single incorrect
reading of date by him,
it
is
no wonder that
cautious students should at once cious of the whole. figure No. 15
Goiuaige
of
I
may
refer
become
my
suspi-
readers to
on Plate II of Thomas's Initial Bengal.
The
coin
is
described
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL towards legend
On
read
is
The marginal
end of page 75.
thie
B'-
:
illustration, it will
be
evident that the correct reading ought to be
:—
a comparison with the
"We may leave aside minor inaccuracies, but
we cannot to
be read
A
of
That
Thomas
same coin that
quite
is
possible,
came
Mr. Thomas's
friend suggests that Mr.
illustrate the
cribed.
a very clear ^j^*^^
by a scholar
j±>ilj,
erudition.
did not
how
explain
lie
des-
but there
is
nothing in the text to suggest this except the sheer impossibility of a clear lijiij
ever
by an
may
blunder,
it
experienced
\^j^*-^
being read as
numismatist.
serves to
awaken us
to the necessity of
re-examining Mr. Thomas's dates. presented
many
difficulties to
but, unfortunately,
not take
much
proposed by fit
—
no mean
Dr.
These dates
Blochmann,
would appear that he did
trouble
to
check the readings
and
tried to
make them
he could
"It is a matter**
to the dates
it
Mr Thomas
in as best as
**of
What-
be the explanation of this curious
— as has repeatedly been
said,
difficulty to decide positively as
on imperfect margins, especially in
the case of Bengal
coins,
where the
script
is
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
4
often crude and the rendering of Arabic numerals
Under
occasionally wild/'*
these conditions, the
most erudite Arabic scholar and the amateur
much
with alphabet-deep knowledge, are very
on the same
respect
in
level
coin-reading,
of
because the legend-forms on coins are mostly stereotyped dates
and
;
no
reading,
ought
to
given to
be
of
whoever may be the
and mint towns,
reader,
especially
accepted,
without due
certainty.
The dependence
scrutiny of Dr.
public or
the
and
absolute
Blochmann on
Thomas's readings of dates involved him, as has already been said, in of
tions
result
the solu-
The
from
The
of
been
far
Bengal
satisfactory.
follows
still
groove fashioned out for Dr.
difficulties,
which were not always happy.
has
History
many
it
blindly in the
by the master-hand of
Blochmann and no notable attempt has yet
been made since his time to depart therefrom.
Numismatic finds have been unimportant and few in number, numismatists dealing with Bengal
Coins
fewer
Arabic
still,
scholarship
seems to have declined and the zeal displayed in hunting
up
Muhammadan
unpublished Sultans
of
inscriptions
of
the
Bengal has almost
disappeared. *
Col.
P. 485.
H. R. Nevill
oil
the Kliulna
Trove. J. A. S. B. 1915.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGA
of
5
When
Stewart published his famous history
Bengal
in 1813,
on the
More
he had practically
time and yet the
nology of out,
elapsed
his
since
The chro-
Blochmann found and
untrustworthy
singularly
outline.
compiled as late as
Riyaz,
Riyaz, as Dr.
the
is
main
his
our chief authority.
still
is
has
a century
than
1788,
for
Riyazu-s-Salatia
depend
to
the
Tarikh-i-Ferishta and Tabakat-i-A.kbari, the only
two
Bengal
period
a
dependence before the
by
of
the
whom
been great
were
histories
gone
a 'little
book"
narrative,
the
?
similar
Sultans
Elliot
_
Ain-i-
rivals
of
have
the
those
Ghulam Husain had access to often quoted by him in his chronology
but unfortunately precious
the
Bengal,
of
where
is
under the
of
which
more trustworthy and accurate than
this
in-
it
to
or
written
powerful
But
Emperors.
Delhi
flourishing
Tarikh-i-Firozshahi
Akbari should have
some
Bengal.
subjugation of the
work
no
that
Tabakat-i-Nasiri,
of
final
of
of
better for the
Mughal Emperors and
the
inconceivable
patronage
details
Independent Sultans of
the
enjoyed
country
any
much
not
are
Bengal's history, period of
give
that
books
other
he has
treasure.
little
had no want
left
of
no
is
his
account of
Dowson
materials for
much own and
compiling
CO/JVS
6i>
a
"History
When
Historians." as
toldi byi
When were
own
its
a
will
Histories
India
of
deteit
Sultans
in
of
Muhammadan
made
seriously
by
written
writers
the
of
?
for
who
independent
D4cca, SonaTgaon, Satgaon,
?
Pandua,
famous
places
a "History of Bengal
be
contemporaries
Chatgaon,
own
its
Historians" be compiled
search
Sultans of Bengal
by
told
aÂť;
'
will
Bengal
of
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Jaunpur
and
the history
Bengal, as
history,
other
the indepen-
of=
well
should
all
as
in
later*
thoroughly
be
searched, before such an improbable proposition
that
the
independent
no contemporary
Some time
cam be
historians,
ago,
my
hands
-
for.
description
Bengal was placed
and identification
by the Magistrate of Dacca found, buried
in
admitted.
a find of 346 silver coins
of the independent Sultans of
in
Bengal had
Sultans of
a copper
The hoard was
lotah,
in
a village
within the Rupganj Police Station in the Dacoa District.
The importance
of the collection can
hardly be exaggerated
;
usm with
numbers- of the hitherto
rare
sumptuous
issues
Muhammad
of
Azam,
new
Hamza,
Bayazid
and
new
types
Shah, containing several
and. unique specimens, light a
for it not only furnishes
but actually l)rings to
sovereign,' Firoz
Shah son
of Bayazid
Shah, thus: dispelling' at one' stroke the shroud
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
7
of mystery enveloping the personality of Bayazid.
The
collection >alÂŤo includes three
coins
of ithe
mysterious Hindu rking Danuja-mardriana Deva
and one coin with
dear
offers,
of his
successor
Mahendra Deva,
mint
and
and
dates
an opportunity
names,
thus
of further discussing their
Chronology and identity.
The following classified
under
is
a
list
the
of the coins discovered,
names
the
of
respective
-sovereigns.
Names of Btilet^s
Number of coins
1
Ghiyasu-d-din Bahadur Shah
1
2.
Eakhru-d-din Mubarak Shah
1
3.
Iliyas
4.
Sikandar Shah
60
5.
A'zam Shah
70
6.
Hamza Shah
14
7.
Bayazid Shah
.34
8.
Eiroz Shah Ibn Bayazid Shah
5
9.
Danuja-marddana Deva
3
10.
Mahendra Deva
1
11.
Muhammad Shah
Shah
33
122 Total
The
latest coin (in this collection is
Jalalu-drdin
Muhammad
Shah
,,year of the re^gn of that
of
346
a coin
835 H. the
monarch.
of
last
COINS
8
The
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
coins were evidently buried just at the
close of
Muhammad
coin
this
of
monarch
835 H. and there
Ahmad
successor
Shah's reign, as the latest
is
this
in
collection
is
not a single coin
Shah.
The copper
of
of his
which
lotah
contained these coins was thin and corroded by
remaining under- ground for
The Most
long centuries.
had evidently given way,
lid
were
pieces
silver
five
all
encrusted
them however were
of
easily
that
so
the
with earth. cleaned by
simple washing and became as fresh as newly
minted
Others,
coins.
about
fifty
in
required more elaborate treatment. cleared
number,
Eive were
by repeated heating and striking against
a hard surface, while the rest were cleared by a short immersion in dilute
and a
Hydrochloric Acid
wash with strong Ammonia.
final
condition of
The
whole was very
the coins on the
satisfactory.
The recent publication catalogue of the
Shillong
of a
supplementary
coin
cabinet
extremely timely and welcome one. tion of coins of
rulers of
some
Bengal in
the
cabinet for
collection
and in
it
is
the
the same period.
evidence of the Tndian
an
collec-
Muhammadan
now become very much richer
this cabinet
fairly representative
than
of the early
The
is
has
Indian
Museum
The accumulated
Museum
collection, the
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Shillong
as
well
present find as
the
cabinet,
9
those described by Thomas, regarding the period
Sultans of Bengal,
of the early independent
now much more powerful than
was
it
in
is
the
days of Dr. Blochmann.
FAKHRUDDIN MUBARAK SHAH. The
scene opens with Fakhruddin
Shah on the throne
The account
218)
and
confusion and
Blochmann,
by
Chakravarti
(J.
A.
Thomas, Pp.
1909.
What seems
part II.
into
those
clear
is
Bahram Khan,
Sonargaon in 740
is
been fully
has
Mr. R. D. Banerjee M.
enter
ceeded
B.
S.
History of Bengal, here
of Firozabad in 742 H.
of the historians for this period
bewildering
discussed
of
Sonargaon and 'Alauddin
Shah on the throne
'Ali
of
of
Mubarak
Mr.
203, 204,
A.
We
M.
in
his
need
not
contradictory
details.
that Fakhruddin had suchis master,
H.,
on the throne naturally
either
or
by assassination and had proclaimed his independence. Thereupon Kadr Khan, the Imperial
Governor at Lakhnauti, moved against him and
had some temporary
successes.
Fakhra soon turned the
who was act
2
tables on
Kadr Khan
eventually assassinated, in which heinous
*Ali
Khan's
But the wily
Mubarak,
forces,
an
Inspector
of
Kadr
seems to have taken a prominent
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
XQ
On
part.
Kadr Khan by assassiMubarak seized upon the
the death of
nation in 742 H., 'Ali
throne of Lakhnauti, removed the seat of Govern-
ment
Eirozabad and proclaimed himself king
to
under the is
we
that
'Alauddin 'Ali Shah.
title of
Eakhruddin on the throne
find
Sonargaon and
Thus
*Ali
Pirozabad in 742 H.
Shah
on
throne
the
it
of of
Let us see what the coins
testify.
There
is
only one coin of Eakhruddin in the
present find and fortunately,
it
is
a very
good
sample. 1.
silver,
Coin
of
Sonargaon,
Weight, 160-5 In a obverse
circle,
Mubarak
Eakhruddin 741
H.
'99
Section
but hardly any trace of
j^ jj
Margin
In a circle
:
inch.
gr. it visible,
:
Reverse.
Shah,
:
I
^ Ui
j,f
I
^
H
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
The cabinet
Eakhruddin,
of
coins
the
by
presented
The
Sylhet.
gems
art
in
artists.
Their shape
Government
from
coin -striking
of
volumes
were
Mahallah,
Fakhruddin are veritable
coins of
the
of
rich in
is
which
of
Kastabir
at
find
Museum
all
Assam
the
sumptuous
the
Dacca
of the
favour of the
the Sonargaon
skill of
the
regular,
is
and speak
lettering
on them delightfully neat and well-shaped, and they
them
about
carry
delight to read them.
coin-making
may
It
never
air
of
behold them and a
It is a joy to
refinement.
that
a refreshing
be safely asserted
again
such
attained
The Dacca Museum has
excellence in Bengal.
coins of 743. 745, 746, 747, 748 and 749 H. of
Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah. of
A
class
which
is
The
which
last,
and the 741 H. coin of the present of
B
class, are illustrated.
is
find,
They weigh
164 grains and 1605 grains respectively.
The
A
B
and
agree with each
There
is
coins of
other in
A
Mubarak Shah
almost
only this difference
legend on the
B
class,
that
respects.
all
the reverse
class coins has iAjJliJ
I
and on
it
class coins 4U
|
ln^L.
.
Three coins of Mubarak
Shah hitherto met with stand quite apart from the
A
and
B
class coins.
They
are very
much
inferior in execution to the uniformly excellent
coins
of
Mubarak
Shall.
The obverse and
COINS
1^
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
reverse designs, as well as the arrangement of the
marginal legends on the reverse of these coins are different from the general run of
Shah's coins, and their rarity
Of these
three,
one
a mystery,
the coin of
is
737 H.
Thomas which may be put
described by class.
The obverse
circle
with
pellets
is
position
between, but the reverse
the
of
as
C
inside a square within a
within a circle as in the
The
is
Mubarak
A.
and
class coins.
composing
phrases
marginal legend on the reverse
B
is
the position of the phrases on the
is
the
different
from
B
class
A.
and
coins.
The
remaining
two
described as belonging to
are
C
what have been
class in the
Shillong
Supplementary Catalogue, but may now be put as
D
are
Both the obverse and the reverse
class.
within
between.
which
is
is,
as in
B
class.
squares
in
circles
with
pellets
The marginal legend on the reverse
somewhat preserved only on coin No, -^^ C class, arranged differently from A and
Mr. Thomas read the date on his coin as 737 H. which Blochmann to
739 H.
felt inclined to correct
Neither the date nor the mint
name
on the Shillong coin No. gV has been read but the date certainly does not appear to contain ;
^xÂť.ij]^4iO,
and
is
therefore possibly earlier than
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
it fits
with
easily
in
all
these coins be 739 H,
the
accepted chronology
on
If the date
740 H.
13
which begins Mubarak Shah's reign from 740 H., and which, on the strength of these
now
commenced from 739 H.
be
out undoubtedly to be
much
these coins then will iiave
earlier
Bahram Khan. finish
however,
If
than 739 H,
earlier
to
be taken as
Mubarak Shah's attempts
sovereignty
may
samples of this class turn
the dates on future
nesses of
coins,
The
design and
of
inferiority
assuming
at
by deposing
career
his
in
wit-
however, and the rarity of these coins
testify that the successes of these
attempts were
extremely short-lived and inconclusive.
The Shah
M.
I.
of the
cabinet
is
C.
describes
years
coins
Mubarak
The Shillong
745-47-48-49.
very rich in his coins and has coins,
from the Sonargaon mint,
all
of
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
of all the years
from 740-750 H.* A.
of
coin
750 H.,
Coins
and *
of
of is
Mubarak Shah, undoubtedly
described on page 82
the
illustrated
The
Pathau as
authorities of the
No.
Mubarak Shah minted
151
of
Thomas's
Hindustan
on plate
IV
of
Dacca Museum obtained some coins
the Shillong cabinet for inspection. of
Sultans
of
of
at
Among them
Sonargaon and
of
were two coins
clearly dated 750
H.
Evidently these coins have been overlooked in the Supplementary
Catalogue,
749 H.
where the
latest coin of INIubarak
Shah described
is
of
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
14
the book.
Bahrain
death of
clear that on the
thus becomes
It
Khan
in
739 H, Eakhruddin
organised the forces of the kingdom and assumed
crown
the
in
740 H, and continued without
break, amidst wars and strifes, on the throne of
up
Sonargaon
to
750
H.
This
the ri^ht
is
chronology and whatever portions of the written should be rejected as
histories clash with this,
untrustworthy.
'ALAUDDIN
Numismatic materials king
are
unfortunately
kingdom was confined only
to
for the
reign
rather
meagre.
the
Western
of
this
His
half
of
consequently his coins had circula-
Bengal and tion
SHAH.
'ALl
in
that
part of
the country.
The
Cooch-Behar hoard probably contained a large
number
of his coins,
a
not contain
but the Eastern finds do
single
sample
them.
of
The
otherwise rich collection of the Shillong cabinet for this period does not contain a single of
his
content
coins
with
and consequently, we have those described
to be
by Thomas and
the two specimens described in the
Thomas
specimen
I,
M.
C.
(Initial Coinage, P. 5S) cites coins of
'Alauddin 'Ali Shah of the years 742-44-45 46 H.
and describes a coin from the Firozabad mint
of
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
The reading
the year 742 H.
however, appears
(Plate
Initial
I,
(u^). The
M.
I.
C. has
two coins of
*Ali Shah,
743 H. and the other of 744 H.
of
examined both of
the unit,
of
No. 8) and should more probably be
Coinage,
3
doubtful
15
them
of these coins.
have
I
The unit on none
very distinct, but the unit on the
is
one
first
coin appears to be ci^C while on the second coin
only Uj yti^i
is
preserved, which seems to have
In this respect,
.
it
begun
has very close resem-
blance to the coin of *Ali Shah illustrated by
Thomas, where Ijo
fortiiiij,
how
else.
of 743
this,
but for the redundant short perpendi-
cular stroke see,
seen like
could have been unhesitatingly taken
This
.
also, the unit is
this
But
the beginning.
in
I
cannot
can be taken as*^;l or anything
So both these coins would appear
H.
We
know
Kadr Khan, whom
to
be
that the collision between
*Ali
Shah supplanted, and
Pakhruddin, the usurper of Sonargaon, must have taken place about 742 H. in
the
discomfiture
we need have no
As
it
resulted finally
and death of Kadr Kban,
hesitation in
taking the year
742 H. as the year of the accession of *Ali Shah the throne
to
which the new king seems
his capital.
.k-
Lakhnauti,â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or
to
of
to
of Pirozabad,
have removed
COINS
16
AND CHRONOLOGY OF
THE.
Blochmann takes 746 H. as the probable correct year when he was overcome by the next king Haji Iliyas (Contributions, 254.)
J.
A.
S. B.,
1873, P.
depending on the reading of the dates on his Thomas ; and Blochmann appears to be
coins by
right
when we
consider the fact that Ibn-Batuta
knows nothing of Ilijas Shah though he came to Bengal in 746 H. and has left us a contemporary account of the political happenings of the
But
time.
in
view of the probable wrong reading
on the coin illustrated and described by Thomas and the definite statement of the histories, of the date
Shah reigned
that *Ali
for only 1 year
and
five
months, this date should be accepted with caution.
The Riyaz
is
precise
as to the length of Iliyas
which is given as sixteen years and some months. Countng back from the last Shah's reign
month
also,
of 758 It; in which, as will be seen later, the
death of Iliyas Shah has to be placed, at the middle of 742
practically
to
ignore
This scheme
H.
the reign
But the fact that all the Shah appear to be dated
we
of
*Ali
arrive
seems Shah.
available coins of *Ali
743 H. points to the probability that this was perhaps the last year of his reign
;
and
until
in
we come
across coins of *Ali
Shah, the dates on which can be undoubtedly read 744, 745, or 746 H. as
Thomas would have them,
we may
chronology of *Ali Shah's
slick
to
this
Shah was naturally in constant with Eakhruddin of Sonar scaon. but there
reign. *Ali
strife is
no
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL credible evidence to
show
17
Riyaz alleges)
(as the
that he succeeded in killing Pakhruddin. Indeed
Fakhruddin
Sonargaon seems
of
have been a
to
particular eyesore to the historians, while Ibn-
Batuta,
who came
kingdom
to his
him an extremely good
his travels, revels in giving
character
i.
Eakhra was
The author by
killed
in the course of
Riyaz states that
of the
Shah
'Ali
;
Badaoni says
Muhammad Tughlak went up to
that the emperor
Sonargaon in 741 H., captured Fakhra, took him to Dehli
and
killed
him
Shams-i-Siraj, author
;
Shahi, who, being a contem-
of Tarikh-i-Firoz
porary historian, ought to have
on the other hand after
Firoz
Shah's
known
would have
it
Shah about
soon
that
expedition to Bengal,
first
Fakhruddin was pounced upon and Iliyas
better,
755 H.
Thus,
killed
the
by
three
prominent authorities for the period give three different tales of Fakhruddin's death
however that
is,
this
as
the
The truth
unmistakably
coins
testify,
Fakhruddin, after
thrice-killed
unbroken reign
\
of ten years, died
an
most probably
a natural death in 750 H. and was succeeded on the throne of Sonargaon by Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi
Shah,
who very
likely
was
have been a pity indeed, the most beautifully
condemned
to a
worse
if
his son.
It
this generous
would
king of
executed coins had been fate.
COINS
IS
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
IKHTIYARUDDIN GHAZI SHAH. The
written
ignore
totally
histories,
as
is
well-known,
the existence of this
monarch
and coins are the only witnesses of the fact that he lived and reigned.
Thomas
describes a coin of his, the date on
which he read as 751 H, but which, as Dr.
Blochmann
correctly points out, should be read
H. Dr. Blochmann
as 753
also speaks of the coin
in the cabinet of the Asiatic Society as bearing
the date of
But evidently the same
753 H.
coin has been described by Mr. Borrdillon in the I.
M.
0. as bearing the date of 751
personally
unit in
examined
I
have
and though the
disfigured by a shroff-mark, the date
is
751 and not 753 H.
probability
all
this coin
H.
is
The
Shillong Cabinet has only one coin of this king
and the date on
has been read as 760 H,
it
This very important coin* also I have examined personally and the date
We
know from
illustrated as No,
the
is
coin
undoubtedly 750 H. of
Mubaral^
Shah
151 in Thomas's Coins of the
Pathan Sultans of Hindustan, which unquestionably bears the date of 750 H., and also from the *
I
take this opportunity to suggest that the samples in the
Shillong Cabinet, of supreme importance like the present coin,
should J. A. S.
be B.,
republished
in
the
Numismatic Supplement
with adequate illustrations.
of
the
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
19
750 H. coins of Mubarak Shah in the Shillong Cabinet already referred year
last
of
the
reign
that this was the
to,
of
Mubarak
Shah.
we may conclude that Ghazi Shah succeeded Mubarak Shah immediately on Consequently,
death in 750 H.
his
and issued coins in the
same year and continued doing year
753H
so
up
to the
.
As to the relationship between Ghazi Shah and Mubarak Shah, I can do nothing better than quote Thomas
who summarises the
case
clearly.
numismatic testimony would seem to
**The
show that Mubarak was succeeded by son,
as
the *U1 Sultan bin
Ul Sultan'
own may be
his
The immediately consecutive
taken to imply.
dates and the absolute identity of the fabric of
the coins
as
well
as
the
*Right hand of the
Khalifat' on the reverse, alike connect the
two
princes."
SHAMSUDDIN ILIYAS SHAH. The
account
of
the
monarch with *Alauddin the Riyaz and correct.
'Ali
may
relationship
*Ali
Shah
is
of
this
detailed in
be taken as subslantially
Shah was a trusted servant
of
Malik riroz, who afterwards became emperor
20
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
of Dehli as Eiroz
Shah Tughlak, and
was
Iliyas
from
Dehli
*Ali's
foster-brother.
''after
doing something wicked" and 'Ali was
Iliyas
fled
banished from Piroz's presence as he could not trace Iliyas out.
*Ali, in his grief,
came
to Bengal,
accepted service with Kadr Khan, Governor of
and
Lakhnauti inspector
seen
of
how he
instigation
of
eventually
his
We
forces.
killed
finally
rose
Eakhruddin
his
to
have already master at the >
assumed
and
under the
title of
of west
by
*Ali
and north Bengal,
'Alauddin *Ali Shah, Iliyas
appeared on the scene. in prison
the
When
sovereignty of Lakhnauti in 742 H.
had become master
an
be
He was promptly
*Ali Shah, but
had
to be released
the intercession of Iliyas's mother. ever, "in a short time
put
Iliyas,
on
how-
found means to gain over
the army, killed 'Alauddin with the help of the
eunuch and proclaimed himself
The
Histories give *Ali
king.**
Shah a reign
of one
year and five months and Iliyas Shah a reign of 16 years
and some months.
We
have seen
that the 742 H. coin of 'Ali Shah described by
Thomas
is
in all probability a coin of 743 H. and,
in consideration of the fact that the
of the
I.
M.
C. are also of the
same
two coins
year, I
am
in favour of accepting this year as the last year of the reign of 'Ali Shah.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
The following
coins
Shah from
Iliyas
of
21
Firozabad deserve notice. Pp. 62, Thomas, Initial Coinage
:
740 H., 744-746-747 H. I.
M.
0. II, Pp. 152
No.
:—
33—747 H.
Shillong Suplement. Oat. Pp. 120
:—
A— 740 H., No. /t— 743 H. No. A— 746 H., No. ^—745 H.
No.
The present
find
coins
of
unfortunately
is
very disappointing as regards Iliyas Shah's coins.
There are indeed 33 coins of 9 A- class
of
16
coins,
8 E-class coins of the
many
on
of
I.
this king, consisting
coins
B-class
M.
C.
;
them the mint name
and
but although of Pirozabad
and the ten and hundred of the date
viz.^
— 700
and 50 can be traced with certainty, the unit is
always
got one
The Dacca Museum cabinet has
lost.
of
coin
Iliyas
Shah
of
754 H. from
Pirozabad mint. Col. Nevill gives
an account of the 12 Iliyas
Shahi coins of the Khulna find in the 1915, P.
485
;
details of dates
J. A. S. B.,
but unfortunately, he gives no
and mint names.
Pollowing the line of argument I have put up,
Iliyas
Shah
should
be assumed to have
ascended the throne about the end of the year
743 H. after *Ali Shah has been apportioned his
COINS
22
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
one years and five months in the years 742 and
743 H.
So,
it
necessary
is
explain
to
the
found on a coin of Iliyas by
date of 740 H.
* and the dates of 740 H. and 743 H.
Thomas
read on the two
coins
the
of
Supplementary
Catalogue of the Shillong Cabinet. Blochmann as well as Iliyas
Thomas assume
Shah and
that *Ali
Shah must have contended
for sovereignty
of Lakhnauti, sometimes one being the victor
sometimes the other.
This theory
factory. It should be borne in
coin
to
recited
is
hardly
mind that the
and
satis-
rights
money and to have benedictory prayers in one's own name (Sikka and Khutba)
were the most cherished and legalising rights
and no king could lightly proceed
of sovereignty,
to
have these two operations performed without
a firm hold on the throne.
If
he
did, the people
would simply not obey, with the result that sovereign dignity would be nowhere. does not simply
town, but
its
mean
concern
Coinage
the occupation of the mintof
i^
means currency and
It
his
more public nature.
its
acceptance by the
people at large, and the disastrous results of forcing a currency on a *
It
does not appear where
the coins of
Iliyas
Shah
Thomas's main source
Thomas met
in Col.
for
people unwilling to
his
with this coin, as
essay on the
Bengal, were of 758 H., as admitted by himself. P. 63,
2nd and 3rd
lines.
all
Guthrie's collection, which was Initial
Coinage
Initial
of
Coinage,
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL accept
it
The
by the attempts
are well-illustrated
Muhammad
Tughlak
and
740 H.
date
consequence.
their
read
of
on
the
coins
of
Shah could have been summarily rejected
Iliyas
and therefore incorrectly read
as
impossible
for
even 'Ali Shah had not risen
that time and
But
23
Kadr Khan
mere
tunities
;
power at
held supremacy.
I can adduce stronger proofs
fortunately,
than
still
to
arguments,
had
having
oppor-
examining coin No. 2/42
of personally
of the Shillong Cabinet which has been read as
bearing the date of 740 H.
Thomas, I suspect,
must have been misled by a similar reading of the date difficult task
and
on this coin
it is
coin.
is
The
indeed a
not to be wondered that
the Editors of the Shillong Supplementary Catalogue, and
on a similar on
Thomas coin,
first sight,
740 H. that
make
in
an
earlier
age,
— perhaps
— read the date as 740 H.
Eor,
the date looks nothing else than
It is only
discrepancies
on very close examination present
themselves
which
the reading of 740 H. untenable.
If the
date were 740 H.,
But the date
is
it
would have been written
actually written
&> (.^axm. } ^^i*»'^A.
An
:
^^1 iju or 754 H.
examination of the coins of
would show that the two
:
letters
^
this
period
in the
words
24
COINS
for figures 20, 30,
40
a canopy and read
^^^^.)\
,
there
is
first
revealed on
head of the
left
^
and
^>
^j,4-**A^ is
fi
date
From
the
This
is
nothing
downward The fact is
while, at its base, a (â&#x20AC;˘
.
written in an extremely cramped
manner and has thus
As
x
limb of this redundant angle, an
dot or short stroke represents that
like
is
The truth
.
closer examination.
oblique stroke leans left-wards.
but the head of
like
portion of the date
a redundant angle
between the canopy-like is
done
are always
etc.,
the
if
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
led numismatists into error.
to the correctness of
743 H. on coin No.
the reading of the
^
of
the
Shillong
Supplementary Catalogue, Mr. H. E. Stapleton,
who has
me
that
date
is
personally examined
the unit
is
y/Uj
and not
748 H. and not 743 H.
be surprised
if
743 H.
the coin, assures
coins
vÂą?ilj
But
.
shall
I
also
So, the
not
turn up in
future.
The reign
of Iliyas
Shah saw the
first
great
attempt of Eiroz Shah Tughlak to recover the lost
province of Bengal.
Iliyas Shah, after
his
accession to the sovereignty of Bengal in 743 H.,
had been steadily growing in power. all
the evidence together,
it
annexed the eastern kingdom
Putting
appears that he of
Sonargaon in
753 H. and vigorously pushed on his frontier towards the south and the
west.
He
seems to
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
26
have levied tribute from the kingdoms of Orissa and Tirhut, reached as been
altogether
of Dehli
on
its
a serious eastern
of the type of Piroz
such affronts
determined
to
to
far
west as Benares and
menace
to the
An emperor
frontier.
Shah could not
the
empire
lightly brook
throne of Dehli and he
punish Iliyas's ambition as soon as
he ascended the throne. Eiroz
on the
Shah ascended the throne
Muharram, 752 H.
^4th
states that in the
of
Dehli
Zia
Barni
beginning of his reign, reports
reached him that Iliyas of Bengal had invaded Tirhut and ravaged the frontiers of
the
Dehli
Empire. Firoz Shah made adequate preparations
and
set
out to punish the audacious JBhatig- eater
Iliyas,
Barni states that Firoz
Shah
set
out from
Dehli on the 10th Shawwal, 754 H. and returned to Dehli Siraj
11
on the 12th Sha'ban, 755 H.
Afif only states that the expedition lasted
The
months.
Tabakat-i-Akbari
following detailed diary of
we
are
collected
neither
left in all
the
gives
the
expedition, but
the dark as to whence the author
these
detailed
Shams-i-Siraj
Afif
dates,
nor
seeing
Zia-Barni,
two contemporary historians, goes into dates.
Shams-i-
that
the
details of
COINS
26
lOth Shawwal, 754
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE Firoz Shah starts
ti.
from Dehli. 7th Rabi *ul-Awwal, 755 H.
Firoz Shah reaches
Ekdala.
N. B.
He
therefore took five mouths to reach
Ekdala from Dehli. 29th Rabi 'ul-Awwal, 755 H.
Piroz Shah feigns return.
5th Rabi *ul-Akhir, 755 H.
Shah
Firoz
is
by
attacked Iliyas Shah.
7th Rabi 'ul-Akhir, 755 H.
Firoz
Shah
sets
the captives
Gaur 27th Rabi 'ul-Akhir. 755 H.
free.
between
Peace Iliyas
and Firoz
Shah, and latter's
12th Slia'ban, 755 H.
of
the
return
march to Dehli. Firoz Shah reaches Dehli.
N. B.
He
took three months and a half
to
return to Dehli. It
is
stated
by
Shams-i-Siraj
Afif
and
Badaoni that soon after Firoz Shah*s departure, Iliyas hurried to Sonargaon, attacked
and have
Fakhruddin
him and occupied the country. We already seen how it was certainly not
killed
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
27
Fakhruddin who was attacked and
he
had ceased been
his
and
killed.
750
to
750 H.
reign in
to
Ikhtiyaruddin
son
It
killed, as
must have
who was
attacked
Ikhtiyaruddin*s coins continue from
753 H. from the Sonargaon mint, wlien they
suddenly stop and Iliyas Shahi coins make their
appearance the same year from the same mint.
Thomas notices of
all
consecutive years from 753 H. to 758 H.
Pp. 63).
I.
31(b) are
all
(Initial Coinage,
31(a),
30,
coins of Iliyas from Sonargaon
31,
M.
C. coins No.
coins of Iliyas
32,
Shah
from the Sonargaon mint of 754, 755, 756^ 757 Shillong Cabinet coins
and 758 H. respectively. No.
6Y' 6T'
A'
Ff.
A> A.
of Iliyas
Shah from the
Sonargaon mint, again, are of 753, 754, 755, 756, 757 and 758 H. respectively.
The united testimony
of all tliese coins
leave
no doubt that Sonargaon was occupied by Iliyas in
753 H., the year
in
vvliich
Ikhtiyaruddin's
coins cease from the Sonargaon mint and
Shah's
have personally examined coin No. 32 of of
Iliyas
coins appear from the same mint.
754 H. and coin No.
^
I.
of the Shillong
T
M.
C.
Cabi-
net of 753 H. The dates on both of them are very clear. The first is undoubtedly of 754 H.
and the date on the second can unhesitatingly be
read
753 H.
The nice execution
of
the
753 H. coin of the Shillong Cabinet and the
COINS
28
style of the lettering
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
show that
was the handi-
it
who had worked so long for Mubarak Shah and Ghazi Shaii and now had to work for a new master. work
is
of the
same
artist
would appear that Shams-i-'Siraj Afif
So
it
at
fault in saying that Iliyas
annexed Sonar-
gaon soon after Firoz Shah had retired after his expedition
first
of
the
The testimony
Lakhnauti.
to
would show that Ghazi Shah was
coins
allowed to reign barely three years in Sonar gaon,
from part of 750 H. he
part
to
753 H., when
of
a victim to Iliyas Shah's aggression.
fell
was after consolidating Iliyas turned with
power
his
in
renewed vigour
It
Bengal that the
to
west
and ravaged the frontiers of the Dehli Empire,
which brought him into
collision
with Eiroz
Shah.
The Shah
war
between
described
is
Barni
and
enter
into
Iliyas
by
both
detail
in
Shams-i-Siraj
We
Afif.
Zia
need not
It is sufficient to note
those details.
here that Dr.
Shah and Eiroz
Blochmann does not seem
to
have
understood their significance and so failed to arrive at the
correct
conclusion.
and fair-minded reader of
the
imperial Firoz
accounts authors
will rise
the
of
with
Shah*s plight
in
the the
Tlie
careful
from the perusal
two
contemporary
impression first
that
expedition
to
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
29
Lakhnauti was by no means enviable and Zia Barni had to fall foul of the Bengalees and recourse
take
smooth over
Thomas
:â&#x20AC;&#x201D; (Initial
weakness,
to
Coinage, P. 61). in the confession
"The invasion only resulted of
only
unpleasant fact.
this
says
liumour
plaintive
to
conveniently
attributed
the
to
periodical flooding of the country.**
This short sentence accurately summarises Eiroz
whole outcome of the expedition.
the
Shah came
engagement
to chastise, but in actual
found that he had caught a Tartar and was glad Iliyas was also of any peace he could obtain.
him and was
glad to get rid of
about a verbal and nominal submis-
sentimental sion.
too prudent to be
But
it
is
doubtful
was concluded.
if
any formal peace
ShamiS i-Siraj Afif
The subsequent exchange
the point.
is
silent
on
of presents
between the two sovereigns and the fact that Piroz Shah of
never agaifl
meddled
Bengal as long as Iliyas Shah
in the affairs
lived,
are
also
illuminating facts.
The fort
identification of the
of
question.
Ekdala
must
site
be
still
of
the
left
Zia Barni's statement that
it
vicinity
Riyaz expressly states that
it
of
open
an
was near
Pandua, practically confines the search forgotten site to the
strong
for
Pandua.
was close
to
the
The
Gaur
COINS
so
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
and Husain Shah made in preference to both Sharas-i-Siraj
Erom
a favourite residence
it
Gaur and Pandua.
his description
Ekdala an
calls
A.fif
the
of
island
that raged
battle
the
whole day between Iliyas and Eiroz Shah,
and
Iliyas's
subsequent retirement
to
Ekdala,
it
would appear that the place was about 10 or 12 miles
marshy lakes
Some Bits or of Pandua at about the Tangan river.
from Pandua.
distant
the east
lie to
that distance by the side of
impregnable fortress that twdce resisted
This
may
Eiroz Shah's fury
some
be lying unexplored on
island in one of these Bils.
The exciting cause
of
expedition to Lakhnauti Siraj A.fif
to
is
Eiroz
Shah's second
recorded by Shams-i-
have been the representation of
who
Zafar Khan, son-in-law of Eakhruddin. to Eiroz
Shah's
court on
Iliyas's
invasion
fled
of
Sonargaon.
The conquest is
of
Sonargaon by Iliyas Shah
thus described by Shams-i-Siraj Afif **
After Sultan Eiroz
:
returned the 1st time
from Bengal, Sultan Shamsu-d-din, in pursuit of revenge, embarked in boats and in the course of a few days
reached Sonargaon.
who was commonly without any
called
Eakhru-d-din,
Eakhra, was living
thought of danger at Sonargaon
where he was taken
alive
and
slain
immediately
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
who
by Sbamsu-d din, territory/'
We
31
established himself in
his
(Elliot, III. P. 304).
have already discussed how
could not
it
have been Eakhruddin, who was attacked and
must have been
killed,
but
uddin
Ghazi Shah,
This event, as has already
may
certainty
been seen,
it
be dated with
Ikhtiyar-
sou
his
on the
evidence of coins, towards the end of 763 H., and
known
Firoz Shah must have started
This
on his
first
expedition
may have been one
expedition,
fell
it
to
before
he
Lakhnauti.
of the causes of the first
was a poor pretext
for the
when
Iliyas
upon Sonargaon, Zafar Khan,
son-in-
but
it
Afif says
second expedition.
Shah
of
law of Eakhruddin, in the mofussil, fled
who was
that
collecting revenue
by the ocean
route
the
to
court of Eiroz Shah and reached there in 758 H. Eiroz Shah
when
made
all
amends
to Zafar
that grandee reached his court,
Khan
but did
not again attempt to chastise Iliyas hastily
;
on
the other hand, he continued to exchange presents with Iliyas if
Shah up
the Tabakat-i-A.kbari
believed.
man
Eiroz
he had
to as late as
759 H.,
and Eerishta are
knew very
to deal with
well
the
to be
type of
and waited patiently
for his opportunity.
Two
very knotty points present themselves
at this stage,
J
COINS
32
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
(i)
When
did Iliyas die
(ii)
Wliat
is
the
f
chronology of the
exact
second expedition of Piroz Shah to Lakhnauti
Let us bring together
all
?
the information
available on these two points.
The following
coins
will
have to be consi-
dered in this connection. Bef, I.
M. M.
No. Shill.
No. Shill.
No.
Date.
Iliyas
Firozabad
758 H.
»
Sonargaon
758 H.
»
Pirozabad
758 H.
C. II.
No. Sib Shill.
Mint.
C. II.
No. 29 I.
King.
Sup.
A Sup.
759 H.
^ Sup.
^
»>
Coin age P. 62. No. 15
760 H.
Initial
758 H.
Initial Coin-
age P. 64. No. 16
Sonargaon
758 H.
Blochmann's" Contributions, J.
I.
A. S B.
1873. III. P. 255.
Pootnote.
760 H.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL King.
Ref.
h?"'.^''No. 37.
M.
I
No I.
C. II
38
M.
C. 11.
M.
C. 11.
M.
C. II.
a
M. M.
II.
0. 11.
A
tial
759 H.
\
760 H.
1
Mu'azzamabad 760 H.
\
Sonargaon
758 H.
1
759 H. J
\
Firozabad
759 H.
Sonargaon
758 H.
3 I
j
Ini-
coinage.
Page
Sonargaon
I
J
No. 64 Shill. Sup. No. Shill. Sup. No. xl^
Thomas,
759 H-
/
No. 68 I.
Kamm
J
No. 42 I
i
769 H.
J
No. 40 I.
]^^^.rMFirozabad Shah
Date,
/
No. 39 I.
Mint.
33
67.
Pirozabad 750-760 K.
No. 17 type
Thomas, tial
Ini-
coinage.
Page
68.
Sonargaon 756-63 H.
No. 18 type
Thomas, tial
Ini-
coinage.
Page
68.
Mu*azzamabad 760 H.
No. 19 type
Thomas, tial
Ini-
coinage.
Page
69.
No. 21
Sonargaon 758-759 H.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
S4
The
following facts gleaned
Siraj Afif should also (i)
preparations Dehli.
be considered.
Sbamsuddin
Sultan
was
while
living
were being made against him at
He was dismayed
himself
from Shams-i-
insecure
at
at the news.
he
Ekdala,
Peeling
removed
to
Sonargaon and there secured himself from the
enemy.
(Elliot, III, P. 305).
Piroz Shah, on the
(ii)
way
to
his second
expedition to Lakhnauti, delayed six months at
Jaunpur. (iii)
(Elliot. III. P. 307).
When
Lakhnauti
is
resumption of march
next described,
Sultan Sbamsuddin was dead. (iv)
it is
towards
recorded that
(Ibid, P. 307).
The Dehli army returned homewards
after a period of
two years and seven months.
(Ibid. P. 315). (v)
the
Por six months on their return journey,
army
forests. (vi)
lost
its
way and wandered
in
the
(Ibid, P. 315).
The Dehli army was away from home
roughly for a period of two years and a
half.
(Ibid. P. 317).
Parther, the following facts obtained from the Tabakat-i-Akbari
are worth
consideration.
(A. S. B. Ed., Eng. Trans., P. 246-247).
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Zafar
758 H.
Khan
35
from
arrives
Sonargaon.
759 H. Towards the end
:
Zul-ka'dah
?
Tazuddin arrives as ambassador from the court of
Lakhnauti with valuable presents.
759 H.
:
Zul-hijjah
?
Malik Saifuddin
is
sent
by
in
the
Emperor Piroz
company to
of
Shamsuddin
Sultan
with
Tazuddin
presents
rich
in
return.
760 U. Spring.
Muharram
?
News Eiroz
of
the
Shamsuddin and
Emperor
reaches
the
Sikandar
Malik
death of
Iliyas
Shah
succession
Shah,
of
from
Saifuddin,
evi-
dently from Behar.
The
Emperor
that
the
orders
presents
brought back.
should be
The am-
bassadors return and the horses are given over to
the
imperial
Behar.
army
at
COINS
36
760 H. Muharram
?
AXD CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Emperor
Eiroz
marches
out
Dehli
towards
of
Compelled
Lakhnauti. halt
to
at
Zafarpur on
account of heavy rains "for a
few days."
Exchange
ambas-
of
Em-
sadors between the
peror and Sultan Sikan-
The former was
dar.
not pleased with
dently the
evi-
offers
Sikandar,
of
and continued
his
march
towards Lakhnauti.
Wliich year
H
761
? )
Return
f
Journey
of
the
Emperor from Lakhnauti.
20th
Jamadi uLAwwal. Rainy season. (761
H.
?)
Halt at Jaunpur.
Zul-hijjah.
762 H, Rajah.
The account to
again
full.
some nobles
many
(A.
to Dehli.
S.
B.
Ed.,
Eng.
).
the year 758 H., sent
Jajnagar.
in the Riyazu-s-Salatin deserves
Trans., P. 103-105 **In
to
Emperor's return
quoted in
be
March
Sultan
Shamsuddin
from Bengal Malik Tazuddin with in
the
from of an embassy with
presents and gifts to Dehli.
Sultan Eiroz
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
37
Shah, bestowing attentions on the envoys more
than before, after some days sent in return to Sultan Shamsuddin
Arab and Turkish horses
together with other valuable presents in charge
In the mean
Malik Saifuddin Shahnaj&l.
of
time Sultan Shamsuddin had died in Bengal.
Malik
Tazuddin
and
Malik
Saifuddin
had
approached Behar when they heard the news the death
of
of
communicated
Saifuddin
Malik
Shamsuddin.
Sultan
intelligence
this
to
Dehli and, agreeably to the orders of the emperor,
he gave away the horses and the presents in lieu
of
the
stationed at
pay due
Behar
imperial
soldiers
Malik Tazuddin returned
The reign
Bengal.
to the
Shamsuddin
of
to
lasted 16
years and some months.
When
Sultan
away from
Shamsuddin Bhangra passed on the 3rd day,
this fleeting world,
with the consent of the nobles and the generals, his
eldest
son
Sikandar
to conciliate Sultan Firoz
rarities.
of
fifty
the
expedient
it
Shah, he sent in the
elephants
with sundry
In the meantime, Eiroz Shah, emperor
Dehli, in the year 760 H.,
jugate
ascended
and deeming
throne of Bengal
shape of presents,
Shah
the
kingdom
of
marched
reached Zafarabad (almost opposite, a
Jaunpur), the
rains
setting
in,
to sub-
When
Bengal.
little
the
he
below
emperor
COINS
S8
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
encamped there and sent envoys
Sikandar
to
Shah. Sikandar was in great anxiety about the
aim
of
Shah's
Emperor
the
envoys
Shah
Sikandar
arrived.
mediately sent his aide de-camp
and other
five elephants
when Firoz
Dehli,
of
together
But
with
and opened
presents
peace.
im-
these
resulted
negotiations
for
in nothing.
After the rainy season was over,
Sultan Eiroz Shah marched to Lakhnauti. the Sultan
encamped
in the environs of
When
Pandua,
Sikandar Shah, feeling that he was no match for the Sultan, followed his father's tactics
himself
entrenched
the
in
Ekdala.
of
fort
and
When
Eiroz Shah pressed the siege hard.
the
garrison was reduced to straits, Sikandar Shah,
sending 40 elephants and other goods
and agreeing for peace.
pay an annual
to
tribute,
sought
Eiroz, accepting these, returned
to
Dehli.'^
Now
let
us discuss the time and the year
of the death of Iliyas Shah.
Evidence coin
of
of
Iliyas
We
Coins,
Shah dated
and only two coins courtesy of Mr. A.
of
have
in the year
760 H.
W.
only
769 H.
Through the
Botham
I have had an opportunity of
one
0.
I.
E.,
examining coins
No. T^ and ^, the dates on which have been read in the Shillong Supplementary Catalogue
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL as
and
H.
759
H.
760
39
The
respectively.
hundred and the ten on coin No. ^V ai'e clearly 700 and 50. The word for tlie unit is mostly cut
off
with the exception of the
which
end,
is
pointed and inclines downwards.
The space that
is
allowed to
suggest that the word was
be admitted that ^'y which on
^3 would
coins like
But
space.
coin
in
Iliyas
of
it
AiÂŤ-
was prohably 756 H.
date
flowing
left
UÂŤ would
after
= 6,
and so the
It should is
however
very often written
not
require
greater
view of the fact that no other
Shah
of 759 H.
is
known,
it is
hazardous to read the very imperfectly preserved unit on this coin as
9.
As regards the date on coin No ^Vj we can he more definite. The hundred and the ten are This fact does away with clearly 700 and 50, the probability of the date being read as 760 H.
Here again the unit
mostly cut
is
definite reading can be proposed.
ever,
more resemblance
word
for
any other
to ^ijLj
figure.
off
and no
how-
It has
=8
than to the
The date on
this
coin should therefore be read as 758 H.
The only other
coin of Iliyas
bear the date of 760 H.
by Blochmann bution
is
Shah
said to
the one referred to
in foot note, in his first *Contri-
towards the History and Geography of
Bengal.'
(J.
A.
S.
B.,
1873,
III.
P.
255.)
COINS
40
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Blochmann himself had not seen
this coin
and
it
would appear from the reference, that hardly
any reliance can be put on this unique reading. Thomas thus remarks on page 63 of his Initial Coinage of Bengal
must have been
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;"The
Cooch Behar trove
rich in this type of coins (of Iliyas
Shah) and of the particular year 758 H., as out of
109 specimens in Col. Guthrie's collection,
there
is
no single example of any other
Erom
date.**
the abundance of Iliyas Shah's coins of
758 H. and from the fact that no coin of Iliyas
Shah has yet been
satisfactorily proved to bear
a date later than 758 H.,
come
we may unhesitatingly
to the conclusion that Iliyas
Shah died
at
Shah
in
the end of 758 H.
The appearance
of coins of Sikandar
No. 17 and
758 H. confirms^ this conclusion.
No. 18 types of Thomas, on which, he believed, he found dates even earlier than 758 H., we
may
pass over without discussion, as they have
got no illustration
and we cannot check the
readings for ourselves.
It
may
be remarked,
however, with some confidence, that the readings
were
probably incorrect
;
because
actually found coins of Sikandar,
if
Thomas
'bearing dates
from 750 H. to 757 H., one would be at a to account for their disappearance and
non-appearance in the subsequent finds.
loss
their
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
41
There are only two coins of Sikaudar Shah H. which are worth
758
hearing the date of
They are No. 63
discussion.
of the
I.
M.
C.
and
No. TTY of the Shillong Supplementary Catalogue,
The Shillong is
coin,
which fortunately
undouhtedly of 758 H.
the
I.
M.
to
the
correctness
is
clearly 759
The period thus
T.
is
unquestionably of
no doubt as
the reading
of
M.
C.
of
Shah
is
H. from
forward
therefore,
died
by
758 H.
an
Numismatic
leaves no doubt that Iliyas
758 H.
in
No. 38
The date on both
uninterrupted succession of coins.
Shah
of
of the reign of Sikandar
carried
evidenc,
illustrated,
have also examined
absolutely
also
is
and No. Gi of the
them
This also
C. coin.
There
758 H.
'I
is
and
succeeded on the throne by
was immediately son
his
Sikandar
Shah. Shams-i-Siraj
Evidence of Histories. not explicit as to the
He
also
is
exchange riroz of
curiously
of presents
SI) ah
Zafar
time of silent
Iliyas's
A.fif
is
death.
regarding
the
between Iliyas Shah and
and does not even record the date Khan's
arrival
from
Sonargaon.
Neither does he record the date of the starting of
Eiroz
Lakhnauti.
Shah
He
on
second
expedition
to
simply states that the expedi-
tion lasted 2 years 6
his
and seven months and that
42 Iliyas
Shah was
COINS
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
living
when preparations were
being made against him at Dehli.
from
was
Dehli,
Jaunpur
founded
by
overtaken
near
rains
halted there for six months and
He
Jaunpur,
Shah, after starting
that Firoz
It appears
during
the
After
period.
recording these events, Shams-i Siraj Afif records that Iliyas Shah was dead and his son Sikandar
was on the throne
Shah
the death of Iliyas
The record
Bengal.
of
of
the record of
after
the foundation of Jaunpur gives the impression that
the
former
But
the latter.
must
event of
course,
have
this
followed
certainly w^as
not the case. Tlie
next history in point of time
is
Tarikh
Mubarak-Sbalii (Elliot and Dowson, Vol. All the subsG'queut historians viz
:
author of the Tabakat-i-Akbari, Terisbta,
from
copy
Tarikh-i
and unfortunately, copy the book.
Zia
starting of Eiroz to
Lakhnauti
as
Barni
Shah on the
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nizamuddin, Badaoni
Mubarak
the
his
date
first
first six
be wrong gives
and
Shahi,
of
the
expedition
lOlh Shawwal,
and Barni, who recorded the events the
IV.).
the mistakes of
also
gives
i-
754 of
H, only
years of Firoz Shah's reign, cannot
But Tarikh i-Mubarak-Shahi bluntly
the date as 755
H,
There can be no
doubt that the date of Tarikh-i-Mubarak-Shahi
EARLY INDEPENDEXf SULTAXS OF BENGAL is
wrong by one
here
book makes a similar
the
that
may be remarked
It
year.
43
mistake
Shah's accession
of
one year in dating Piroz
in
753 H., for the correct date, as recorded by Barni and
both
Afif,
Muharram
24th
the
is
752 H.
The
time
the
of
Lakhuauti
from
with
ambassadors
of
arrival
presents
is
given
in
Tarikh-i-Mubarak-Shahi as the end of 759 H.,
and
Mubarak-Shahi
Afif
appears
be
to
of
Tarikhi-
wrong by one
In view of the statement of Shams
Shah
Piroz
that
was
and
Badaoni
Here again, the author
Ferishta.
year.
Nizamuddin,
by
copied
is
occupied
i-Siraj
in
his
second expedition to Lakhnauti for two years
and seven months and the record histories
he returned
that
762 H., we
may
to
Dehli in Hajab,
count back and find that Firoz
Shah must have started from Dehli 760 H., which
in all later
is
in
the date given in
Muharram, all
histories
that date the event.
If the
ambassadors arrived
from Lakhnauti
Dehli
towards the end of
(?
759 H. and
to
envoys
Eiroz
who had
they
could
to
learn
were sent in return
advance up
to
by
Behar before
of the death of Iliyas
Shah
they certainly could not have sent him information of the same, earlier than the very end of
759 H.
This arrangement of dates would leave
COINS
44
expedition
second
his
evident
a fortnight to
hardly
Shall
Firoz
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
a
that
inadequate
Lakhnauti,
to
time
fortnight's
such
for
prepare for It
absolutely
is
The
preparation.
a
is
ambassadors from Lakhnauti must therefore have arrived towards the end of 758 H. and not 759 H.
Riyaz records the
It is very curious that the
correct
date for
expressly
the
states
of
758 H.
from
ambassadors
that,
Lakhnauti were sent
Ghulam Husain
event.
to Dehli
towards the end
The following appears
to be the true
course of events that happened in 758 H.
Khan reached and
laid his
began
to
Dehli in the early part of 7o8 H.
complaint before Eiroz Shah.
make
preparations
expedition to Lakhnauti.
news
Zafar
second
his
for
Eiroz
alarmed at the
Iliyas,
of Eiroz Shah's preparations, sent envoys
with presents to him towards the end of 758 H. Firoz thought
it
war
with
hastily
Iliyas's
friendly
prudent not
to enter
and received
Shah,
Iliyas
envoys with honour. envoys in return.
again into
He But
even
when
sent
these
envoys reported from Behar that the old lion Iliyas in
was no more, the emperor
throwing
off his
lost
mask and began
to
no time prepare
in right earnest for the conquest of Bengal.
We
may now attempt
to construct a correct
chronology of these eventful years.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL 758 H.
Zafar
Khan
45
from
flying
Sonargaon, reaches Eiroz Shah's presence via the
ocean
route.
representation
On of
the
Zafar
Khan, Eiroz Shah pre pares
the
for
subju-
gation of Lakhnauti.
758 H. Zul-ka*dah
?
Arrival of Tazuddin with presents
from
Shah
the
of
to
Iliyas
emperor
Tazuddin
Dehli.
is
well-received.
758 H. Zul-hijjah
?
Tazuddin sent back. Malik Saifuddin
accompanies
the Bengal
envoy with
presents
from the em-
peror to Tliyas Shah.
758
H.â&#x20AC;&#x201D; End of Zul-hijjah.
DEATH
OF
SHAH.
ILIYAS
Accession
of
Sikaudar Shah.
759 H.
Preparation of Firoz Shah for the second expedition to
760 H. Muharram
Lakhnauti.
The emperor second
starts
on his
expedition
Lakhnauti.
to
COINS
46
760 H.
circa
the
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
The imperial army marches
Jamadi ul-Awwal,
Rain
to Zafarabad. in.
sets
Halt for six months.
Foundation of Jaunpur during the period.
change
Ex-
emissaries
of
between Firoz Shah and Sikandar Shah negotiat-
Nothing
ing for peace.
comes of the proceedings 760 H. circa,
Firoz Shah marches on to
Shawwal. 760 H. Zul-ka'dah,
Bengal.
Sikandar retires
where he
circa.
is
to
Ekdala
besieged by
Eiroz Shah.
760 H. Zul-ka'dah to) 761 H. Jamadi V ul-Avvwal.
761
fl.
20th Jamadi
ul-Awwal.
Siege of Ekdala.
I
Eiroz Shah starts for Jaun-
pur
after
peace
concluding
with
Passes
Sikandar.
the
rains
at
Jaunpur. 761 H. Zul-hijjah.
Eiroz
Shah
starts
Jajnagar.
762 H. Rajab.
Returns
to Dehli.
for
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
The
attempt
second
subjugate the unruly
have
to
been
appears
pretty
experiences of his
he was
that
first.
It
after
the
expedition to Lakhnauti,
of
affairs
Khan
Zafar
his
to
seems
Sultan,
as
clear
no mood again
in
the internal
in
first
Sbah
Eiroz
Bensjalee
abortive
as
be
to
of
47
to lightly
interfere
Bengal.
But
the
arrival
of
definite
complaint put matters on a different
He was
footing.
weak
not a
take
to
in
758
Emperor
the
and he was
one,
H.
of
with
India,
duty
in
a
and
bound
cognizance of complaints from
those
who had been wronged and who owned him the
as
ances,
not
if
prepare
But
In order to
liege-lord.
for
the
for
war
timely
anything aginst
arrival
else,
he had to
the
first
and was bui^aing
to
in
Iliyas.
envoy
him down,
he must have been chafing at heart. not forgotten the
appear-
the offending of
Bengal apparently cooled
save
from
though
He had
expedition to Lakhnauti
make good
his ill-success
Yet Firoz Shah went on and though Zafar Khan came and
that endeavour.
tolerating, stirred
him
up,
he
preferred
waiting
for
opportunity.
At lion
this
Iliyas
began
to
news came that the old was dead, and the emperor at once juncture,
prepare
for
marching
against
the
COINS
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
unsuspecting Sikandar.
and assurances of good brushed
corded
is
the
in
treaties
were unblushingly
will
The wolf-and-the-lamb nature
aside.
move
the
of
previous
All
evident from
Riyaz
the fact, as re-
and by
that
Eerishta,
even when Piroz reached Zafarabad, Sikandar
was ignorant of the motive of Piroz Shah in thus hurrying towards Bengal, and actually sent
envoys with
presents
his wishes.
ascertain
to
Nothing, however, came of the negotiations that
He
followed and Eiroz marched on to Bengal.
had profited
by the lesson
o:f
the
first
expedition
and had passed the rainy season nearer home,
When
on his side of the frontier, at Jaunpur. the land on
was dry and
all sides
fit
for cavalry
manoeuvres, he hurried onwards and laid siege to
Ekdala.
The
reduction
however,
of
bastion
through
might Ekdala,
impregnable
this
fort,
even in the absence of the
barrier
much
for the
of a flooded
might
of
country, proved too
The
Eiroz Shah.
and it
for
molest as
appears to
Shah's
Eiroz
his
ladies
of
recorded
by
special
child
and knew very
pleading.
unruly the
attack
to
soldiers
Zenanah
Shams-i-Siraj
any unbiassed
bad
scruple
that
fear
the
story of the fallen
Afif,
reader to be very
Eiroz
well, as
in
Shah
was
no
Mr. R. D. Banerjee
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
49
has rightly observed in his vernacular history of Bengal, that the reduction of an independent
country always entailed such acts of violence.
Even
if
true,
the
to
the
story
the
of
defenders
be
bastion
fallen
were certainly too strong
The
be lightly encountered.
on for months and months and
Piroz Shah
still
The Bengalees
could effect nothing.
dragged
siege
heroically
defended their stronghold, until the rains drew near and the floods came to help their cause imperial
the
against
had
previous
and
peace
Bengal
experience of a flooded
commenced
proposals
Shah
Eiroz
aggressor.
right
in
earnest.
A
perusal of the accounts of the negotiations
for peace leaves a clear impression that
the imperial side the
recorded
that
a conference
sought peace, and not
that
Bengalee Sultan.
Shams-i-Siraj
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;though
has
Afif
Sikandar met his ministers whe^ii
was
it
him, and the ministers peace,
was
it
it
imperialist author
is
going
advised
by no means
came
to
know
hard
in
with
him
to
clear
how
seek the
of this secret
conference of the council chambers of Ekdala.
Sikandar
is
recorded to have kept silent and the
ministers retired.
They
then, of their
own
accord,
thinking that silence of the Sultan was consent, sent
a clever confidential agent to the ministers 1
COINS
50
Shah
Eiroz
of
and
peace
to
render
— "as peace,
AXD CHRONOLOGY OF THE open
negotiations
Shah
Eiroz
disposed for
was
Sikandar
Sultan
for
already-
inclined."
The ministers received
Firoz Shah seem to have
of
agent
ministerial
this
who
royal authority, and
produced none,
asked
if
arms, and had no
could to
do
certainly have so,
— with open
persuading their
diflS.culty ia
Eiroz Shah,
master to listen to peace proposals. however,
stipulated
Sonargaon sent
to
Zafar Khan.
return
in
the
for
of
restoration
Haibat
envoy
as
without
sent
Khan was and
Sikandar
to
though the ministers of Sultan Sikandar met
and received
the
"pretended to
be
tions.*'
envoy,
Sikandar
in ignorance of the
Haibat Khan, however,
terms on
which
peace
might
set
be
when he perceived that "Sikandar in
favour of peace",
reason
why Sultan
he said
Eiroz
that
—
negotia-
forth
the
made and also
spoke
the
chief
had undertaken the
campaign was the establishment in the country of Sonargaon. tion
himself
of Zafar
Khan
The circumspec-
with which the subject of Sonargaon was
launched, deserves notice. look like the
demand
cle of the victor
settlement of
It certainly does not
of a victor, and the specta
going to the vanquished for the
the
terms of peace
is
absolutely
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL unique
Sikandar, however,
!
is
51
recorded to have
readily consented to the restoration of Sonargaon to
Zafar Khan.
Khan
Haibat to
Piroz
Sultan to
the
was
results of his negotiations.
satisfied
and expressed
a
as
At
nephew.
**The
desire
his
remain at peace with Sikandar and
upon him of
returned joyfully and reported
the
to look
suggestion
crown worth 80,000 tankas and
Haibat, a
600 Arab and Turki horses were sent as presents to
Sikandar by Eiroz Shah together with an
expression of wish that he might not be again at
war with Sikandar." "Sikandar,
to
show
his
satisfaction sent in
return 40 elephants and other valuable presents." This
account
imperial
author,
of
Shams-i-Siraj
whose
not
the light
This
of
the
was
father
campaign, certainly does victor.
Afif,
show time,
in
Eiroz it
an the in
seems,
he had practically to sue for peace and return to
up. for
Jaunpur with
head
anything
but thrown
It is also very significant that Zafar
whom
the
emperor
is
said
to
have
Khan,
won
Sonargaon back from Sikandar, did not even dare to resume sovereignty
in
proximity
spite
support.
of
Sikandar,
in
the of
dangerous imperial
AXD CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
52
SIKANDAR SHAH.
We
have already seen, the
in
received
school
how the
of
his
training
heroic
father
the
storm
stood
Sikandar in
good
stead
that
he
had
face
in
760
H.,
the
end
of
after
to
accession
his
at
in
shortly
H.
758
Firoz Shah returned discomfitted and hencefor-
ward, the troublesome Bengalee
Sultans, with
who
their *'mouldy-looking" subordinate Rajahs,
taught the imperial army lessons never
twice
to be forgotten,
were
left severely
The
alone.
history of Bengal, henceforward, lost all touch
with the imperial authors and the only two or three
in
histories
period
The accounts chronology
are confused and
absolutely
reading
confident
Sikandar and Initial
meagre and the
The
unreliable.
ou
dates
of
the
over-
coins
Azam Shah by Thomas,
in
of his
Coinage of Bengal, far from mending
matters, merely gave rise to fresh confusion.
strangely blind
accepted scholars
the
of
be found, are hardly trustworthy.
to
is
which any account
way
in
The
which these dates were
without question by the most erudite of
the
time,
has
stamped erroneous
grooves on the history of the period, along which
almost
all
wandered.
the later
workers
have
helplessly
EARL V INDEPENDENT S ULTANS OF BENGAL Sikandar, of vast
in
enjoyment
peace in the
and rich dominions, had an exceptionally
long and
him a
left
53
The
prosperous reign.
reign of 9 years and
histories give
some months only
;
but as already pointed out, the dates recorded in the histories for
period
The prosperity
correction.
by
this
wholesale
require
of Sikandar
his erection of the great
is
shown
Adina mosque
at
Pandua, and by the great number, variety and beauty of the designs of his coins.
The Riyaz gives us the story
of
how
his
able
son Ghiyasuddin was driven to rebellion by the
machinations of a stepmother, and how he went out and occupied
nomiually
remaining
SonargaoD,
there
subordinate but covertly resistant to
the paternal authority.
It is also related that
Sikandar was finally killed in battle with his son.
The name
of
the field of battle has been the
subject of some
and several
speculation
have been proposed for the place.
It appears,
however, idle to speculate on the exact
an obscure
village,
of
beyond the bare name
sites
site
of
which we have nothing to identify
it
with.
The present find has in all sixty coins of Sikandar Shah. They may be classified as follows: â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1.
Three coins of type
Page 152. None mint-names.
of
A
them bears
of the
I.
M. C,
legible dates or
B
M. C, without The type C of the I. M. C.
Three of type
2.
mint-names or is
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
$4
dates.
of the
I.
ahsent.
Twenty
3.
of
D
type
of the
which the following deserve (a)
Silver.
Obverse
Legend,
y
Wt.
M. C,
I.
of
notice.
Sec 116.
161-5.
a circle, cut off on most coins.
in
— as in the
M.
I.
C.
Reverse, in a smaller circle, with surrounding
marginal legend, as in the coin, as on
read
to
some other 4Jj|
<».xl/*
I.
M.
C.
But on
coins, the last phrase
i^li.
instead
of
AiiilA.
reading of the marginal legend in the is
The type
defective.
No.
22,
type
No.
is
identical with
page
4,
69,
and
seems
The
.
I.
this
M.
C.
Thomas, Shillong
Supplementary Catalogue, No. y^. Prom the present coin, as well as from those described by Thomas and in the Shillong Supplementary Catalogue, it
— also from
I.
M. C, No. 49
illustrated,
appears that the complete legend should be
read
:—
Of
date,
hundred, viz (b)
to be
A
the present
:— 700
;
similar
coin,
only
has
the unit and ten are coin,
the
lost.
but the date seemi
777 H. Wt. 154'6. (c)
A
similar coin.
Wt. 162-9
;
date
lost,
but the mint-name reads like Mua'zzamabad
;
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL some
55
'96
of the coins are as small as
inch in
The date and mint-name are gone on
section.
most of them.
may
be remarked here that coin No. jf^ of the Shillong Supplementary Catalogue, which It
is
described as a type not
may
be taken as type
shown
C
in the
of the
M.
I.
M. C,
I.
C. with
only slightly different lettering.
25
4).
coins of type
E
of the
I.
M. C,
of
which the following deserve notice. silver.
(a)
785 H.
A
Wt. 160
5
Sec. 1-24
gr.
large, flat coin like
I.
M.
Date
C. No. 62,
but the mint-name of Eirozabad has the adjective l^)j-s3^J\ in addition. Cf. Col. Nevill's
Khulna coinsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; J. A. where he also met with this of the
I.
of
M.
S. B.,
description
1915, Pp. 486,
The
characteristic.
two
0. has only three coins of this class,
which bear the dates
Of the 26 coins
of
of this class in
781 and 787 H. the present find,
17 have dates gone or partly gone.
can be read on the remaining eight.
EuU
dates
These are
768, 776, 778, 785, 786, 786, 787 and 791 H. (b)
Wt.
The
coin
last
168'3. Sec.
1-20.
deserves
special
notice.
Mint, Eirozabad.
The
date reads clearly,
This
is
up
till
coins of Sikandar
now the
latest date
found on the
Shah which we can check
for
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
56
Thomas
ourselves.
he found the
records that
date of 792 H. on coins of this class, but they are not illustrated. (c)
seems
be
to
reverse is
The execution
106.
S.
is
is
shabby,
the
debased,
.lax*.!)
ii
and
i^lj
the silver
on
eight-foil
the
The margin
shallow and ill-executed.
partly preserved
It
design, but weight 1689.
The same
i.
reads.
^
I^JaJ]
iL<*ÂŤ.Jl
uijt ......
appears to have been issued from
the
Mua*zzamabad mint. (c)
On
ii.
larger and
the obverse, the circle
the
margin consequenty narrower.
The same shabby execution
Wt.
one.
as of the previous
775 H.
160-7. S. 1*16. Date, probably
The margin on the reverse indistinct,
but
much
is
the
is
partly cut off and
following reading can be
traced with some confidence
The type E. present find.
of the
I.
The Cabinet
M.
C.
of the
is
absent in the
Dacca Museum
has got a coin of this class, but the date 5.
None 6.
of
Three coins of type C. of the of
them has got mint and date
Six coins of type H. of the
them have
I.
them
I,
M.
C.
distinct.
M.
perfectly preserved dates
a delight to read
gone.
is
C.
Three
and
it
is
after all the unspeakable
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL troubles
over badly preserved
shroffs,
in
ignorance,
their
fury on the obverse
sides,
57
The
margins. spent
their
all
leaving the important
reverse sides clear and untouched.
Wt.
(a)
158. Date 764i H. Sec. I'll. Mint,
Eirozabad.
Wt. 1597. Date 783 H.
(b)
Mint,
Sec. 1-20.
Eirozabad.
Wt. 159-6. Date 786 H. Sec.
(c)
Mint,
1*20.
Eirozabad.
The execution of excellent. The fourth
all is
these
three
coins
a coin similarly
is
m' ell-
executed, but the die in the striking must have slipped to one side and the date and mint
The remaining two
name
are thus cut
off.
same
but of bad design and execution.
type,
They have no dates and mint-names.
are of the
They are
also smaller in size.
To
the
ascertain
demise,
it
is
year
of
Sikandar
Shah's
necessary to consider the following
coins of his. 1.
Coin No.
4)
(b) of the present find
;
mint,
Eirozabad, date 791 H. 2.
784i
H. 3.
I. ;
M.
C. No. 41,
Thomas,
of group No. 26
Not described 8
mint Sonargaon, date
not illustrated. Initial Coinage, P. ;
mint Eirozabad
or illustrated.
;
71; last one date
792 H.
COINS
S8
The to
early coins of
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
A'zam Shah
have
will also
But here
be considered in this connection.
Thomas read dates not very scrutinisingly and Blochmann accepted his readings without much question. Thomas states that he found
again,
a date
early
as
Mua'zzamabad
Coinage,
on a reference that of
P.
Thomas
Fig. 16.
it is
is
is
is
and Plate
II.
reads the date as 778 H., but
certainty.
once seen
mint name
The
reading
more conjectural than otherwise. records coins of
the Pirozabad mint, of
coins
No. 32
74,
to the illustration, it is at
Thomas also
all
A'zam Shah from
years from 791 H. to
Here again, fortunately, one
H.
the
A'zam Shah. Fortunately
possible to read only the
of the date
of
described and illustrated,
Mua'zzamabad with
799
some
772 H. on
coins of
one of the coins Initial
as
of the
described and illustrated (Initial Coinage,
As noted
P. 75. No. 35.
Plate II.
the beginning
of this essay, a reference to the
illustration
on
it
15).
fig.
in
shows that the date of 793 H. read
by Thomas cannot be supported.
The
date easily reads 795 H. and this appears to be the earliest coin of of
whose date we can be certain.
seen from
J,
Blochmann to
A'zam Shah from Firozabad
795 H.
A. 8. B., No. 3
,
It will be
1873, P. 258., that
also corrected the date on this coin
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
Thomas thought
59
that he could not find coins
A'zam Shah of dates later than 799 H. This view of Thomas coupled with the statement of the Riyaz that A*zam Shah reigned for seven years of
and some months only, gave 799 H. was the
last
that
rise to a belief
year of the reign of A'zara
This has confused numismatic evidence
Shah.
for the period to
unfold
the
readers will
As
an extraordinary degree. aspects
several
the
of
I
confusion,
be able to judge, to what length
may
preconceived notions
eminent
even
lead
and industrious scholars.
He
To begin with Thomas. of of
describes a coin
A*zam from the Jannatabad mint on his
but
it
is
75
Coinage" with a hand-drawn
"Initial
illustration.
P.
The coin appears
to
be of 790 H.,
hardly safe to rely on a hand-drawn
figure of a coin for an important date.
may
very well have been 809,
made
The date which was easily
In describing type No. 2 on the
into 790.
same page, Thomas says :â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "There dinate
class
Type No. generally
1.,
of
outlining of the
mint
of
of
coins
following the
is
a subor-
devices of
struck from less expanded dies and
very the
inferior
letters.
execution
the
These are also from
Mua'zzamabad and
bungled and almost
in
illegible
words
are dated :
in
COINS
eO
Which 778, 780,
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
raay be designed to stand for 770 odd,
and 781 respectively."
The careful student
Thomas
that what
all
recognise
them
bundled
calls
right
perfectly
He
properly.
were
letters
was he who
it
;
once perceive
at
will
failed to
met
evidently
with coins of later dates than 799, dates
ending
them.
nise
= 800
ijUi Uj
in
The
and he
coins
all
recog-
failed to
he thinks, were
that,
dated in 770 odd, 778, 780 and 781, were in
all
probability dated 807, 808, 800, and 801.
Let us pass on
to
Blochmann.
He
writes as
follows in his contribution No. III., J. A. S. B., 1875., P. 287
:â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
"It was remarked in the 1st part of these contributions to Bengal Geography and History that Raja his
Kans
own name.
did probably not issue coins in
We
were issued during coins of
Kans
know however
that coins
reign viz. posthumous
his
A'zam Shah, during whose reign Kaja
rose to influence,
one Bayazid Shah. cribed by
me
before,
and coins in the name of
The and
issue
latter
was des-
bears, as far as
is
now
known, the years 812 and 816 the former was brought to the notice of the Society by the ;
Hon'ble Mr. E. C. Bayley (Vide 1874. P. 294, note).
I can
the posthumous coinage
;
now
J.
give
A.
S.
B.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
figure
of
two specimens were
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL lately
61
bought for the Society's Cabinet, clearly
They weigh 16469 and 1657 grains
dated 812.
respectively." It
will
from the above (read with
be seen
what Blochmann wrote elsewhere) that Bayazid was doubted
Shah's identity
and the
clearly
dated 812 H. coins of A*zam Shah were regarded as posthumous, as
preconceived notion had
the
No why and by whom
A'zam Shah's reign
finished
explanation
vouchsafed,
is
posthumous coins
of
in
799 H.
A*zam Shah
issued so late as 812 H.,
if
should
be
he had died in 799 H.
and Hamzah, Shamsuddin
(?)
and Bayazid had
succeeded him one after another.
Mr. Bourdillon in the matters worse.
I.
M.
I.
M.
C. has
C. No. 41, a
made
Sonargaon
coin of Sikandar,
is
784 H.
could be depended upon,
If this
recorded to bear the date of
we
could get a date for A*zam's revolt, which might
have been placed after 784 H.
But unfortunately
thereabout.
wrongly read.
and the date
The
first
in the I.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in 785 H,,
I
is
the
is
examined the coin personal]
almost certainly 759 H.
two coins
M. C, Page
of
A'zam Shah described
156, Nos. 65 and
evidently the two coins described by in the passage quoted above. to the
date
or
m,
are
Blochmann
They both belong
Bengal Asiatic Society's Cabinet and the
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
62
weights of 165
recorded
gr.
and 167 grains are
not far removed from the weight of 164*69 and
The fractions
Blochmann.
165'7 recorded by
weight recorded by Blochmann show that
of his
was
measurement
more
than
accurate
Mr. Bourdillon's, who only records weight in numbers.
round
Their identity
further
is
established by a comparison of the illustrations,
by which it may at once be seen that the two coins are of the same type, though it appears that
Blochmann the
I.
M.
C.
what
coin
No. 65 of
and Mr. Bourdillon has
illustrated
illustrated
coin No. 66.
is
Mr. Bourdillon however has, by a
lamentable oversight, described these two coins incorrectly.
is
What
without doubt It is
he reads as
:
—
A| r ii*«
:
|
at^ ljj^i»
very strange that the unusual form of
the reading proposed by Mr. Bourdillon did not
him at The I. M.
strike
to
all.
C. coins No. 67, 73,
bear the date of 793 H. and
been extremely useful
if
74 are recorded it
would have
we could depend on the
reading of the dates on any of them.
have examined coin No. 73
hundred
of the date
800 and the unit
is
is
But
The
personally.
without doubt iiUi
most probably
probability, a coin of 806,
—at
6.
any
So
it is
I
t*js=s
in all
rate, a coin
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
63
The other two may bear The I. M. C. Nos. 70, 71 are
than 800 H.
later
similar
dates.
recorded to be issues of the Eirozabad mint and
Here again
788 H.
to bear the date of
examined coin No. 70 and the date is
as clear as day-light
and
Ui Lj
li
have
I
= 800
stares one in the face.
In view of the revolt of A'zam Shah towards the end of the reign of Sikandar Shah,
it
is
not
improbable that we should meet with coins of
A*zam
issued
which Sikandar only
than 792
earlier
,
the year in
supposed to have died, from
is
mints like
eastern
H
Sonargaon,
Eathbad,
Chatgaon or Mua'zzamabad. No. 80 and 81 of the
M.
I.
C. are coins of
A'zam Shah from the Satgaon mint, bearing the date of 790 H.
This date
is
probable, and
occupation of Satgaon by Ghiyasuddin
an indication of
the coming
section of the
I.
may
be
between the
But from the inaccuracies
father and the son.
pointed out above,
conflict
the
will be seen that the
it
M.
on the coins of A'zam
C.
Shah needs careful
whole
revision
in
the
light
of
the latest discoveries.
In the
J.
A.
S. B.,
1915, P.
484.,
Col. Nevill
has noticed the 100 coins of the Khulna find.
These
coins
were
of
the
Sultans of Bengal, from
Shah
to
early
independent
Fakhruddin Mubarak
Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah.
There were
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
$4
42 coins of Ghiyasuddin A*zam Shah in the find, a very respectable number. **One of the
distinct
B
type
coins
It
;
also
is
of
life-time
there
his
father,
some doubt
is
some
in
thumously two
is
specimens
name
of
although
of
during the consider,
I
as to the accepted termina-
Sikandar in 792
tion of the reign of
That
minted
noticeable as one
coins said to have been issued
the
is
:
the words yL^uu l^jz being quite
Satgaon,
at
common
Says Col. Nevill
coins
cases certain.
the
of
were
The
H pos-
issued
includes
find
812 H. issue in the
A'zam, noticed in the Journal
of
the
These were
Bengal Asiatic Society in 1873.
struck at Tirozabad, the capital, and apparently
gap
the
filled
between the death of
and the assumption of
full
regal
Hamza
honours by
Bayazid."
"More puzzling
a coin of
is
A'zam
of
the
ordinary Eirozabad type, but with a characteristic script of its
and
it
unit if so,
is
is
is
indubitably later than
more
the date
Thus,
own. The date
it
like ^akj is
I
given in words
The
800 H.
than anything
else
;
but
inexplicable.*'
appears that Col. Nevill met with
at least three coins of
A'zam Shah
with dates later than 799 H.,
in this find
viz. 802 and 812 H. But here again, we may discover the baneful
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL influence
preconceived
of
occurred to Col.
ideas.
65
never
It
Nevill that these coins might
be genuine coins of A'zam Shah and A*zam Shah
might have been ruling even up
shall
see
much
to blame.
Mr.
812 H., in
to
what the Riyaz has recorded.
spite of
EÂť.
But we
on that even the Riyaz
later
is
not
D. Banerjee, in his vernacular History
of Bengal, Part II, has recorded his conviction
that
A'zam Shah died
in
(page 168, lines 7 and
borne in mind,
is
799 H. or
''a little later**
799 H.,
8).
it
should be
equivalent to 1396 A. D.
In appendix No. 6 of his book, Mr. Banerjee discusses the account of Bengal by the Chinese
Mahuan,
interpreter
translated by Mr. Phillips
from the original Chinese P.
In
529-33.
by which
it
it
is
in
the J.B.A.S. 1895.,
a synchronism
recorded
could have
been established that
Ghiyasuddin was living in 812 H.=sl409 A. D. ; but Mr, Banerjee could not see how a Ghiyasuddin, King of Bengal,
up
could be
living
to that date.
The Emperor Hui-ti of China was driven from his kingdom by a powerful rival Yung-lo, who, when firmly seated on the throne, resolved to search for his ousted rival
that Hui-ti was hiding
the sea. 9
in
Hui some
ti.
He
thought
country over
Yung-lo, in pursuit of his search for his
COINS
66
hiding eneray,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
'*in
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE month
the sixth
Wang-Ching-Hung
14)05 xA.D., ordered Chenglio,
and others to go as envoys
of the expedition has left
kingdoms
Mr
an account of twenty
ohserves
Bengal
endorsed
met with
most of
;
end of the
the
at
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; account of Mahuan **Such of
interpreter
which included Bengal.
visited,
Phillips
kingdoms on
to the
Mahuau, the
the western ocean".
of the
of the year
Mahuan's account
is
are
his facts
be found
to
the records of foreign countries to be
in
in
the
Ming dynasty
In one
histories.
accountj I find that Gai-ya-szu-ting,
the king of
Bengala, sent in 1^09 an embassy with presents to the Chinese
by name
Court
;
another king of Bengala
Kien-fuh-ting
emperor of China
sent
written
on
accompanied by a present
of
first
to
embassy
viz.
a
letter
gold a
to
leaf
have come to China
in
the
and
The
giraffe.
that of Gai-yaszu-ting
the
is
said
sixth year of
Yung-lo's reign, which corresponds with 1409 of
our Era.
The Bengal king reigning
at
that
time appears to have been Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah,
A
who
only
came
to the throne in that year.
former king Ghiyas-ud-din who reigned from
1370-1396 comes very near the Chinese name Gai-ya-szu-ting, but he bad ceased to reign ten
years before the embassy in China.
is
said to
have arrived
Possibly the Chinese dates are wrong.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
61
In the 12th year of Yung-lo, 1415 A. D., the time
second embassy
agr^e with the difficult,
but
Gien, but that in no
Chinese
I
many problems
China,
in
To make
think no other
may
his
know,
as
be
ca,i
Jalal**.
students
all
have
is
also be read
way resembles
synchronisms,
History
to
Chinese Kien-fuh-ting
meant. ...The character Kien
Indian
chroniclers
was king of Bengal.
Jalaluddin
somewhat
Chinese
tlie
the
the arrival of
name
by
assigned
helped
solve
to
But
of Indian History.
of
it
will
be seen from the above that the value
and
significance of this remarkable piece of synchro-
nism was
lost
upon Mr. Philips
in
spite
the
of
almost unmistakable resemblance of the names of Gai-ya-szuting
and
uddin
Mr.
and Gien-fuh-ting to Ghiyas-
Si)ihabuddin.
Banerjee
also
It
fared
a
is
no
pity
that
than
better
Mr. Philips.
The
slip is all the
more lamentable, because
the truth had been fairly strongly
asserted
General Cunningham as early as 1882,
XV., P. 175
of his Archaeological
in
by
Vol.
Survey Reports,
where he pointed out the true significance of the Chinese synchronism and the meaning of the 812 H. coins of A'zam.
by Mr. Beveridge
It
was re affirmed
in his article on
in J. A. S. B., 1892, No.
"Z.,
Haja Kan*
P. 122. In the British
%
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
(jg
Museum mous
Catalogue
true
who has
correct
ideas
as
length of A'zam
Shah's
reign
is
Mr. H. E. Stapleton M. of Schools,
Shah
*
Another scholar to the
of A.*zam
H. coins
origin of the 812
was doubted.
Sc
A.. B.
He
Dacca Division.
and interpreter
tor
the theory of posthu-
also,
coins
of
late Inspector
,
is
a keen collec-
and fortunately
has come by a lot of valuable coins of this period
on which he
In the Dacca
publication.
early
1915-16,
9
One
Bengal.
v.,
Vol.
illustrations
with a view to their
working,
is
P.
of
coins
he
22,
which
is
the
of
there
is
a
in date
of
:
from 772
812
to
gap between 799 and 812 Although, the date
not understood.
below
given
coin
Sultans
was of A'zam Shah.
In describing this coin, he says
H., but
for
with
described
the early
of the coins
"His coins range
Review
is
cut
may
it
off,
possibly be one of the years in this interval, as
obverse
the
is
almost identical with that of the
H. coin given by Dr. Blochmann in his third essay on the History and Geography of
812
Bengal,
(J.
A.
S. B.,
1875, P. 287) and the date
appears to have the unit * this
Unfortunately,
important
hence book.
I
have
I
have not been able
Catalogue not
number
been
in
able
this to
4."
to procure
out-of-the-way refer
to
it
a copy of
place,
anywhere
in
and this
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Stapleton evidently
Mr.
Shah did
coins of xl*zam
date as 772 H., but
he could of
rise
it
is
believed
69 that the
really bear as early a
gratifying to find that
above the myth of the termination
A'zam Shah's reign The present
799 H.
in
find has
no
less
than 11 coins
of the 812 H. type described by Blochmann, at least four of
H. and 812
which bear the
The
fl.
find also includes a
of coins of the years 801,
809
;
but they
The
places.
clear dates of 811
805,
806,
number
807, and
will be described in their
earliest
this find is dated
coin of
proper
A'zam Shah
in
796 H. from the Eirozabad
mint.
Then, we have the following early coins of
A'zam, of the reading of whose dates
and which
certain,
will
help
we are
us to fix on the
year of Sikandar Shah's demise, 1.
Thomas,
Plate II,
fig.
Initial Coinage, P. 75,
15.
The
No. 35
;
date, as already noticed
and corrected, should be read 795 H. and not 793 H. as recorded by Thomas. Mint, Firozabad. 2.
A
coin
find of the year
The unit
of
of
A'zam Shah
in
the
present
796 H. and from Firozabad mint.
the date
is
disfigured by a shroff
mark but enough remains of it to determine The ten and the hundred are very it as six. clear.
COINS
70 It
well-known that the poet Hafiz sent a
is
Ghazal
Page
we
A'zam
to
Blochmann
and
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Hadz
that
consider
*King of
Bengal',
No.
(Contributions,
states
that
258.)
Shah,
1.,
When
died in 791 H.
no coin of Sikandar Shah
from an eastern mint of date later than 777 H. (I.
M.
C.
No.
Present find, 4
50,
from Mu'azzamabadj has is
reasonable
the year following,
found,
that
that,
778
viz.
(ii)s=775
been
yet
presume
to
c.
H.
will
H. it
year or
have to
be taken as the year when Ghiyasuddin fled to
and
Sonargaon
raised
the standard of revolt,
where he must have quickly assumed
pomp and
all
the
splendour of an independent sovereign.
That a gay, liberal-minded and adventurous young king like Ghiyasuddin should have sent an envoy to
Hafiz, need cause
the story of failing to
all
no astonishment, though
the court-poets of Sonargaon
supply a rhyme for an impromptu
utterance of his,
is
a
little
too romantic.
bit
That Hafiz should address him as the King of Bengal even when Sikandar was living, not strange, as he was actually that part of called
the
is
also
master of
the country which was exclusively
Banga
in
those
days.
It
may
be
remarked, however, that this bold move on the part of Ghiyasuddin in addressing independently
a famous
poet outside
India as
well
as
his
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
71
aggression on Satgaoii testified to by some coins,
may have been
tbe
last
the
straw that broke
bond between father and son and provoked a The story war, in which Sikandar lost his life. of
Sikandar Shah's
in the Riyaz,
is
moments,- as recorded
really pathetic.
In the present
known
last
state of research,
dates between which the year of Sikandar's
demise will have to be placed
795 H-,
— the one,
the
In
Firozabad mint.
viz.
A'zam on
second account,— which,
coins from
according to a
may
it
here, I have always found as to truth,
and
view of the statement of
Riyaz that A'zam Shah,
approach
791 H., and
Sikandar
of
latest
the other, the earliest of
the
we have two
be
remarked
making
the nearest
—-reigned for 16 years 5 months
and 3 days, and considering the fact that addition
to
the
812
H. coins of A'zam,
present find contains a coin of 813 H. also, inclined to place the death last part of
The term
A
D.)
when
by only one year
quite
possible,
require in
the
the
for
by Riyaz's second account would require rection
am
I
army manoeuvres. A'zam Shah proposed
fit
of the reign of
the
of Sikandar in the
795 H., (Oct. 1393
country became dry and
in
in
that case.
however, that the period
correction by two or
three
light of future discoveries
cor-
It
is
may
more years and any of
A^^N^r-S,^'^/"^..
COINS
7P
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
the years between 791 H. and 795 H., both of
them
inclusive,
Taking
old
king,
will be
seen that this
builder
of
it
the
his
795 H. as
for the present, the year
the year of his death,
veteran
be fixed upon
to
when Sikandar Shah breathed
as the year last.
may have
the Adina
mosque, the conqueror of Kamrup, the successful
Emperor
of
rival
Eiroz, died fighting with his
own son after a glorious And the Riyaz gave him a and some months
Two
reign of
37 years
!
reign of only 9 years
!
gold coins of Sikandar Shah are known.
One was
by Thomas,â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Intial Coinage,
noticed
Another has been described by
page 72, No. 30.
Dr. Hoernle in J. A. S.
B
,
P. 32, 1889.
GHIYASUDDIN A'ZAM SHAH. The noble parricide may,
The only considerable
in 795 H.
it
details
about
are to be found in the Riyaz, from which
appears that he was a gay,
chivalrous
The
stone
contain there
is
beyond east,
now
matters
be taken to have ascended the throne
stand,
him
as
his
prince, of the
tomb last
at
noble-hearted and
Harun-al-Rashid type.
Sonargaon
remains,
but
I
is
said
to
do not think
anytliing to support the identification tradition.
some
more
Close
to
tombs are
his
to
tomb, to the be found
on
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
A
a raised platform. five
tombs
little
The other considerable
the
in
1.
clear dates of
Of the
dated 812 H.
mint-names
M.
I.
by
Col.
C.
and
Nevill.
to describe the present find.
rest,
gone.
totally
A
M. C. 811 H. on them. One is
Eleven coins of type
Four have
A*zam
coins of
in the J. A. S. B., 1915, P. 485,
now proceed
A'zam
find contains 72 coins of
Shah are those described
I
west are the
to the
of the five Pirs.
The present Shah.
73
of the
I.
two have dates and
Of the remaining
four, three can be distinguished to
have possessed
the date 811 H. and one 812 H.
The following Like
(a).
M.
I.
But
Sec. 1-28.
coins deserve special notice
I.
M,
C.
No.
Wt. 1639.
65
C. inadvertently omits the
margins on the obverse.
Up,
left
Down,
left
Down,
right
Up,
right
They
are
:
^.^Jl ^ij
^xj
ii/'-^y
The date on the reverse margin as
already
reads
coin
iii:
10
is
1;^^**^!
been read
of
No. 65
pointed out, should be read 812 H.
and not as has been read in the present
:
dated 811 H.
I.
M.
C.
The mint-name
and not simply Eirozabad,
in the I.
M.
C.
The as has
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
T'.i
noted
should be
It
that
end
the
at
x
of
**Mulkh" on the reverse has been woven with a flourish
into
a
exactly
like
the
The
iA«,
for
Like the above
(b).
Wt 16M.
812 H.
Like
(c).
is
but the date
coin,
but the name
(a),
finished in the third line, flourish
more pointed
letters
and
Data 811
and device.
116.
Wt
and
There are two
and 3 are of
class
H. Sec.
is
by a curious
different die, smaller
;
(c)
165-3. Cf. J.
A
8 are class. S.
B.
M.
C.
2.
Eifteen coins of
2.
Some
(b)
P. 487, para
1915.
.
I
Sikandar
of
other coins like this one, so that of the 11, (a)
il
Sec. 1-20.
up and down
of
ii*«
treated in a
also
is
figure,
manner.
similar
Shah
monogram
usual
the end of
at
«
monogramatic
curious
B
type
of the
I.
of them are very well-executed, but some
are shabby. (a).
The following deserve
Like
I.
M.
No.
C.
Wt. 161-5
67.
Nicely executed coin.
Sec. 1'15.
special notice,
Date 796 H.
Mint Eirozabad, (b).
Like the above, but of rather shabby
execution
Wt
160-2.
S.
1
15.
Date 801 H.
Mint rirozabad.
Date,— (c).
li *i
Like
(b).
'--J
^
^ ^-
!
Wt. 1556
= 801 S.
H.
1-20 at the great-
est width, 1-12 at the least; rather oval.
Mint-name
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Date
gone.
in all probability
The hundred
is
LVUj ;
t*:ilj
but the unit
clear,
75
= S()3. H. is
rather
indistinct.
The
rest of the coins are mostly
with mint and date
coins,
them are
I.
M.
executed
Some
of
as small as 1*06 in section.
Twenty-eight
3.
ill-
gone.
all
coins
C
type
of
of
the
which the following deserve special
C. of
notice.
Like 2
(a).
(a)
above, but in larger quatrefoil
and containing the names
Shah
and
Iliyas
Sec.
1-17— 1'21
clear,
805 H.
(a)
Wt.
i.
160.
Wt.
i.
S.
^ 1
Mint Firozabad.
dat(;
Wt. 160
Another
of
very
1. S.
clear,
806 H.
118.
806 H., but mint gone.
^A«*
unit a
little
indistinct,
marred by a shroff-mark;
wt. 15 io.
;
08— 115. Date
U Ui
Uj
,
^^£
= 810. Wt.
1617.
22— 115.
4.
S.
but
(a)
Date 807 H.
of
(d).
S. 1
Date very
163-2. S. 114*.
(c).
the
Mint Firozabad.
3.
116— 1-19.
S.
Mint Firozabad. (b)
Wt. 163
addition.
Another of 805 H.
Like
(b).
in
Sikandar Shah
of
One
1-15 --I-IS.
coin
of
tieio
Date 809 H.
type,
Wt. 1558.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
76
Obverse, in a quatrefoil with rounded like type
A
Margins
of the
I.
M.
foils,
C—
:
Reverse.
Up,
left
lost.
Down,
left
^^iJ
Down,
right
lost.
Up,
right
^
^
CxJ\
B
In a circle as in type
M. C. the mint name The date reads like H Ul I.
;
809
;
dred.
is
cut
Uj
}
off.
^^3
=
sliroff-marks spoil the hun-
The unit
Variant A. Three coins. is
of the
pretty clear.
is
—This
class of coins
noticed by Col. Nevill, J.A.S. B.
1915,
P.
485,
last
But no description
is
paragraph. given.
This
should be regarded as a variant of
our
type
variant of type (a).
Wt.
Mint Satgaon.
161-6.
Sec.
No.
B
1-14..
4,
and not a
of the
Date
I.
M.
C.
813 H.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Obverse.
In
a
are
sharp
Cf.
The
quatrefoil.
M.
I.
foils
lotus
like
96
C. No.
77
petals.
of Jalaluddin.
The
Legend, as in No. 4 above.
margins are mostly well-preserved. Top,
left
i>j^-JI
Bottom,
left
i>jj
Bottom,
right
^Ui
Top,
right
^ U^/
As
Reverse.
No .4.; Margin,—
in
yi OwAau
ki-JM
1^ £
^*
Xj
Ui Uj
^c
^
\±^[.
Evidently from a die different from that
(b)
The
used in the previous one.
But
so well executed.
on
the
,
indicative of
not
3, is
gone
preserved.
;
but
Of the
Satgaon.
is
The
better.
mostly
is
mint
the
is
as the size of the coin is
reverse
most probably Jj
quatrefoil
shows the obverse margins
it
margin
unit,
^^-j^
AX**il Xijt
*
larger,
Uj
Wt, 1638.
Sec. 1-18. 5.
Six coins of type
they have
the 3rd line
I. ;
M.
I.
M.
0. reads
»U
at
I.
that
M.
C. as well as
it
should
beginning of the next
line.
be
But
C.
On
the
but a comparison with,
illustrated in the
coins shows
of the
date and mint-names.
all lost
obverse, the
D
the
end of
tlje
coin
the present
read
The word
at
the
at the
COINS
78
end of the third as
in the
^^io
show that
it
read
M. C, but the present
coins
E
of type
of the
But what has been read
guished.
appears to
me
The specimen
to
read like
This
M.
I.
as
yi ^Ci*.
illustrated in the
distinct.
.
I.
On
C.
name can be
only one of them the mint
from
reverse
should be read e^UJ|
Four coins
6.
the
of
is
line
I.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
distin-
Jannatabad,
(Chatganw).
M.
C.
far
is
cannot be settled
point
without clear coins.
Four coins without mint and
7.
those described by Col. Nevill,
in
date, like
A.
J.
S.
B.
1915, P. 486, last paragraph
would
It
appear
from
these
that
coins
Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah lived and reigned
till
The Chinese embassy sent by Yung-lo may have reached him in A. D. 1408 = 811 H. 813 H.
and the embassy that he sent China in A. D. 1409 = 812 H.
The
records
K/iyaz
in
return reached
*
A'zam Shah was
that,
treacherously killed by the stratagems of Raja
Kans, or Ganesh. personality
the
of
This brings a
Hindu
to
prominence
chieftain,
who
XV. General Cunningham records embassy was sent from Bengal, the
* In Arch. Surv. Rep. Vol. that in 1409 A. D. a second first is
(J.
embassy
not
having
quoted and
R. A. S. 1895.
out and that
in
it
been sent
P. 553-34.) that
1409 A.
1408 A. D.
in
appears from
1).
Mr.
The
Phillip's
original
statements
only one embassy was sen
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
79
appears to have been the chief actor in moulding the history of Bengal for the next seven years, but of
whom we
hardly possess any certain
But Ghulam Husain records a very important fact about Raja Ganesh, mz^ that he knowledge.
was a Zemindar
and
of Bhaturia,
this should
Now,
the pivot of any attempt to identify him.
where of
Bhaturia and who
is
place
that
in J. A. S. B.
was
No.
2.
1892,
not
a
new
had been misspelt
its
name
out that
but even
division,
of Bhaturia as
name
the
(Blochmann and
as Bhasoriya.
Vol. II. P. 137).
and
pointed
Swkar Bazuha, though
a Fargana of
tract
on Raja Kans
his article
Ain-i-Akbari mentioned the
Jarret.
were the Zemindars
?
Mr. Beveridge in Bhaturia
be
The importance
great extent, as recorded by
of the
Major
Rennel, can be seen at a glance from the accom-
panying map copied from Bhaturia its
name
body
in
map
his
of Bengal.
recorded by Gladwin to have given
is
to a
Seer of particular weight.
Every-
Bengal knows that a particularly
variety of
mango
is
known by
its
name.
fine
Several
Patis or subdivisions of the Kulin Brahmins of the
Varendra
class,
name from Varendra origin
to
events
i. <?,,
the
taking
class
or north Bengal,
connected
history of the Zemindars of
with
owe
the
Bhaturia.
its
their
family
These
so
COINS
sub-divisions are
still
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
fully respected within the
Varendra Brahmin community of Bengal. Indeed Bhaturia seems to have been the tract which
Bengal looked up
all
to,
at one time,
for its
standard in everything.
Babu Durga Chandra Sanyal, bulky compilation
Bengali called ^Vanger
in
Samajik ItihasW or the Social History has
a complete history
given
fall of
a rather
in
of Bengal,
of the rise
the Zemindars of Bhaturia.
and
His account
appears to be mainly based on tradition, but
he
affirms
many
that
important
documents
regarding the former greatness of the Zemindars of Bhaturia are
to be found.
still
Eor instance,
he mentions that a member of the Bhaturia family to
the
was employed by Emperor Shah Jahan
Malwa for sometime appointment Farman is still in existence.
Governorship of
and the
The anecdotes
of
the
Bhaturia Zemindars, as
recorded by Mr. Sanyal, are extremely interesting
and though they are likely to contain exaggerations
and
and
social
fables,
being mainly based on tradition
chronicles
or
Kula-JPanjikas^ they
are sure to possess a back-ground of truth as
such
deserve
have a mind
to
tunity. In the
of
a thorough
take
it
up
meantime,
Durga Chandra Babu's
investigation.
and I
at the earliest opporI give a short
accounts,
summary
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BEIf GAL
The
name
real
Bhaturia
of
Bhaduria
have
been
from
Bhaduri^
When
Zemindars. to strike for
surname
the
appears
Chakla
or
81 to
JShadwia,
the Bhaturia
of
Shah was preparing
Hiyas
independence and for contest against
the Emperor of Dehli, he had to conciliate the
Hindu
chief
families
When
Bengal.
of
he
looked round for them, he found that a Bhaduri
and
family
Sanyal
a
Brahmins were held
He
Bengal.
Subuddhi
Kulin
of
in high
called
for
Varendra
respect in
Sikhai
Bhaduri, the heads
North and
Sanyal,
respectively
of
the Sanyal and the Bhaduri families, and enlisSikhai's youngest
ted their services on his side.
son Satyaban,
alias Priyadev,
was appointed a
a Eouzdar, while Subuddhi and his two brothers
With their help Iliyas Shah successfully stemmed the tide of the imperial invasion and when he was comforhonoured.*
were similarly
seated
tably
on
the
granted extensive
throne
Bengal,
of
The Bhaduries were given Zagirs north marsh
he
Zagirs to the two families.
called Chullan Jheel,
of the
while the Sanyals
* These are probably the Bengalee Rajahs that, Zia Barni says, fought on the side of (Elliot
and Dowson.
Iliyas \'ol.
Shah.
IV. P.
S.)
Tarikh-i-
these
Rajahs who was called Saha Deo.
same
person
Priyadeva. 11
Mubarak Shahi name of one of
preserves the
whom Durga Chandra Babu
He may calls
be
the
Satyaban or
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
82
Zagirs south of that marshy lake.
given
were
The Zagirs
Bhaduris became known as
of the
Bhaduria, while that of the Sanyals was
Sanyal Chakra or
as
had
to
pay Be.
to the royal treasury
Zagir was
hence their
and
The Bhaduris
Santore.
1/- as rent
known
called
Ehtakia
Bhaduria or "One-rupee Bhaduria.**
The
was situated
capital of the Bhaduris
at
Satgara, which appears to have been a large city
protected by seven forts. to
Satgara
described
is
have been a city lying north and south in
The palace
length. It was enclosed within a wall.
and the royal gardens occupied the northern extre-
On
mity.
Muhammadan
the west side lived the
Pathan retainers
who
of the Bhaduris
stuck to them up to the
mosques and places
faithfully
They had
last.
their
The up-country
of prayer.
retainers of the Bhaduris also lived in this part.
The by
eastern quarter of
Brahmins,
the
while Bazar=
the
in
The
the town was occupied
Vaidyas
people
southern end of the town. special laws in Satgara
swine was forbidden. festival
days,
conch-shell.
was the
occupied
the
There were some
Killing of cows and of
On
the
Muhammadan
no one was allowed
The
Kayasthas,
town
the
centre of
common
and
inheritance
of
was controlled by the Hindu law.
to
blow the
the Pathans
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Shah once
Iliyas
Brahmin widow (now a big
harem by
Tel
young
beautiful
at Bajrayogiai near Sonargaon,
Munshiganj sub- division
village in the
Dacca
the
of
met
83
and
District)
took her to his
The Hindu
force
chiefs under
Shah
protested against this aggression of Iliyas
whereupon he requested any this
lady
otherwise,
;
he
them
of
him
marry
to
he would
declared,
himself wed her and never allow this beautiful flower
to blush
unseen uselessly.
Shah
Iliyas
ended by marrying her and she was given the
name
appropriate
of
Eulmati
Begum
i.
Queen
e.
Flora.*
Shah became very fond
Iliyas
and
while
Maizuddin
dying
nominated
to succeed him.
her
of
Pulmati
eldest
son
As Maizuddin was
young, Kinsaram, son of Satyadev Sanyal, was appointed his guardian.
Ghiyasuddin, Iliyas's eldest son by his wife gathered a party around
war
him and went
with his younger brother.
Santore and
supported
Madhu Khan
Maizuddin
first
to
Kansaram of
of Bhaduria, however,
and
Ghiyasuddin
was
killed in battle. *
It is
interesting to note in this connection that there
is still
Bajrayogini a big ancient tank called Fulmati's tank, and
Chandra Babu does not appear This goes
to
foundation,
show that the story
to of
have known Fulmati
may
of
its
at
Durga
existence.
not be without
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
84
Kansaram continued guardian
to rule
Maizuddin
of
Bengal as the seven
for
Maizuddin in the meantime came
years.
but
of age,
Kansaram was not a whit willing to power, had him poisoned and ascended
finding that
relinquish
the throne as Sikandar Shah.
Vajrabahu,
son
Kansaram,
of
who was
Governor of Patna, hearing the news of the death of his father
by poisoning, advanced with an
Shah
army, but Sikandar
Madhu Khan force
Bhaduria,
of
of
them
reduced
Sanyals
the to
help
the
dispersed
it
of
by
Sikandar Shah annexed
and stratagem. Jagirs
the
with
the
and
Santor
of
position
of
ordinary
Zemindars.
Madhu Khan's now knew
no
influence with Sikandar
The
bounds.
Shah
Zemindars
of
hktahia Bhaduria had four pargmias added as Zemindari
to their Jagirs
and the Bhaduris of
Bhaduria flourished generally. Sikandar Shah had a son by his elder queen
and 18 sons by
his
younger queen. Ghiyasuddin,
the son by the elder queen, was
man
but
the
machiuations
step-mother drove
him
lost his life in a battle
to
a very
able
his
designing
rebellion.
Sikandar
of
with his son,
Ghiyasuddin ascended the throne after killing all his
step -brothers and perhaps
was not very
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
who
well-disposed towards the Bhaduris,
conspired and put
him
The Bhaduris put
85
to death.
on the
his son Saifuddin
were then the real
throne, but they themselves
Saifuddin was a worthless
masters of Bengal.
He
king and extremely addicted to pleasure.
had two wives.
finally
also
Naserit, his son by his younger
wife was older than Azim, his son by his elder
Azim looked upon himself
queen, but legal heir
and declared
his
the
as
be
step-mother to
The Bhaduris were on
his father's concubine.
the side of Azim, while the
Muhammadan
chiefs
were for Naserit.
At
this
of the
time Ganesh Narayan was the head
Abaninath that
Bhaduri family and
Abaninath had given
the Sanyal family.
of his
daughter in marriage to Jadu Narayan, son of
Ganesh
and
the
between
relations
the
two
families were cordial.
of
When Saifuddin died, Naserit, the Muhammadan chieftains,
throne and assumed the
title
of
with the help occupied
the
Shamsuddin
II.
Azim, ousted from the throne, gathered an army and invoked the aid of the Bhaduris and Sanyals.
Ganesh consented
to
help
him and following
the
northern route to Gaur,
his
forces
with
Azim's.
advanced
to
join
Azim, however,
was
prevented from joining Ganesh and
had
to fall
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
g(5
where Naserit followed him
back south-wards
succeeded in inflicting a crushing defeat on
and
him
in a battle,
was
killed.
which Azim
in the course of
Ganesh on the other hand, appeared by rapid marches before Gaur, which was lying defence-
and
less
occupied
the
movements
Naserit, apprised of the
rapidly battle
victorious
Ganesh,
of
returned to Gaur, engaged Ganesh in
and was himself
The throne an
The
city.
Bengal was thus
of
left
without
a daughter Asmantara, but
Azim had
heir.
killed in action.
succession could not devolve on a female It
was
Ganesh came
thus tbat
heir.
occupy
to
the throne of Bengal and ruled wisely for seven
After his death, Jadu became king of
years.
Bengal, of
but he married Asmantara (the star
heaven),
daughter of
Muhammadan. installed in the
of
Azim and turned
Anup Narayan, Zemindary
the later Bhaduris,
by Dara, son ruler of
gave
But
it
Khan, one
of
here.
have been employed
Emperor Shah Jahan
as the
Rohilkhand, who returning to Bengal
rise to
Varendra
of the
said to
was
the Zemindars
that Prachanda is
son,
of Bhaturia.
With the subsequent history of Bhaturia we are not concerned
may be mentioned
his
a
the Rohilla
Brahmins.
sub-section
among
Upendra Narayan,
the jthe
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL last
87
but one of the Bhaduri chiefs, was employed the Governor of
Malwa, and
as already stated, the farmati of his
appointment
by Shah Jahan
is
said to exist
as
Both the houses
still.
Bhaduria
of
and Santore were swept away by the stratagems of
Ramjiban Roy, the founder
The
Natore Baj family.
of the present
Bhaduri chief
last
Bupendra Narayan, an adopted son
of
Upendra
Narayan, the exÂŤGovernor of Malwa, was ousted after a long fight with
Bamjiban Boy, who was
aided by the Imperial forces from Dacca. Satgara, the capital of the Bhaduris was besieged for a
long time, and was finally stormed.
Bupendra
died fighting sword in hand at the door of his palace,
and Satgara, the glorious seat
of
the
Bhaduris, was razed to the ground.
The ruins
of
Satgara are
still
to be
found
6 miles east of the Atrai station where the North
Bengal Railway crosses the Atrai
Such
is
account
the
Bhaduria, recorded by
Sanyal and a perusal of the reader that ed.
The
still
country
their
;
Bhaduris of
it
will at
once impress
can hardly be lightly dismiss-
live
district
the
Babu Durga Chandra
minor branches
Bhaduria
separate
it
of
river.
of
scattered
the
Bhaduris of
throughout
Zemindary was regarded even in the time
Rennel and the ruins
of
the as
a
Major
of their capital Satgara
COINS
S8 lie
still
social
accessible
fabric
and open
the
of
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE to inspection.
Brahmins
Varendra
The still
bears the stamp of the Ehaduris in the stereoPatis^
and
hundred years since the
last
typed sections or
*
lived
and
many
of the
ruled.
It
is
it
barely two
of the Ehaduris
also a patent fact that
is
Zemindar families
of
North Bengal
are Varendra Brahmins, and most families can
connection
their
trace
Bhaduris
the
to
of
Bhaduria or the Sanyals of Santore. Grant's analysis of the Finances and of
Bevenue
Bengal prepared in 1786-88 and incorporated in
the Eifth Report,
and
Santore.*
is full
of references to Bhaturia
The Zemindary
Raj family was acquired by about
its
1725 A. D., only a
of
the Natore
founder Ramjiban
little
more than a
quarter of a century before the battle of Palasi,
and from the exhaustive analysis of
its
revenue
by Grant,
it
appears
and
territorial possessions
that
Bhaturia
formed
extensive Zemindary,
about a third
which
itself,
again,
about a third of the whole of Bengal. three
main
divisions of the
of
the
was
The
Natore Zemindary
were Rajshahi, Bhushna and Bhaturia, while * Fifth Report.
Madras Edition
of 1883.
For Bhaturia, see
Pp. 254, 260, 320, 376, 377, 393, 394, 395, 396.
For Santore, see
Pp. 393, 394, 395, 396.
proper inde.x
is
An
edition
greatly to be desired.
of
the Fifth Report with a
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Santore also formed a very
The Riyaz gives the
89
considerable part,
history of the acquisition of
Rajshahi and Bhushna by Ramjiban (A.
repeats
the information.
Madras Edition
them
of
the
Report,
(Eifth
But unfor-
of 1883. P. 260).
tunately, both of history
B.
Pages 259 and 267) and Grant
Ed. Eng. Trans. also
S.
are silent regarding the
acquisition
Bhaturia
of
and
Santore by Ramjiban.
The
history
Bengal
is
of
Zemindar
the
families
of
intimately connected with the larger
political history of the country.
This side of the
inner history of Bengal has been sadly neglected
up
to this
time by historians, or where inves-
tigated,
the attempt to shut out unpleasant past
history,
or
the desire
undeserved inflation
for
has corrupted the investigator and vitiated his researches.
It
is
high
time
that
and fair-minded scholars take up of our country's history
documents
before
impartial
this
branch
and hunt up important
they are
lost
sight
of
for
ever.
Sultan Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah reigned for
seventeen years and some months according
to
from 795 H.
to
the
present computation
He was
813 H.
Hamza
Shah.
12
i.
e,,
succeeded by his son Saifuddin
COINS
go
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
SAIFUDDIN HAMZA SHAH. Saifuddin seems to have been king
The
name.
real
rare
and
reisrn.
in
testify
Dr.
his
power must have passed on
Hamza
Raja Ganesh.
only in
Shah's coins are rather
the
to
duration
short
Blochmann described a No.
Contribution
to
had
his
Hamza
coin of
It
1.
of
circular
obverse and reverse and most clumsy lettering.
He
read the unit of the date as 4 and concluded
must be 804H. General Cunningham
that the date
howevar assures us that he could read 10
after
4 and he correctly assumes that the date must
have been 814 H.
The
illustration published with
Dr Blochmann's Contribution No. No.
1
Plate VIII,
Cunningham's
supports
also
1,
reading.
The coin described by Blochmann seems mysteriously
disappeared from
to
have
tbe Cabinet
of
the Asiatic Society of Bengal, as the two coins of
Hamza
described
which belongs are
to the
the
I.
C.,â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one of
Cabinet of the Society,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
M,
I.
The
C. bears the clear date
814 H., which, however,the editor has marked
with a query sign, as date of
it
is
against the accepted
Hamza,
The only other considerable of
M
both samples of a different pattern.
second coin of the of
in
Hamza,
seems
to
find of the coins
since the publication of the
be
the
Khulna
find
I,
M. C,
described
bv
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Nevill.
Col.
This
Hamza which may
contained
find
91
ten coins of
be briefly noticed and
classifi.-
ed as follows, after Col. Nevill's description.
Type
1.
One
coin, date
As
described
the
in
I.
M.
C.
814 H.
As noticed by Dr. Blochmann. mint-name absent. with date 810 S.
Type B.
2.
One
A
coin
;
A
Variant
has
a double
B
has a single
scalloped
Date not quoted
reverse.
on the reverse.
No mint-name
Date not quoted. Variant
circle
one
;
coin.
on the
circle
mint name absent
;
;
one coin.
Type
3. I.
M.
C.
Obverse in multifoil,
C.
Reverse in
No. 87.
in the coin described
Mua*zzamal)ad,
circular
as
area, as
by Dr. Blochmann.
Date...l
R.
Two
in
Mint one
coins,
with different arrangement of lettering on the
The date absent on the second.
reverse.
Mint
Mua'zzamabad. 4.
star, as in
area,
No. 2 of Type C.
no
margin
characters, like 5.
Obverse in an eight-pointed
Type D.
Type
visible,
C.
;
Type E. Obverse
ing only the
name
Reverse,
— bold
— circular
and
large
one coin. in
square area, contain-
of the father of the Sultan
and
not of two more generations, as in the previous coins.
Margin,
—names
of the
Reverse, in circular area
;
Four Companions.
on margin, the date
COINS
g2
H
808
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE One
and the mint-name of Pirozabad.
coin.
Type
6.
Sec.
!P.
as in No. 2 of
Type
Obverse in a
107.
0.
Eeverse
in small
ditto,
Date 809.
and very sharply cut characters.
Mint gone, reading
circle
of the date doubtful.
One
coin. 7.
Obverse and reverse in
Type G.
Sec. 1'02
circles.
reading of the legends unusual and
;
puzzling.
What also
have been taken as Type
four
G may
and
On
be taken as variants of Type B.
only
Nevill reads the date as 814 H.
one coin Col.
On
F
he seems to have met with
others,
the dates of 801, 808, 809, 810.
The present
Hamza 1.
find contains fourteen
coins
of
Shah.
Type A.
flat coins,
all
in
figures,
of
them.
records
to
1637. All are from the Firozabad
The dates being
are of 814 H.
one, the date
points
may
that the
reference
to
altogether gone.
is
be noted here. The
reverse
is
it
I.
in a square,
the illustration will show
can hardly be called a square. describe
to 1*26.
can be traced with certainty on most
On
Some
All are large and
coins.
varying in section from 1*20
Wt. from 155*3 mint and
Seven
as a quatrefoil with
M.
but a that
It is better
concave
C.
sides.
it
to
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
The
M.
I.
the beginning
the
M.
I.
C.
of Sikandar in
the 4th line on the obverse.
of
But the present
name
the
C, reads
93
coins as well as a reference to
show
illustration
that
Sikandar
should be read at the end of the 3rd line and the
fourth line should begin with Shah.
last
line
is
read
on the present is
But
<ytlalM< ^^j
The
coins.
I.
vt't^l*ÂŤ.J|
M.
is
The found
C. illustration
blurred at this point.
Type B. Eour
2.
reverse
area,
description
coins.
Obverse in a square
in a double circle,
inaccurate,
is
as
may
Blochmann's be seen by
referring to his illustration No. 1 of Plate VIII,
where portions
of
and the double
circle on
Col.
visible.
A
and
B
tlie
square on the obverse the reverse are clearly
Nevill's differentiation of variant
cannot stand.
All
the
coins
have
double circles on the reverse, bat the outer one is
cut off on
may
some
be noticed in
(a)
obverse^
Wt.
160.
coins.
One standard
coin
detail. ;
sec. 1.
In
a
square area,
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
94
— in a
double
Reverse^
words arranged
circle,
pell-mell
Blochmann
A
legend. for
^
has
given
be found before i^UJ).
3.
(a)
a
half
the
of
appears on the folds of ^^ in
which there seems
Type
only
and
Type E.
D
to be
no use.
I
p
it.-
cannot
The margins are cut
off.
are absent in the present find. 2 coins.
Wt. 161-7
;
110.
sec.
Obverse,
within
square— Ui
Margins:-- Up -J-j^Jl;
rt.—
^*.*'.
The writing
t>.J|
left
V^Xm
—
iViiU.
j
down—yi;
not clear
is
bottom and the right margins and there doubt about the readings proposed. reads
but
the
names
his reading
of
the
Pour
is
the
some
Col. Nevill
Companions,
cannot be supported from these
coins.
Ueverse.
on
In a
circle, ^Ji.Xi*
yj] jx^] j^li (.
il*-
It)
i±SyC
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
Margin mostly destroyed;
95 ii*ÂŤ y|..,
vijiij
The date
can be read with some certainty. appears to have been 813 H.
Like
(b)
one
the
but the mint-name of Satgaon
gone,
The above mint
coin, therefore,
Type
Sec. 1.12.
One
F.
Wt. 160
8.
is
Wt.
in all probability.
4.
at the
we
164.
clumsy
letters.
Reverse reads axU
aUI
title
of
Hamza Shah
bility,
Col. Nevill
have
to
on
assume
The reading
tlie
proposes,
corroboration
did really
Sultan-us-sultan.
prior to 813 H.
which
No. 6 of Col. Nevill
get a numismatic
of the fact that
I
Satgaon
end and not simply *xU.
correct,
dates
clear.
Obverse contains the names
If the reading of coin
the
date
;
is
also of the
coin, very
of the three generations.
is
above
described
coins of
of
Hamza
in all proba-
will,
be revised.
have examined
all
the four coins on which
Col. Nevill read the dates of 801, 808,
810 H., and here
is
what
I
809 and
have been able
to see
on them.
The coin alleged
(1)
to be of
801 H.
It
appears to be a coin with a bungled marginal legend.
thus
The mint-name and the date are expressed
UÂŤ<|
^J^x" or
^,\
^ia*-*.
The
*abad' portion
name Mua'zzamabad certainly does not appear. The next word is either ^j;| = 4 with ;
of the
COINS
96
out or &iÂŤ
left
There
,
more reasonably the former.
a similar ^;l in
is
not the
entire
the
coin
of
alleged
The ten and the hundred,
810 H., noted below. if
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
date
are lost in the
present
coin.
The coin alleged
(2)
date here
is .in
Only 8
figures.
The next two
can be recognised.
A
at all distinct.
has been read as y^c
before
A
^.
to
be
y-i^c-
The loop
.
comparison
of the
been
XjUiUj j^^c
be of 810 H.
^. i.e.
like
The head
14 with
;
I
obliterated
can be distinctly seen.
^
the
of
What
appear on closer
will
sX**:
of
with
to
read as sJUl'J .
hundred
figures are not
coin
illustrated
Blochmann will be convincing. The coin alleged to be of 809 H. (4) has
The
808 H.
shroff-mark near the unit has
made matters worse. The coin alleged (2) examination
to be of
j ^.^3
e
is
by
What
very probably
beginning ^^c appears
the bent hood of a cobra
The unit
is
obliterated.
All these coins are of very crude manufacture.
The above remarks,
I venture to think, will
induce scholars to re-examine these four coins of
Hamza Shah by
Col.
The
before accepting the dates proposed
Nevill. 'little
Riyaz gives
book' quoted by the author of the
Hamza
a reign of three years, seven
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL months and points
days
five
the
to
but numismatic evidence
;
that
fact
his
In the present find,
shorter.
97
reign all
was even
the coins of
Bayazid Shah, the next king, which have legible
is
read in the
I.
M.
C.
can
2.
of
Blochmann,
be asserted
probably
Hamza
it
is
Shah's
a
with
of 812
H.
on a coin of Bayazid
Shah, but the coin, which as No.
The date
816 and 8 1 7.
dates, are of
is
probably the same
is
not illustrated and
some
it
that
confidence
misreading for 817 or 814 H.
reign should for the present
be
taken to have ended in 814 H.
The synchronisms
may
of the Chinese annals
be considered here from the accounts of General
Cunningham and Mr. Phillips. A.D. 1409—812 H. Gai-ya-szu-ting's
em-
bassy reaches China.
A.D. 1412
— 815 H.
Chinese ambassadors on their
way
to India
envoys sent from
meet India
and learn that Gai-yaszu-ting
was
dead and
had been succeeded by his son Sai-fu-ting.
A.D. 1415—818 H.
Gien-fuh-ting's embassay
reaches China. It appears pretty clear
from the above, that
the Chinese ambassadors on their 13
way
to
India
COINS
98
H. heard of Saifuddin's succession, and
in 815
whose
Gien-fuh-ting, in
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
China
embassy reached
818 H. was Sliihabuddin Bayazid Shah, who
succeeded Saifuddin sometime between 814 and
816 H.
As matters now to
of
be a blank
Hamza
;
stand, the year 815 H. seems
no coin, either of Bayazid or
has yet been found which can be said
unquestionably dated in that year.
to be
It is
probably a year of anarchy following the death of
Hamza Shah among
struggle
and of consequent
814 H.
in
his descen dents or
between them
and Eaja Ganesh. In that case of
we have
reign
Saifuddin's
to
fix
have
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one
months 814, some odd months
year and some in
to
in
duration
the
been
only
one
nearly
full
year
813 H.
SHIHABUDDIN BAYAZID SHAH The
up
to
identity this
time
of
monarch
this
a
subject
of
has
been
speculation.
Blochmann's view was that he was a puppet
monarch
set
up by Raja Ganesh,
the latter ruled Bengal.
There
view that Bayazid Shah as a
had no
real existence,
but
it
in
whose name
is
also another
Muhammadan
king
was only an assumed
name under which Raja Ganesh had
to coin
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL money.
All speculations as to whether Bayazid
Shah existed
must now he
or not
this find contains five coins of a first
99
set at rest, as
monarch, for the
time to he given a place in history,
who
calls
himself son of Bayazid Shah, and whose dates
show that he succeeded Bayazid Shah and reigned at
Bengal
in
813
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 820
with
What happened
some months.
for
least
during
the
momentous
H. can only come investigations
further
years
of
to light gradually ;
hut
no serious
douht need he entertained ahout the fact that
Raja Ganesh was the towering personality
in
Bengal during these years and the descendants of Iliyas
Shah were mere puppets
In the Kiyaz
hands.
name
recorded that the real
it is
of the successor of
in his
Hamza Shah was Shihahuddin
and not Sliamsuddin, and that he was only an adopted son of Saifuddin and not his own son.
The accounts
of
Durga Chandra Bahu already
summarised, show that the
munity regarded him
Muhammadan
as illegitimate,
significant fact that he never calls
and
com-
it
is
a
himself son
Most prohahly he was supported on the throne by Raja Ganesh as harmless and not likely to interfere with his own authority, of
any Sultan,
and
also
Shahis
to
keep down the legitimate
who must have
to cast off the
sway
tried
from time
Iliyas to time
of the overbearing Raja.
COINS
200
coins
Bayazid Shah's
few
his
in
coins
from the
that the
C.
much
grown
not
has
M.
three coins are
No. 89
is
in the
I.
VIII,
Plate
The date
C.
with
No. 2 of
read in both as
is
H, but any one can see from the
812
same
the coin described as
evidently C.
appears
Cabinet
M.
I.
are
three
the
as
described in the
M.
it
Society's
richer,
only one in addition.
Blochmann
and
Contribution
first
I.
found
hitherf,o
Blochmann described
number.
in
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
illustration of
Blochmann that only the hundred and the ten of the date are clear. The greater part of the unit is
cut
off
and
it is
surely hazardous to take
2 without the corroborating evidence of a perfectly preserved specimen.
If
is
it
2,
it
as
more it
is
extremely strange that no other specimen like one has been found
this
of
among
the 34 coins
Bayazid Shah that the present find contains
As already suggested
the unit
perhaps the former. that
I.
M=
C.
It
No. 92
may
which
is
either 4 or 7,
be mentioned here illustrated,
is
816 H.
Col. Nevill describes three coins of
Shah,
all
without dates.
are of the third
The
I.
The
same type, seem
one
is
M.
C.
the
same
first
to be
as
however omits
is
But the date
read as having the date of 817 H. in the illustration clearly reads
!
I.
to
two,
Bayazid
which
new, but the
M,
C. No. 89.
read
aX1ÂŤ cyik.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL end
the
at
the
of
legend
reverse
101
through
oversight.
Stapleton describes two coins of Bayazid
j\rr.
Shah
Dacca
the
in
One
of the coins
Col.
Nevill
Beview
but the latter
None
of
two coins
of
M.
C.
like
is
1915.
April,
them has
I.
clear dates,
probably of 816 H.
is
we may
above,
the
for
like tlie first
and the second
No. 91 and 92.
From
is
determine
the
following types of Bayazid Shah's coins. I.
M.
C. No. 89;
Type B.
I.
M.
C. No. 90.
Type
1.
Type A.
Col. Nevill's third
coin.
No.
C.
Mr. Stapleton's
C. No. 91, 92.
4,
Type D. No.
M.
Mr. Stapleton's
Col. Nevill's first two;
3.
Now we may of Bayazid 1.
Shah
Type
A.
proceed to describe the 34 coins of the present find.
Six
of
coins,
which
the
following deserve notice, (a)
Sec. 1"20, weight
reverse in circles.
155'5.
01)verse and
As already remarked
ax1ÂŤ
j,li^
should be read at the end of the reverse legend
which the
I.
the
M.
in
I.
M.
C. be the
by Blochmann. is
given
C. oralis, if
same
The date on
ia figures,
the
coin described
as
that described
tlie I.
but here
it
M. is
C. coin
given in
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
102
— only
words,
part
the
recognisable;
So
the word
of
unit
looks
appears to be a coin
it
800 being
for
^j.^L.
like
f).
Mint
815 H.
of
=
Eirozabad.
can be
the ten
only
the teeth
of
Date mostly gone,
1605.
Sec. 113, wt.
(b)
recognised
being visible
\Ji
j^c
as
mint
;
= 10,
clearly
Satgaon. Sec. 1*16., wt.
(c)
Obverse legend
is
shape of the letters
1625.
the same as above, but the 'Shihab*
different.
is
been spelt with a peculiarly
has
longish ^
full-sized
absent on the previous two coins.
much
Reverse, within a circle
on
and not
words.
in
recognisable
unit
;
lost,
One
Type B.
2.
161
-3.
Like
in
is
figures
The liundred and the ten
—the
The legend ends with
gone.
Wt.
The date
previous ones.
the
smaller than
I.
Firozabad, date 817 H.
mint-name
coin.
Sec.
M.
No.
C.
also
and omits
^jkJ**.6.f)
1'12"-116. 90.
Mint
Only the ten and the
unit preserved. 3.
816,
Type
C.
Ten coins
Seven of them of
— dates very clear on three, easily recognisable
on the
rest.
Two
of
817.
On
one,
the unit
is lost.
The following may be noticed and
illustrated.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
Wt.
M. C. No. 91 and 92. Sec. Mint Eirozabad. Date 816 H.
Like
(a)
163'7.
I.
Do. Sec. 114. Wt.
(b)
103
161. 7
I'ldi.
date 817 H.
;
mint Firozabad.
D
Type
4
absent in the present find.
is
Two
Type E.
coins,
new
type.
It
may
be noted that the obverse and reverse devices of type
D
are inversed in the present type.
Sec. 1'20,
(a)
wt.
162.
Mint gone, date
816 H. Obverse in a hexagon, formed by drawing shallow concave segments of circles from point
on the circumference of the
to point
Margin the
:
In
segments.
1. 6.
[
the
dot in
formed
triangles
six
formed
—A t
by
coin,
centre
the
intersecting
rectangular
he six
each of
of
areas
so
:
2.
ill
^^^
^^c
3.
*>i^JI
4,
^^i^h
5.
yi
]
Reverse.
Margin
:
In a
— AM
circle,
*.a«,
ix«*i|
sift)
^ j.^
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
J()4
Miat gone, date
Wt. 1638.
Sec. 1-16.
(b)
817 H.
Obverse it is
:
—In a hexagon
formed by straight
as in the above, but
detached from the
lines
Legend
circumference of the coin.
in the
as
above.
Margin
— Obliterated in places,
:
but possibly
like the above.
Reverse
:
Margin circle, —
^as
5.
Wt.
:
— Legend in a circle as in the above. — Between the inner and an outer
in the
Type
above
New
E.
Date 817 H. Mint gone.
One
type.
Sec. 1'14.
coin.
Mint Satgaon, date 817 H.
158-8.
Obverse.
In a square, }
Ui
si]
vU-*^
^ tkl«*/|
Margin:
—
6.
type
^j ,J|
In a
Reverse.
Margin
1.
:
— MV
Type G.
2.
circle, as in
U*- fy'itl^
Two
o-J
3.
il>
type E. ,,.
This
coins.
A, with this difference that
of writing
is
quite
different;
^^^^.yi
4.
— the
i^^j,
is
practically
the
v
manner of
v^*-^
being written slantingly with a flourish, which is
quite
distinctive.
The
coins are also
more
accurately circular tlian most coins of the period.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL It should also be noted that
described
though Mr. Stapleton's
hexagon on the
coin shows a
peculiarity
105
reverse, the above-
of s*
quite distinct on
is
the obverse. Dates are lost on both and mint on
the
The second one
first.
(a)
Wt.
161.
(b)
Wt.
157-7. Sec. 1'9.
Type H.
7.
Mua'zzamabad.
of
is
110.
Sec.
Mint Mu'azzamabad.
Neio type.
12 coins, of which
the following deserve notice. (a)
Section 1'14.
Wt.
No
]55'5.
mint. Date
816 H. Obverse
:
— In
a circle, outside which a
plain strip of silver
visible
and elegant
in very neat fancifully,
is
flat
on most coins, arranged rather
letters,
—
e; tkl«*J
Reverse
:
— In a
I
X
U
square within a
side
which a plain
most
coins, as in the obverse,
circle, out-
strip of silver is visible
<iXl'«
»>J[a.
on
AND CHROLONOGY OF THk
COINS
lOB
Margins
and
:
— Between
the sides of the square
circumference
the
of
the
Full
circle.
margins should read, 1. «^:i^
Top
ii*v
margins
only
The other two (b).
816 H.
2.
.
Left
—
Right— SiUiUl 3
4.
.
coin,
—
.
and
1
But 4
Bottom
3.
.
in
the
present
well-preserved.
also easily recognisable.
Same
A
c:^*«
as (a). Sec. I'OS.
Wt.
portion of obverse cut off on the
Of margins, Nos. 1 and 2 well-preserved. recognisable. (c).
Same
Date 816 H.
silver as
No. 4
lost.
as (a)
and
broad as
left there
is
off
161.7.
on the
a plain strip of
Of margins, Nos.
'12".
left.
No. 3
Wt.
(b). Sec. 1-13.
Portion of obverse cut
on the
right, but
Date
158'5.
2,
3,
4 well-preserved and No. 1 recognisable. (d).
Same
as
the
previous three
margins on the reverse appear to be
The margins clockwise
;
but the different.
in the foregoing coins read
anti-
but on this coin, they appear to read
clockwise. Sec. 1*16.
Margins
:
Wt.
— Up Bottom
The
lost. ij-ii^
Date 814 H.
( ? )
Bight Left
^j;! ii*u [
JjULj
j
]
right and the bottom margins are pretty
clear but the other
marks
162.
two are disfigured by
and the readings proposed
shroff-
cannot
be
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL finally
accepted
107
corroborated by
until
better
preserved specimens.
The
Riyaz
months and
three years, four
Hamza
succeeded
Shihabuddin a reign of
gives
If
he
in the latter part of 814
H.
days.
six
and continued on the throne of Bengal for the greater part of 817 H.,
we may then support
the
record of the Riyaz as correct in his case.
ALAUDDIN FIROZ SHAH, IBN BAYAZID SHAH. This king of Bengal
is
going to have a place
No
in its history for the first time.
king has up
till
coin of this
now been found anywhere and
the written histories have altogether forgotten
and presumably unhappy
his short
coins of this king are included in
reign.
the
Pive
present
find. 1.
reverse
Type A. Three in
a
square
coins.
Obverse in a
within
a
circle.
circle,
Nice
execution. (a).
Sec.
1-19.
Wt.
Mint Satgaon. Obverse.
In a
circle,
160'4.
Date 817 H.
COINS
IQg
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Within a square in a
Reverse.
circle,
^yi^ y^l] jXk\ jAi
Margins
:
—Top
y^^
Bottom
The name
N. B.
Satgaon seems to be
of
served.
Exactly like
h^jz
Right Alv U*«
e/yKi*«.
always written with a ^ or a (b).
Left
.
(a)
(•
at the end.
but date better pre-
weight 161.
Sec. 1'18,
The remaining coin
is
also
like
these two,
but not so well-preserved. 2.
One
Type B.
coin. Sec. 1*16.
Wt. 1629.
Mint and date gone. Obverse
:
— In
a rayed circle, the rays being
Same
slanting straight lines.
Reverse
Same 3.
:
— In a multifoil of 12 concave
as in type
Type
as in type A.
Margin
A..
One
C.
foils.
illegible.
Sec.
coin.
1'02— 106.
Wt. 1638. Obverse
same
:
— In
what appears
to be plain area,
as in type A.
Reverse
:
—In a
on the margin
circle, as in
is lost,
but the mint seems to have
been Mu*azzamabad.
la*^
The only materials truction of the
type A. The date
history
can be distinguished.
available for the reconsof
this
forgotten king
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
them are
are these five coins. Three of
of 817
and from the Satgaon mint and another probability
from Mu*azzamabad.
109
is
H.
in all
It appears
from
that ousted by E,aja Ganesh from North
these
Bengal, the
Bayazid
Muhammadans,
Shah
fell
back
after the demise of
on South and East
Bengal under the leadership of
Shah and
Eiroz
tried to
his son 'Alauddin
make
a
stand there.
But very soon they were overpowered and Raja Ganesh was
left
But where in
is
without a rival in the
the gap to put in Raja Ganesh
chronology
the
field.
of
Bengal
?
and
Eiroz
Bayazid had 817 H. between them and from the next year 818 begins the reign of Jalaluddin
Muhammad Ganesh.
Matters
Shah,
the
renegade son of Raja
But where does the father come have been
in f
complicated of late years
Hindu king named Danujamarddana, whose coins show the by the discovery
of
some coins
of a
yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Saka 1339 = 1417 A.D. = 820 H. and Saka 1340 =821 H.
The
fact that he struck coins in
the same year from the three mints of Chatgaon,
Sonargaon and Pandunagar, Pirozabad,
i.
e,,
at
same type,
Pandunagar
1340
or
shows that he was the undisputed
master of Bengal during these years. of the
Pandua
= 821 H.
of one
also
coins
Mahendra Deva, minted
or Pirozabad
have
Some
and Chatgaon
in
Saka
been found, showing that
110
99.^^^
^^D CHRONOLOGY OF THE
Mahenclra was Danujamarddana's successor on the throne of Bengal.*
Mr.
D.
R.
Bengal,
Banerjee
his History
in
Part II, has speculated at length on
these
two mysterious sovereigns, who seem
have
risen
out
the
of
Muhammadan Bengal to be
of
successful
in a
earth
and
occupied
day
He
took them
\
but his
Jalaluddin,
of
rivals
to
mint name of Chatgaon
failure to recognise the
and the fact that he did not meet with any coin of
Danujamarddana from the Sonar gaon mint,
have rendered identity
all his
speculations useless and the
Danujamarddana
of
Mahendra
and
has remained as mysterious as ever.
It
seems to
me, however, that the solution of the mystery as follows.
is
Let us recall the main points of the narra-
Biyaz which gives the most detailed
tive of the
account about Raja Ganesh. *The
following
may be consulted
and Mahendra Deva.
— — 170.
1911
India,
of
12.
Bengal. P. 169
on
coins
Bengal,
of
Part
Mr. R. D.
—
P.
177.
Mr.
14.
Mr.
Danujamarddana. II.
of the
Page
Two new 260.
History
On some
Dacca Review
kings of
Mr. Banerjee
Banerjee's
Stapleton, in
Danujamarddana
Archaeological survey
Banerjee, on
Ditto for 1913
Danujamarddana and Mahendra
An
for the coins of
Annual report
vol.
of
coins of
V, No.
i.
Agrahayana, 1325 B. S. number of the vernacular magazine Prabasi, on Danujamarddana Deva and article
by the author
in the
Mahendra Deva, summarises the light
of the three coins of
Mahendra Deva
the results of previous researches in
Danujamarddana Deva and one
of the present find.
of
HI
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Soon after Shihabuddin's
(1)
death,
Ganesh subjugated the whole kingdom
He began
and became king.
to
of
E-aja
Bengal
oppress the
Muhammadans. Saint
(2)
Nur-Kutab *Alam thereupon invited
Ibrahim
Shah, Sultan of Jaunpur, to invade
Bengal.
Sultan Ibrahim acceded to the request
and reached Bengal in a short time by forced marches.
Raja
(3)
went
became
alarmed
in for propitiating the saint,
intercede for
madan. a
Ganesh
him
Muhammadan and
refused to
became a Muham-
unless he
Ganesh allowed
who
and
his son
abdicated
Jadu in
to
his
become favour.
Jadu was proclaimed king under the name Jalaluddin
Muhammad
Thereupon
(4)
Shah.
the
then
under
a
Muhammadan. The
king
went
to
Sultan
to return, as
Bengal
saint
Ibrahim and requested him
was
of
who had become
Sultan returned accordingly,
but as a result of some affront to the
saint,
both he and his minister died shortly afterwards. (5)
Raja Ganesh, hearing the news
death of Sultan
of the
Ibrahim, again assumed the
sovereignty af Bengal, reconverted Jadu to his
own religion and began once more to oppress the Muhammadans. He banished Shaikh Anwar, son
of
Nur-Kutab *Alam and Shaikh
Zahid,
nephew
of the former, to
Sonargaon and had them
make them
disclose the â&#x20AC;˘whereabouts
oppressed to
the hidden
of
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
1)2
treasures
Shaikh Anwar was
killed,
their
of
forefathers.
hut on the very same
day Raja Ganesh also died. Jalaluddia succeeded his
father,
became a
Muhammadan, converted many to the Muhammadan faith, recalled Shaikh Zahid from zealous
Sonargaon and showed him every respect. Ferishta has the following about Jalaluddin;
"After the death of his father, Jeetmal called together
all
the
oflSicers
strong a desire
Muhammadan
to
faith
of the state,
become a convert
his
to
brother.
were disposed to
any
out
to
;
the
observing at
the chiefs would not permit
if
to succeed to the throne, it
said, so
had seized him that he was
resolved to embrace that religion
the same time,
and
His
he was prepared to cede officers
accept him
reference
to
him
the
declared,
they
as their king, withreligion
he might
choose to adopt".
Thereupon Jeetmal became a and ascended the throne. and died after a reign So,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the
summarised 1.
He
Muhammadan
ruled with justice
of 17 years.
sequence of events
may
be thus
:
Shihabuddin
dies.
Raja Ganesh succeeds
and subjugates the whole of Bengal.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL soon
Abdicates
2.
after
113
favour
in
of
Jalaluddin, his converted son.
Death
3.
Ganesh again
Ibrahim.
of Sultan
assumes sovereignty. Dies after some years.
4.
Jalaluddin again
succeeds.
Now, what
is
the testimony of coins
?
They
show the following chronology. 817 H.
817 H.
Bayazid Shah
Shah
Eiroz
dies.
succeeds
his
father
Bayazid.
818 H.
Jalaluddin's
coins
make
their
appearance.
A
819 H.
coin
of
Jalaluddin.
(I.
M.
C.
No. 94) Coins
820 H.
of
Danujamarddana
appear
from Chatgaon, Sonargaon and Pandua.
A
821 H.
coin
of
Danujamarddana
from
Pandua.
Mahendra Deva's
821 H.
coins
from Pan-
dua and Chatgaon. 821 H.
Erom
Jalaluddin's coins reappear.
a comparison of the sequence of events
culled from
the
histories,
and the chronology
prepared from coins, the reader will at once perceive 15
that
the
account
of
the
Riyaz
is
COINS
114
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE Danujamarddana
sabstantially correct and that
Deva cannot be anybody
else
who must have assumed
than Raja Ganesh,
that
regal
name on
his formal accession to the throne after
removed
and
son
his
having
him
reconverted
to
Hinduism.
The name Danujamarddana was very appropriate for the
new monarch
over-powering
the throne after a
might
which
designation
to take, as
he rose to
the
Danujaa^
have been very
meaningly applied by the then Hindus to their
Muhammadan that
ceivable history,
aggressors.
simply incon-
is
unknown much power
a mere outsider,
should acquire
Muhammadan Bengal coin
It
money from
so
mints
in
H. and
as to rebel in 819
the
to
Chittagong,
of
Sonargaon and Eirozabad undisputed, the very next year.
When we
find the short-lived reign of Jalal-
uddin in 818 H. and 819 H.
numerous
coins,
Danujamarddana
history
that the year 818
Jalaluddin
;
filled
his
by the coins
H. and 821 H., and
of the
Riyaz
fact that there
Eaja
for
is
of 820
mind the narrative
we consider the
by
succeeded by a blank gap up to
821 H., which gap
to
testified to
is
;
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;also
is
call
when
no place in
Ganesh before 817 H.
of
H,
and
occupied by the coins of
and also the fact
that
no
coin
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
name
bearing the found,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the
Kaja Ganesh has yet been
of
becomes at
truth
once apparent
Danujamarddana and Raja Ganesh must
that
be one and the same person.
been
long
realised
chronology period
up
but
confused the
that
till
ago,
would have
It
history
of
this
the present time.
remove
to
and assume the sovereignty himself
his son
The
wrong
the
for
What emboldened Raja Ganesh story
recorded Dr.
115
of the
in
the
death of Sultan Ibrahim, as
cannot
Riyaz,
Blochmann showed long Sultan
Contribution.
?
be
ago,
in
Ibrahim
as
true,
his
lived
first
up
to
845 H.
The manner
in
which Shaikh Anwar and
Shaikh Zahid were oppressed, according to the Riyaz,
suggests that
the
powerful saint Nur-
Kutab 'Alam was no longer
alive at that time.
Shaikh Anwar and Zahid could be to
banished
Sonargaon with impunity and oppression exer-
cised
on them for revealing the hiding place of
the wealth of
Nur-Kutab *Alam
(the father of
one and the grand-father of the other) only after the death of the saint.
The
recall of
Shaikh Zahid
from Sonargaon by Jalaluddin, and the fact that the latter
was often
in attendance on him, also
corroborate the supposition that
Nur-Kutab *Alam
was no longer living when Jalaluddin came
to the
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
116
throne for the second time, and consequently
honour
due
transferred
is
A.
J.
Zul-ka'dah, 818
correct
saw
at
once
to
heaven,
promptly removed
reconverted him to Hinduism and
assumed
appears to
must be the
this
Bengal. Raja Ganesh,
he
;
by
B. 1892, P. 124, to be
affairs in
path secure
Jalaluddin,
discussion,
powerful saint called
the
his
himself
much
and
H.,
the saint's
of
This important event
date.
turned the tide of finding
S.
now
representative,
living
brought out, after
was
seat
his
The exact date
Mr. Beveridge in 7,
and
only
his
to
Shaikh Zahid. death
him
to
all
the
have
Jalaluddin
sovereignty.
been allowed to
reign
for
about two months more and been deposed and reconverted just in the beginning of 819 H. The only coin of 819 H. of Jalaluddin cribed in the
there
is
M. C, No.
I.
94.
is
The
that desfact
that
not a single coin of 819 H. in the 122
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; by far the coins, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shows that
coins of Jalaluddin of the present find, largest find of
Jalaluddin's
the year 819 H. was a year of great commotion
and uncertainty.
No
either, for the year
819 H. ^1338 Saka,is known.
In the uncertain
coin of
political
Danujamarddana
situation,
the
mints
appear to have been inactive and their scanty outturn
has
numbers
after the lapse of these five centuries.
failed
to
reach
us
-in
sufficient
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
117
RAJA GANESH, SURNAMED
DANUJAMARDDANA The
E-iyaz gives this king a reign of seven
and
years
DEVA.
we bear
this
in
is
substantially
mind the
virtually the king of
fact
Ganesh was
that
Bengal from 813 H., the
Hamza
year of the accession of Saifuddin
821
until
enjoyed
full
shorter.
He
in
But the period
H.
Shah,
which
in
honours was
regal
when
correct
he
considerably
seems to have been most powerful
1339 Saka or 820 H., in which year most of
his coins are dated.
The personality
of this strange
Bengal stands out
of
in
Hindu king prominence
brilliant
One
in the history of this dark period.
know more about this hero days who broke the domination of
vain
in
old
to
Muhammadan a period. in
thirsts
821
H
line of kings for
conversion of gives
The
this
to
one account, his son
in his fall,â&#x20AC;&#x201D; together with the
Jadu
period
details
of his reign
with the statement of the
Riyaz that, according
Jadu had a hand
may
Muhammadan
to the
a
most
only
romantic
come out
with further investigation.
faith,
interest.
gradually
Numismatics and
epigraphy, unfortunately, can do very this direction.
the
however short
The sudden termination coupled
of
little
in
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
128
The present
contains
find
three
coins
of
Danujamarddana Deva. nagara,
1339
S.
1'20.
Sec.
(1).
i.
e.,
= 820
Obverse.
Wt.
Pandua
1635.
Mint
PanduDate
Eirozabad.
or
H. In a rayed
with four concave
circle,
loops at the four corners,
The for
want
and 3rd
written in a cramped
lines.
In a square area,
Margins.
Top,
Âťt^t^1.
Rt., iÂŤ^;5.
Bottom,
Left, ^'m'9^
(2). e.
manner
between the ends of the 2nd
of space
Reverse.
*(t^.
i.
last letter is
Sec. 1-20.
Sonargaon.
Obverse.
Wt.
153'4.
Mint Suvarnagrama
Date 1339 Saka=s820 H.
Like
No.
1,
but
the
circle
is
surrounded by semi- circular scallops, not triangular rays.
A
of the last line. it
shroff
mark
So
cannot be said whether
it
read CW?^ or CW?.
Reverse.
Like No.
1,
disfigures the
end
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Margins.
Top,
Rt.,
^?«f.
but the top of the letter
Bottom,
Left,
»f^|^1.
from doubt. a
off,
The
reading of
not altogether
free
Before the letter ^, there appears
triangular
The ^ used
is
mostly cut
can be recognised.
i5t
:>vs«^.
the mint-name, however,
U9
in
which may be
figure
a
letter.
Suvarna should be a cerebral na
But the one used looks
and not a dental one. like a dental na.
i. e,
Chittagong.
In
Obverse. circle,
Wt.
Sec. 1-14.
(3)
162'3.
Date 1339
Mint Ohatigrama
S.
double hexagon within
a
a
with a concave loop against each side of
the hexagon, between the sides and the portions of the circle
against
Reverse.
The
them,—
In a scalloped
letters of the
circle, as in
No.
1.
obverse and reverse are
very elegant.
Margin,— I can
MtS^t^t^, »f^t^1 [iv5«]
supplement
description
this
^.
by that
of the following three coins. (4)
Belonging
Museum.
Sec.
to the
Cabinet of the Dacca
1-14 Wt. 164*2.
Hint Pandunagara.
Date 1339
S.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
120
Obverse.
In a rayed
Reverse.
As
in No.
Margins.
As
in No.
circle
:
^ CW^
Belonging
(5)
Museum. nagara.
Sec.
the
cramped manner.
Mint Pandu-
S.
but
1,
obverse
'SJ
at the
not
is
Letters are
end of the
written in
and
within
symbols appear
a
Eour
circle.
four
at the
a
more pointed and
The square on the reverse
well-executed.
smaller
Cabinet of the Dacca
Wt. 1665.
I'lO.
Date 1339
of
1.
to the
Exactly like No. 3rd line
1.
cardinal
is
*:/-like
points
on
the circumference of the circle, on the inner side.
Belonging to ray
(6)
friend
Babu Kedar
Nath Mazumdar and described and reproduced by
his
kind permission.
Date 1340 Saka.
Sec.
Exactly like No.
Reverse.
Exactly like No.
marddana may (7) first
Seth.
166.
Mint Pandunagara.
Obverse.
The following
114 Wt.
published
1.
1,
but date 1340 S.
coins
of
Danuja-
also be noticed in this connection.
Discovered somewhere near Pandua and
Babu Radhesh Chandra Circumference 3f inch. Weight 167 grains.
described by late
Exactly like our No.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the same mint and date.
1,^
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
Review, April,
No.
2,
by
Described
(8)
Mr.
Stapleton,
Exactly
1915, P. 26.
but Date 1340
like
our
S.
Bengal and acquired ^y Prof. Satish Mitra, Presented by him to the
district of
Cbandra
Bangiya Sahitya Parishat
of the
Cabinet
the mint-name distinct.
first letter of
Found
(10)
Dt. Pabna.
at
Now
Bay, Zamindar
Nimgachhi,
S.
A new
Described by
of Tarash.
number
Babu
Ashadha,
the
in
Kayastha Fatrika.
of the
Obverse in a
type.
P. S. Raiganj,
with Babu Eadhika Bhushan
Krishna Charan Mazumdar 1324 B.
of
Exactly like our No. 3 but only the
Calcutta.
circle
surrounded
creeper.
B-everse, in a double square.
cut
Dacca
Discovered at Vasudevpur in tbe Khulna
(9)
by a
121
Date and mint
off.
These are
have come
all
the coins of
to light, to
present time,
my
Danujamarddana that
knowledge, up to the
but surely several more
may
be in
existence, or will be found in future.*
The
coins that immediately follow
marddana Deva's
issues are those
of
Danuja-
Maheudra
Deva, * Since writing the above, that he has in his possession
I have learnt from Mr. Stapleton some 15 coins of Danujamarddana
Deva and Mahendra Deva, nearly 16
all oi
which are yet unpublished.
COINS
122
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
i
MAHENDRA DEVA. Mahendra Deva appears to have been the name under which Jadu succeeded his father on the throne of Bengal.
He or
reigned for only a few months in 1340
S.
we have
to
821 H, under
accommodate
this apellation, as
of
coins
Danujamarddana
and
Jalaluddin, before and after the issues under the
name
of
Mahendra
year.
Jadu
Hindu
title
Deva, during
must have soon
cast
favour of the
title
in
under which he had
The present
first
find
Date 1340
by a
circle,
scallops
Wt.
—a
and
money
in
his
faith
818 H.
Mint Pandu-
166.
S.
In a scalloped
Obverse.
aside
contains only one coin of
Mahendra Deva. Sec. 1-15— 120. 1. nagara.
coined
same
the
circle
surrounded
dot in each angle between
two
:
Eeverse.
In a square within a circle,— a ^ at
each cardinal point inside the circle
;
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
123
Top,— ^t^^. Rigjit,— "5t?l^^ (spoilt by a shroff-mark). Bottom,— M^t^l. Left,— [i] vsg© Margins.
The only other coin time
to this
of
Mahendra described up
the one found by Radhesh
is
Babu
along with the Pandunagar coin of Danujamard-
dana described above like the coin of
as No. 7.
It
was exactly
Mahendra described
Mr. Stapleton,
as
already
above.
remarked, has a
good collection of the coins of Danujamarddana
and in
and
Mahendra, possession
his
all
the
Mahendra
Chatgaon mint. of
Mahendra
;
One
S.
of these 1340 S.
in his possession
This coin settles
for,
Mahendra
of
bear the date of 1340
(Dacca Review. Apr. 1915) coins of
coins
is
from the
the identity
only the undisputed successor
have minted coins in 1340 S =821 H. simultaneously from the mints of
of
Kaja Ganesh
could
Chatgaon and Pandunagara, the two extremeties of the
kingdom
Mahendra, therefore,
of Bengal.
can hardly be any body
else
than Jadu.
JALALUDDIN MUHAMMAD SHAH. Towards the end
of
821
Jadu
H.,
Muhammadan and re-assumed the Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. The Riyaz
turned of
him a very good
character.
number
of
contain
many new
coins
His
is
title
gives
the largest
in the present find
types.
ag^in
As already
and they recorded.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
COINS
124
122
are
there
coins
Jalaluddin
of
the
in
present find. 1.
M.
I.
Type
C.
A..
8 coins, of which the
following deserve notice.
Wt.
1-18.
Sec.
(a).
Date 818 H. Exactly
No. 93 of
like
Wt.
1'18.
Sec.
(b).
Wt.
Sec. 1-18.
I.
M.
I.
C,
Mint Firozabad,
164-8.
Date 821 H. Like No. 93, (c).
Mint Firozabad.
164-7.
M.
C.
Mint Firozabad,
165-5.
Date 823 H.
may be
It
indiscriminately. at one time
by the
They are of
of
C.
scallop
the
circle
Chatgaon
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ^/y ^V-
circle
at another time
Fifty
is
also
four coins.
is
lost
touch the
all
in
are
the
with
spelt
^^^ ^^ÂŽ specimens had
on the obverse within a
surrounding the
on some
coins.
circle,
The
but
circle
square on the reverse, bends
square at the
angles
on
some
and thus forms a shallow angle there.
coins
Two
C.
described
As we have once remarked
a d at the end
to
Type B.
Satgaon,
the
is
from the Chatgaon mint and
all
823 H.
case
M.
(Vide coins No. 91, 92, and 93).
M.
I.
The same design
by the one term, and
other.
2.
I.
terms multifoil and scalloped
the
uses
noted here that the
specimens are illustrated.
(a).
Sec.
Date 823
H.
124. Wt.
163.
Mint Chatgaon,
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
The outer are cut
on the obverse and reverse
circles
off.
Margin,- Aff
Date 823 H. shallow
ti/y^J^ l^jc
^i*"-
Wt.
Sec. 1-18.
(b).
the
125
The
^_j
Âť
U> f^.
Mint Chatgaon.
163'2.
on the obverse
scallop
is
the left half of the circle surrounding
;
scallop
On
visible.
is
the
the
reverse,
surrounding circle bends to touch the square
Margin, as in the above.
at the angles.
One
Variant A.
Like Type
coin.
B
Coins,
but the square on the reverse appears to be double
a
in
circle
;
165'5.
wt.
Sec.
122.
B
coins,
Mint and date gone.
One
Variant B.
but the obverse legend surrounded by a
within an eight-foil
is
circle.
Wt.
1-14.
Sec.
Like Type
coin.
Mint Chatgaon.
165-2.
Date 823 H.
Type
3.
Pive
C.
The
coins.
obverse
appears to be in a plain area on most coins,
but
is
within
They
actually
a
within
smaller
are all
reverse badly
as
the
On
only
circle,
shroff's
leaving
one,
the
damaged doubted
Reverse
circle.
of crude execution,
their if
a
by their
a
and
is
margin. all
have
shroff-marks,
genuineness.
mint name of Sonargaon
and the date of 824 H. can be recognised. measures 110 in section and
is
It
157*6 in weight.
COINS
126
Type D.
4.
Coins. Like
12
The reading
102.
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
of
the
I.
M.
No.
C.
margin in
reverse
M. C. seems to contain a printing mistake. The fourth section is given altogether
the
I.
to Um,
but
also should be included
ttjUj
The second section but there is some doubt as
section.
A
also defective.
to its correctness,
reference
the
to
5th line,
^ytiaL*i|
which
line should
begin
will
read
is
make up
Of the twelve
4th
the
coins
this
of
Like
Class
I.
(a).
Sec.
Obverse.
from the coins I.
and
line,
class
M.
M.
I.
may be
class
C.
In a scalloped
C.
No. 102.
iVJl
Date 818 H. :
J Ha. Jj U/)
coin.
and are
noticed.
circle
the
in
C. No. 102.
115. Wt. 162'5.
Ui
M.
I.
The remaining nine are of one The following
read as
the 5th line.
present find, three are like the
slightly different
is
end of the 4th
the
at
is
illustration
published will show that y>^l\ which the
v^-^,
legend on the obverse
the
of
as
by a shroff-mark.
as the letters are disfigured
The reading
read
is
in this
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL In an
Reverse.
like
eight-foil,
127
M.
I.
C. No.
102.
Margins. 3. j*fi,
..,^. 8.
Vi
1. ji.i
Ui
4.
Like
(a).
Margins. 5.
^j/Uac
like 8.
a
6.
^j/Uic
6.
j^c
7.
The
another
Spidery
letters,
11.
Wt.
^__^lc
163-5.
Lost. 3. Lost. 4.
2.
^JiJ^l!^ ?
or
Class.
Sec. 1'18.
1. ^<j yi}
6. (•
Lost
)
(.aj
(b).
Illegible, reads like
2.
^j|.
after
letter
looks
c
but not like v^.
c
^^i^A.|
^Ic
7.
— give no definite reading. I'lO— 1*16. Wt.
Sec.
(a).
159'7.
Obverse, in a scalloped circle,
In an eight-pointed star with a
Reverse. circle
touching the eight angles
Legend
as in the I.
Margins. 5.
vyUir
^^c
Sec. 1-08.
(b).
2.
1. y^i^j)
6.
7.
Wt.
Reverse margins. 3. 8.
j*^
Lost.
4.
ajUJUj
Types
M.
5.
1.
:
C. No. 102.
Lost.
3.
^c
8.
2.
j^.yi^ 6.
4
y/UjU*«
iiUiUj Like
164'2.
Lost.
Lost.
(a) above.
^^ jXm *^^
Lost.
7.
^Ic
,
E
and
F
are absent in the present find.
COINS
128
Type G. One
5.
AND -CHRONOLOGY OF THE Sec.
coin.
Wt.
irregular extremities.
164j
Rather
117.
Mint
6 grains.
Date 835 H.
Eirozabad.
Like the
Overse.
I.
M.
C. No. 110, in
Taghra
characters.
The Kalima within a
Reverse.
circle,
the
two semicircles of which do not meet. Afo
Margin.
are
New
Type H.
6.
ii«,
Jljlj^^al! ,^»
on some
them
of
is
and
on most,
it is
to be a plain area
;
is
a
illustrated
within a rude scalloped
in plain area or
what appears
on some, a part of a
seen near the margin.
On
is
more regular
as in the coin described below
;
The
this period. is
The obverse, on a few,
c-j^
the crudest that
few coins however, the lettering
circle
iXJt
crude manufacture.
found on the coins of
to be
j$
|
These coins
type, 26 coins.
mostly of very
lettering
*,<*«.]
The reverse
—the
is
circle
is
always
margins in
within a square
area,
cases being lost.
The mint-name can be made The
most
out with certainty on none of the pieces. date can be
made out with
certainty on only the
piece described below. (a).
Sec.
110.
Wt, 1584
gr.
Date 821 H. Obverse
:—
Jiia.
Mint
lost.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL Reverse.
In a square
229
:
u Margins.
7. is
Type
Top
I.
^^
Left, lost. Bottom, lost.
.
Right
Ar
New
type.
ii*"
1
Ten
coins.
in a circle, portions only of
like a plain
which are
On
found on some specimens.
The reverse
area.
The obverse
most, is
it
be
to
looks
in a square
formed by joining two adjacent points middle of the sides of an outer square.
in the
The
sides of the inner square, therefore, do not meet.
All are dated 818 H.
Mr. Stapleton describes a coin of in the
Dacca Beview, Sec. 1-22.
(a).
April, 1915.
Wt. 164-8
gr.
No mint name.
Date 818 H. Obverse.
In a plain area
Ui
17
this class
^1]
:
J ^^
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; JviU/
COINS
130
In a square within another square,
Reverse.
above,
described
as
corner
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
— written
from corner
to
:
^jkix ; J) ^x-^l
Top,— left v^^
Margins. J.^i Li
i.i*u.
Ui Uj
Bottom,
—right
— Top, — right
Bottom,
.
^^c.
left
J
Type
8,
J.
Sec.
(a)
New
Three
type.
1-22.
Wt.
In a
circle,
coins.
No
161'9 gr.
mint.
Date 818 H. Obverse. letters
—
in
:
j^^^\
Beverse.
yi\ ^Ji
Margin, as in type
coin
for the end.
axA-*
the
circle,
—as in
the end.
o^l^ at
of
of a
description
Jalaluddin
coins in India, in as
the most
series of
much
most
Muhammad
It is not only of
unusual pattern in the whole
madan
i
I.
I have reserved
extraordinary
<^^)
In a square, within a
type I, with the addition of
Shah
neat and elegant
as
it
Muhamcontains
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
131
the figure of a tiger or a lion on the reverse, but
it
seems to contain in addition a declaration of the paternity of the monarch, which
avoided on
met
other coins of Jalaluddin, hitherto
all
Reference
with.
scrupulously
is
on
figures of lion
may
made
be
for similar
those of Hill Tippera
coins, to
published by Mr. R. D. Banerjee in the Annual
Report of the Archaeological Survey of India for
1913 14.*
The design on the
bouring H^ndu state
coins of the neigh-
may have
suggested the
adoption of a similar design on his
own
coins to
the renegade Hindu king, but the dictates of the faith
which he adopted soon
led to its
abandon-
ment.
Type K.
9.
Wt. 159
Sec. 1*08.
gr.
No mint
or date.
In a rayed circle surrounded by
Obverse.
another
with dots in the centre of each
circle,
triangle formed
by the rays
^^
*
It
may be
pointed out
si] )
in
:
Ui si
this
I
connection
that
the
coin
by Mr. Banerjee as a new type of the coinage Jalaluddin Moliammad Shah on pages 257-58 of this Report, described
in
reality
a coin
of
Gulbarga. Compare II.
J.
Muhammad Shah 2.
is
Bahmani King of No. 5 and 1. M. C.
II, the
A. S. B. 1909, Page 311.
P. 199. Plate VIII. No,
of
COINS
232
Eigure of a lion running to proper
Reverse. left
AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
made up
of lines
and curves which might be
Tughra
construed into
The reading, however, as <-J^
I
of ^i)
^i^
the
top,
not very satisfactory,
is
detached from iâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;T and the letters
is
^
and
On
letters.
are written together in a flourish.
I should be glad of better suggestions.
tTalaluddin
Muhammad
Shah's reign ended in
G
835 H. and our coin of the appears to be his
Below
is
discovered up to this time.
compiled a chronology of this poriod,
as brought out
740 H.
latest,
type of 835 H.
by the present
discussions.
Eakhruddin succeeds Bahram Khan
on the throne of Sonargaon. 741 H.
War
between
Kadr
Khan,
the
Imperial Governor at Lakhnauti and Fakhruddin.
742 H.
'Ali
Shah succeeds Kadr Khan on
the throne of Lakhnauti.
743 H.
Death
of
Death
of Pakhruddin.
Shah.
'Ali
Iliyas
Shah
succeeds.
750 H. din succeeds
753 H.
him
Ikhtiyarud-
at Sonargaon.
Conquest of
Sonargaon by Iliyas
Shah.
754 H. .
10th Shawwal.
from Dehli on
Firoz
Shah
starts
his first expedition to Bengal.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL 755 H.
5th Habi'ul-Akbir.
Battle
133
between
Eiroz and Iliyas.
755 H.
27th Rabi'ul-Akhir.
Peace between
Firoz and Iliyas.
755 H.
12th Sha'ban. Eiroz returns to
758 H.
Zafar Khan, refugee from Sonargaon,
Delili.
reaches Emperor Eiroz.
758 H. Zul
hijjah.
Death
of
Iliyas
Shah.
starts
on his
Accession of Sikandar Shah.
760 H.
Muharram. Eiroz Shah
second expedition to Lakhnauti.
761 H.
Peace between Sikandar and Eiroz
Shah.
778 H.
Cii'ca.
790 H.
Circa.
Revolt of Ghiyasuddin and his settling at Sonargaon.
Ghiyasuddin sends an envoy
to the Persian poet Hafiz,
795 H. Circa. battle
with
Death
of Sikandar
Ghiyasuddin.
Shah
in
Accession of Ghiya-
suddin A'zam Shah.
812 H.
Ghiyasuddin's ambassador reaches
the Chinese court.
813 H.
by
Ghiyasuddin dies and
his son Saifuddin
Hamza
Hamza
817 H.
Bayazid dies and
son Eiroz Shah.
succeeded
Shah.
815 H.
dies,
is
Bayazid succeeds. is
succeeded by his
COINS AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE
134
817
H.
Usurpation of Raja Ganesh, alias
Danujamarddana Deva. 817 H. of
Bengal
is
iavaded by Sultan Ibrahim
Jaunpur.
Ganesh abdicates in favour
818 H. son Jadu
who
turns a
the throne under the
mad
of his
Muhammadan and ascends title of Jalaluddin Muham-
Shah.
Death
818 H. 7th Zul-ka'dah
of saint
Nur-
Kutab 'Alam. 819
H.
Jada
dethroned
and reconverted.
Ganesh again ascends the throne.
of
821 H.
Death of Haja Ganesh.
821 H.
Jadu succeeds Ganesh on the throne
Bengal under the
soon turns
former
Shah.
Muhammadan
title of
835 H.
title of
of
again and resumes his
Muhammad Shah. Jalaluddin Muhammad
Jalaluddin
Death
Mahendra Deva, but
aPPENDIX
I.
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL. from the French of Messrs. Defremery and Sanguinetti by Mr. S N. Bosc, M. Sc, Reader in Physics, Dacca
( Translated
University
).
We
remained on sea 43 days. Then we arrived at Bangalah which is a vast country, and abounding in rice.
Nowhere
universe have
in the
commodities
sell
seen a country where the
I
cheaper than
But
here.
mist, and men coming from Khorasan pur ni'amat, which (in Arabic) means 'a things.
'
I
have seen
at the rate of
dozakh-i-
it
markets
have
I
20 rails
equivalent to
it is
heard
the
good
hell full of
of this place
As
25 rati of Dehli for a silver dinar.
a rati of Dehli,
(Morocco).
rice selling at the
call
of
full
is
it
inhabitants
the
of
country say, that price was high for them (compared the usual rates).
man who had
a virtuous
who
my
died in
house
had
Bengal) he
in
Muhammad Almasmudi, lived
at
wife
a
bought provision enough three of (rice
ratls.
When
dinars.
The
fowls,
I
me,
that
and
(while
and a servant and he had whole year
for the
about 8 dirhams. For, he bought paddy
he
had
which was
have seen
fat
at
told
to last for a
with husks) at the rate of 8
weight, I
them
Dehli,
to
Maghrib,
of
Bengal before
in
for
Maghrib
of
hu.slved
dirhams it,
milch cows
in
Bengal
cattle of this place are
saw them
he
got 50
hundred-weights
10
15.
I
Dehli
in
nelt
{Kantars).
selling at 3 silver
buffaloes
selling at 8 for a
pigeons cost one dirham for
80
for
As
dirham.
have seen a
fat
for
The ram
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
]36 given
for
of
ghee
raf/
a
:
for
presence for serve as I
Syrup
A
piece
and measuring
quality,
dinar
Maghrib.
which
bought
I
sesame
sold
young
my
in
at nearly the
same
my
in
girl
fit
presence
equal to 2^ dinars of
is
oil
excellent
of
was
beautiful
one rati
;
of
ri?^'/
was sold
sugar for
of
cotton
fine
cubits^
A
dinars.
2
rati
dirhams
for 8
of
thirty
concubine,
a
gold
one Dehli
j
of
dirhams and one
4
dirhams.
2
for
dirha^ns
2
4 dirhams
price,
to for
gold
of
young
a
woman named Ashurah who was endowed with One of my comrades bought a pretty exquisite beauty.
slave
The
town
first
Sadkawan,
a big
vast ocean
The
in
pilgrimage,
near
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; pearl â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for
slave called Lulu,
little
it
place
we entered
on
situated
Ganga,
river
and
2 gold dinars.
Bengal which
of
the
of
which the Hindus
to
go
Jaun (Jumna), have united
the river
The Bengalees have
before falling into the sea.
numerous ships on the
shore
the
was
river with
which they
fight the
inhabitants of the country of Lakhnauti.
The Sultan This is
a
is
Sultan Fakhruddin,
all
Fakirs
and
had belonged
Sultau
Ghiyasuddin
Balban.
of
the
was called the interview told
gave up the empire
of in
of
this
of this
Nasiruddin. son
Nasiruddin's
this
of Dehli
They met
son
Ganga and
of
son,
their interview
two fortunate
stars.
We
and also how Nasiruddin
favour of his son, and returned to
He remained
his successor
fight
to
river
and
strangers,
was invested with the sovereignty
on the banks
Bengal.
Sultan
to
and Nasiruddin marched
have already
loving
The sovereignty
Sufis.
country
Mu'izzuddin
surnamed Fakhrah, who
sovereign,
distinguished
above
of Bengal.
there
another son
till
his death,
Shamsuddin,
and had
Avho,
after
for his
IBN-B TUTA 'S TRA VELS IN BENGAL
137
\
was also succeeded by vanquished by his
death,
who
Bahadur Bur from
the
him
help,
was
afterwards
made
and
shaMig with
Bahadur
Bur
after
his
accession,
him
the
kingdom
on
he
till
Governor
who was
country
condition
Bengal.
When
and
A
family
the
and
Bengal,
between him country,
The went so
Shah would ca
far that
The
enemies,
of
he
'Ali
This
and
one
man was
being
killed
of
for the Fakirs,
them as
called
his
a son of the king,
This explains why
successor
of
Fakhruddin on
avoids
all
reference
Ikhtiyaruddin was the
18
to
son
of
to
the
Vice
Shayda (mad
away, fighting one
Fakhruddin came
* See page 19 supra.
adopted son.
Shah.
but when the rains down on Bengal by land
Shayda revolted against him, wished
other than this*).
carefully
and
Fakhruddin
Sultan
placed
Sultan
independent,
Shah,
independent.
was powerful on land.
affection
roy at Sadkawan. love.)
p.e
of
Fakhruddin would make
rains,
incursion into Lakhnauti
route, as he
of
Sadkawan,
at
himself
During winter and the 'Ali
Nasiruddin,
revolted
declared
began
violent enmily
stopped
own
kingdom
the
Sultan
of
he was a freed slave, he
in
the
as his
Shah who was then
overran
Lakhnauti,
of
Fakhruddin saw that the royal power
hid gone from
whom
named
then
'Ali
of
But
Muhammad
brother-in-law
a
by the troops.
killed
country of
in the
He
him.
killed
of the
son
the
Bengal.
of
he revolted against him (Muhammad), and fought
He
prisoner.
Muhammad,
by
released
help
for
who rendered
Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq,
Tughlaq,
of
Ghiyasuddin
brother,
Shihabuddin asked
Eurah).
(or
Shihabuddin
son
his
was
of
of his
to
be
(who had no
know
and
of this
Ikhtiyaruddin
Ghazi
throne of Sonargaon,
paternity
Fakiiruddin,
on
iiis
coins.
If
he was probably an
1S8
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL^^
returned
forthwith
adherents
his
(Sonarganon,
besiege
it
fled
Soonergong) which was sent
his
but the inhabitants
;
They wrote
of the king.
of
a very
troops
fearing
to the
inaccessi-
order
in
their
for
Shayda and sent him
seized
themselves
Shayda and Sonarcawan
capital.
his
towards the town
The Sultan
place.
ble
towards
the
to
to
lives,
army
Sultan about the affair
and he ordered them that the head of the rebel should and this was done. A great number be sent to him j
of Fakirs
were
because of the conduct
killed
of
their
comrade.
At the time visit
by him, because of India
and
difl^erent
manner.
I
was
my
of
arrival
had
he
feared
Sadkawan
left
a
1
Sadkawan
consequence
for the
mountains
from
the
mountains
these
workers
vigorous
valued more
famous
;
resemble
that
of
to see a
aim
in
going
saintly
to
the
slave
a
I
not
These are to China,
The
and
inhabitants
Turks,
and
are
their
tribe
was
of
and
Emperor
acted in a
any other nation.
for their skill in sorcery
My
it.
than
did
Kamru which
of
went along
which
thus
if
place.
also to Tibet, the place of the musk-deer. of
I
revolted against the
the
month's journey
extensive mountains,
at
town and was not interviewed
the Sultan of this
their
They
are
addiction to
mountainous country was
the
personage who
lived there.
He was
Shaikh Jalaluddin Al-Tabrizi.
Shaikh Jalaluddin.
He was numbered among one
of the
at
the principal saints, and
singular of men.
was
He had done many
and wrought many celebrated miracles. was a very old man. He told me that he had seen
noteworthy
He
most acts,
Baghdad Khalif Mustasim
Billah, the
Abbaside,
and
BN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL town
was
in the
the
sovereign."
he
died
Afterwards
forty years he had observed fast
he used to break the night. hair
little
He was
thin, of great
on
cheeks.
his
mountains received for this
of
that
that during nearly
:
he broke
;
me
told
it
only after
He had a cow, with whose milk fast. He used to remain standing
JO consecutive days.
all
the assassination
of
his followers
age of 150 years
the
at
time
the
at
J39
stature,
The from
Islam
and had very
inhabitants
these
of
hands, and
his
it
was
among them.
reason that he stayed
Miracles of the Shaikh.
Many
them together
them
a
day before
God,
to fear
have
disciples
of his
and
his
said,
—
me
told
that he called
death and admonished
"It is
true that
I
depart
from among you to-morrow, if it pleases God, and my successor among you will be God who has no god
When
besides him."
he
had said
his
mid-day prayers
God took his soul, during the last prostraBy the side of tlie cavern where prayer.
the next day, tion of
his
he lived, they found a tomb the shroud and
all
the aromatics.
enveloped
it
buried him
in the
in
shroud,
the
tomb.
dug
up, near which
They washed
his
prayed
liim,
May God
over
were body,
and
bless him.
Other Miracles of the Shaikh.
When met me
at
I
went
to
visit
two days' distance from
* after
his
disciples
residence, and
me that their Superior had informed who were near him, "The traveller from
informed Fakirs,
Shaikh. 4 of his
the
—
the the
"The Khalif Mustasim Bill.ah was put to death by Hulagu therefore, eighty-eight the capture of Baghdad in 1258 A. D.,
years
—
previous to this visit."
Thither.
P. 416).
(Yule
:
Cathay
and the
Way
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
140 west
coming towards you. Go forward They added that they had come
is
liim."
purpose by the order
that
for
he did not know anything concerning me.
was revealed and
the
but
There
\^•as
people
of
and the
As
travellers lived.
sion
was limited
to a
cow,
fast
every ten
days,
as
my
entrance to his
me
asked I
disciples
non-Arabs
my
country
who were
O
also,
the non-Arabs I
Shaikh,
already
he rose,
Traveller
the
j
posses-
On
narrated.
my
and
travels.
me,
to
— ''You
Those
Arabs.**
added, — "and
present,
He
our master."
replied,
of
of the
— "and
of
him therefore with consideration,"
treat
was conducted
his
embraced me, and
the
of
bring for
to
whose milk he broke
with
have
I
place,
regarding
really
his
for the
infidels,
that the Fakirs
him the particulars and he said
told
are
was on them
It
the
hermitage,
his
and
the Shaikh,
visit
Shaikh,
Moslems and
the country,
and presents.
gifts
this
outside
situated
no habitation near
used to come and
him
But
the
see
to
hermitage,
his
at
people
these
uith
arrived
cavern.
Now,
to him.
out
set
I
meet me
Shaikh.
the
of
receive
to to
was given
and
hermitage,
the
to
hospitality for three days.
Astonishing anecdote which contains accounts of several Miracles of the Shaikh.
The day when
u ent to the Shaikh's place,
I
him an ample robe 1
said to
give
it
When
he rose, went to a robe, and
torn
goat's
and
from pieced
saw him
corner
made me don
off
I
his
it
head
of
as ;
together.
which
hair,
— "Would to God, mystlf,
to me.**
he took
of
his
well
he
that the Shaikh to
cavern,
took
as a high cap,
Fakirs
saw on me.
would
him farewell,
bid
himself
The
I
pleased
put
off
his
which
on a cloth
informed
me
i
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL that the Shaikh usually
had
An
robe.
them,
to
said
will give
When
the Fakirs reported to
me
has clothed
robe
this
tt
me
A
I
to
told them,
I
of the
Shaikh, as he not enter in
will
any Sultan,
of
sagharji,
has been made."
it
apparel.
his
place
from him and
it
these,
all
benediction
e
with
the
at
this
take
whose use
belongs, and for
obtained
and
Burhanuddin
it
have
arrival,
ask for
N^iil
whom "I
my will
King
brother
to our
of
Maghribin
moment
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "The
idolatrous
it
not put on this robe, which
did
put on at the
he had only
141
idolatrous
or
Mussalman." I
to
of
the
and
happened long afterwards
1
at the town of companions separated from me on account had on me the robe in huge crowd
China,
to
Khansa.
and
Shaikh,
the
left
go
arrive
to
My
I
As
question,
was on
I
and
along with a long procession
He
arrived,
the
and did
palace
of
prince,
When it.
I
The
not
me go
let
Vizir
me
asked
me
at
my
doff
it,
s^ive
at
me
sum
this
of the
much astonished
the
at
year after,
Khan
I
and
was not
it
The king took
the
of
money,
incident.
I
was
ve: v
Afterwards
I
Shaikh telling me that robe,
and
I
was very
event
entered Balik
robe and praised
ten robes of honour, a
an idolatrous king would take the
at
on me.
wished then to part
order.
horse fully caparisoned and a
A
fell
me when I had we were come to
ti'l
I
to
the
to resist
much perturbed at heart remembered the words
China
eyes
came
introduced me to who asked me about Mussaiman SuUans.
robe and issued orders to
of
Vizir
me and
restrained
was replying, he looked
possible for
the
his
hand, asked
sovereign.
the
from him, but he the
my
took
called me,
road,
a certain
the
(Pekin)
palace
and
of
went
the
king
towards
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
142
hermitage
the
found him
him
on
turned
are you handling
Do
it ?
at
and turned
and
He asked^-"Why
hand.
you know
same robe
very
this,
?"
then
it
I
replied,
made
the king of Kliansa.*' *This robe/' he replied, ''was
by
for rne
my
who wrote to me that me through the hand of so and
brotlier Jalaluddin,
would come
the robe
to
Then he gave me
so."
surprised
at
Shaikh.
I
the
the
infallible
letter
is
above
but
God
of
is
everyday
"that
powers
—"My
the
of
beginning
the
of
the
brother Jalaluddin
;
—
I
he
said
morning
his
prayers
Mecca, and made pilgrimage every year appeared during
and was
it,
has
he he
e
{i.
read
now he drew on supernatural now gone towards the mercy dead). am told", he added,
these things
all
I
;
prophetic
Burhanuddin
told
adventure, and he said to me,
resources,
I
same one, which was taken from me by
the
is
my
in
stuff
Assagliarji.
had the
was surprised
the
"Yes, this
and he
reading, I
!
Burhanuddin
of
two days
tiie
the festival of the Sacrifice
For he
and during
of Asafat,
(the 'Id)
at
dis-
and no body knew
where he had gone."
When
I
bade the Shaikh Jalaluddin adieu,
towards the town
Habank,
of
which
Annahr Alazrak,
called
is
which you can go to Lakhnauti
and
of it
the
flows
which descends from the mountains of Kamru,
river
which
one
Through
grandest and most beautiful of places. a
is
went
I
By
villages
the
on
Bengal,
to
right as well as
on the
Egypt by the
Nile.
The
are
ruled
by Mussalmans.
idolaters,
harvests
was collected
other contributions.
We
the
river),
by
country
of
were water-wheels, gardens,
river
the
— (the blue
and
left,
as
in
inhabitants of these villages
as taxes,
Half
of
their
and there were also
sailed on this river for 15 days
IBX-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL by
and gardens, as
villages
You
market place.
a
board
every
of
one,
find
if
we were going through
innumerable boats, and on
When
drum.
a
]43
met, the sailors of each struck the
two drum and
of the boats
the mariners
The Sultan Fakhruddin had ordered
saluted each other. that there
should be no freight charges from
the
and provisions
river,
be supplied to those
At the end
to
he took
his
we found
place^
had
refuge
seized
our
arrival at the
intended
We
journey.
on
this
of
Barahnagar whose inhabitants had faces
15
The
Fakir Shayda,
the
On
after
as already
Sonarkawan.
Chinese junk which
and came
junk,
the river,
of
here.
was 40 days'
which
to Java,
a
on
sail
town
the
inhabitants of the place
when
also
Fakir
a
given a half dinar.
is
of 15 days'
we came
told,
Fakirs on
should
When
ho had not any.
^'\
arrives in a village he
journev
the
for
to
go
embarked
days to the country like
dogs
NOTES. Ibn-Batuta visited Bengal on
envoy
from
court.
The
Muhammad
his
way
Tughlaq
China as an
to
the
to
Chinese
naratives of Ibn-Batuta 's travels in Bengal
require clearing up in
notes compiled
from
many
The following sources may be found
particulars.
different
useful.
The date The visit
to
of Ibu-Batnta's visit.
data available
Bengal
1346-47 A. D.
place
for it
calculating
But says Yule
visit to
date
of
his
weather
of
:
"Without going into tedious bable, that his
the
during the cold
details,
Bengal must,
I
think
it
in spite of the
pro-
data
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
144
to the contrary, be put
weather
of
1345-46 A.
one year back,
D
the cold
to
viz
".
Cathay and the Way Thither,
P. 5/^.
Dinar aud Dirliam.
A
gold dinai- was equal to
dinar equal
silver
to
ten
silver
dirhams
eight
dinars and or
a
hashtkanis.
Cathay and the Way Thither^ P. 439. Thomas's Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Dehli, A silver dinar was the approximate P. 227. Foot-note). Yule's
(Vide,
equivalent of a
modern rupee. Rati.
The. Dehli
Rati spoken
ing but the weight of
by Ibn-Batuta was
of
7nxn,
and
Ibn-Batuta
noth-
also
calls
name in several places. According to the calculations made by Yule {Cathay and the Way Thither, P. 458). and Thomas {Chronicles of the Pathan
man by
its
exact
Kings of Dehli, P. 161-162) the man at that time weighed 28*8tb avoirdupois. This would be about 14 seers of
the
standard
present day
weight
Bengal.
of
we may construct a table of prices-current at Ibn-Batuta visited Bengal, in terms of when time the modern money and weight. Three rupees. A milch cow From
this
A fat fowl Two pigeons
Three
A
Four annas.
fat
Three pies
ram
Sugar per maund Syrup (Honey ?) per maund
pies.
Re.
i.
-jas.
Rs.
2.
i^as.
Rice per maund
lanna g
Ghee per maund
Re.
Til
oil
per
maund
i.
iiannas 6
Fine cotton cloth 15 yds.
Rs.
2.
A
Rs,
10.
beautiful and
young
pies.
']as.
slave girl
pies.
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL
145
Identification of Sadkawan.
The
''Sadkawan"
identity of Ibn-Batuta's
The names
from being satisfactorily established.
towns answer
to the sound, viz
places
when
"were important havens
that the place
says Colonel Yule,*
Portuguese arrived
the
either
But
them".
of
Some
and translators
been seriously contending Satgaon, and so
it
is
have,
have been
long ago.
sometime
for
favour of the
in
an
by the French
at
of Ibn-Batuta's travels,
writers of this country,
of
concludes
he
where Ibn-Batuta landed must
Chatgaon, a conclusion, also arrived editors
the time
at
and the name here might, from the pen
Arab, represent
two
of
to Bengal.
"Both Chatgaon and Satgaon* in India,
far
Satgaon and Chatgaon,
:
both of them famous and important
when Ibn-Batuta came
yet
is
past,
being
place
necessary to examine the question
in detail.
The and
let
following data us discuss, as
are
from the Travels
available
we proceed, how
far
each
appli-
is
cable to Satgaon and to Chatgaon.
It
(i)
was the
first
Ibn-Batuta entered.
It
town
Bengal which
of
was a big place situated
on the shores of the Ocean. Chatgaon Satgaon from
is
the
is
situated
on the
not.
Satgaon
shores
of
contended that
the
the
This
may is
the
Ocean,
miles
inland
of
90
Some
Ocean.
Ocean
Satgaon, 500 years ago.
shores
about
is
have
even
have
been
nearer
The
hardly probable.
Portuguese who came to Bengal about a century and a half after Ibn Batuta
than at present.
found Satgaon no
Villages
under
the
nearer
Station of the 24 Parganas are mentioned in the * Cathay and the Way\Tliitlier,
Âť9
P.[^458,
the
Jaynagar i
Sea
Police ith-i2th
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL,
146
century copper plate
Sena Kings
the
As regards
"When
this port
the
fall of
commanders
was
it
:
Chittagong
Bengal.
to
as
it
month
the
at
is,
was most convenient
of
the
for navigation...
Gaur, Chittagong began to decline and Satgaon...All
to
came
that
to
go
Chittagong.
In fact, to
Chittagong.
They named
Portuguese
the
Bengal,
entered
Jirst
meant to go to Grande (great port)
Bengal
to
Porto
it
Porto
in contradistinction to their in
that
and the main gateway to the royal
was diverted
trade
came
the Portuguese
Gaur... Situated,
Meghna,
With
the statement of Ibn Batuta
chief port
its
capital
Varmma and
the
of
town entered, compare the following
the Jirst
was
inscriptions
of Bengal.
Pequeno (small
port)
Satgaon".
Campos,
J.
Portuguese
in
Bengal.
Calcutta,
1919, P. 21.
*'The river
(2).
Ganga
to
which the Hindus
go in pilgrimage and the river
have united near
On
this
"Jun
before falling into the Sea".
Yule remarks the
is
Jumna.
it
But
:â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
name which
it is
Jamuna (Jaun)
diflficult
our author
suppose
to
applies
Batuta's loose geography could conceive of
whose banks he had frequented joining the
Ganges near
existed in our traveller's the junction \\
of
the
the
for
to
the
even Ibn-
that
the
eight
Jumna,
years,
as
Sea ..Whatever confusion
mind.
I
Ganges and
suppose that the
it
Brahmaputra
was of
hich he had heard".
Cathay and the Way Thither, ^ ^^g
A will
just
study of
show
Rennel's
map
^.f
Bengal
(1778 A. D.)
Ganges and the Brahmaputra united above Dakshin Shahbazpur and that Chittagong that the
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL stood practically
Ganges
there
argued
in
—
the expression
(i)
sea"
into the
—
The sea was Even taking it
Jamuna which
j
(ii)
an
is
river
powerful
catch the
notice
enough of a
five
foreign
The Triveni
rivers) at
Satgaon
united
applicable
from
the
off
for
granted that a
narrow
present,
at
hundred
years
was
ago to
arguers in
traveller, the
very important
meaning the three
(the three braids,
muktaveni (separated
is
should
far
favour of Satgaon have overlooked one fact.
not
is
two wide
or
whereas, it
— ''have
stream,
insignificant
up canal, a yard
dried
But
that
Jamuna,
Satgaon,
at
case of Satgaon.
place of union
a
only
unite
before falling
it
in the
Satgaon
of
no Jamuna near Chittagong.
is
be remembered that near
favour
in
branch Bhagirathi and the
its
stream,
local
a
been
has
It
united waters
the
of
Meghna, about 60 miles below the confluence.
called the
the
mouth
the
at
Ul
braids,
/.
e.
a place from which three rivers start on separate courses)
and not Yuktaveni (united braids) like that at Allahabad where three rivers unite to form one stream. So, it is not
a case
of
the
fact of
falling into the sea
confluence at
all
but of
separation^
just after
and
uniting, also
does not agree.
Thus we cannot but conclude with Yule that it was the confluence of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra that The cumbrous Sanskritic the traveller had in his mind. much for his memory. was too Brahmaputra name
The present main branch joins
the
known to
the
Ganges
little
of the
above
j
Brahmaputra which
Goalanda
is
indeed
but the Brahmaputra was diverted
Jamuna Jamuna channel only
as the
independent of!
a
Jamuna, as an dimensions branching
in 17S7.
river of considerable
from the Brahmaputra near the Chilmary
however, existed from ancient times.
hills,
had,
14S
OF BENGAL.
^A?.!fJJRP.?.^E^A^..^I.J.J:{.L'^^^^
Fakhruddin rebelled
(3).
He
in Bengal.
placed Shayda, a Eakir,
Shayda rebelled and
fighting,
Fakhruddin's
On
only son.
the
in
When Eakhruddin
Governorship of Sadkawan.
was away
Sadkawan and
in
killed
receipt of the news,
Fakhruddin hurried towards his capital. Shayda town of Sonargaon which was fled to the
The inhabitants of captured Shayda and gave him
a very inaccessible place. the place rose,
army of Fakhruddin, which promptly beheaded him and sent the head to Fakhruddin. up
to the
From
account
the
recorded
reign
seen that his coins range
and that all
are
his
his capital
coins
country of
was undoubtedly
held .sway
Bangalah by the
P. 9-14),
(5" z//>rÂŤ
will
it
be
date from 740 H. to 750 H.
in
Sonargaon,
at
as
legible
mint-names on them,
mint.
The country where
Sonargaon
from the
Fakhruddin
book
have
that
Mubarak Shah's
Fakhruddin
ot
this
in
repeatedly
has
as
traveller,
Lakhnauti, and
in
been
called
opposition
to
was undoubtedly
it
the
East
The statement Bengal with Sonargaon as its centre. Fakhruddin rebelled 'Mn Sadkawan that Ibn-Batuta of and
in
Bengal.
Bengal" definitely locates It
not
is
known
Sadkawan
Fakhruddin
that
East
in
had ever
any permanent sway over Satgaon. Zia Barni says that Fakhruddin once plundered Satgaon after defeating the
Governor
of
Lakhnauti,
evidently
after
had
he
rebelled and established himself at Sonargaon.
statement
Ibn-Batuta's inaccessible
himself found
place it
is
that
evidently
a
Sonargaon careless
quite on the high-way during his
from Kamru. 'Inaccessible,' however, its defences were very strong.
was an
one,
as he
return
may mean
that
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL
The
events are
Batuta
Bengal's
of
recorded by Ibn-
history
wrong
slightly
also
24Q
their
in
Fakhruddin did not rebel a/fgr the
Governor
rebellion
the
quell lost
of Lakhnauti, but
his
life
and
in
the
Fakhruddin that
of
'Ali
was
it
chronology.
murder
the
of
attempt to
this
governor
Shah obtained an upper hand
in
Lakhnauti.
The country with which Fakhruddin went
to
fight
appears to have been Tippera.
The name of the place ia written Sadkawan with a ^j". Tliis agrees with the spelling of Satganw which also begins with a^_^. Chatganw should have been written in Arabic Jadkanw and begun with a ^. (4).
Yule's opinion on this subject has already been
Col.
When
quoted.
of Chittagong
it
mind
called to
is
the inhabitants
that
pronounce the name
of
their
place
not
with chj but with chh, as Chhatigaon, or Chhatgaon and not Chatgaon, as will
at
it is
written, the origin of the confusion
once become apparent.
of the local people the
name
1 he traveller
of the place
inquired
and they told
was called Chhatgaon, which the transcribed as Sadkawan. him that
it
The above Ibn-Batuta's
traveller
make it clear that Sadkawan represents Chittagong and not discussion,
I
hope, will
Satgaon.
Shaikh Jalalnddin aud his couqnest of Sylhet. Ibn-Batuta once calls the Shira'zi,
Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabrizi died (J.
A.
Saint
Tabrizi
which shows that he was not sure S. B.
1873
entertained that
it
P. 260).
was Shah
in
if
and once
he was either.
642 H. or 1244 A.
No
serious doubt
Jalal,
is
D.
now
the famous Saint
EARL Y INDEPENDENT SULTANS
150
whom
Sylhet,
of
OF^^^
The visit The saint died came to know of his
the Traveller went to see.
place about 746 H.= soon afterwards, as the traveller
1345 A. D.
took
demise from Shaikh Burhanuddin Shahgarji, next year in I think, the death of the saint may be put in China. the early part of 747 H.
Shah
jalal
the
is
conqueror of Sylhet
traditional
and one who converted the people of Sylhet to Islam. Ibn-Batuta also says that the people of the tract This achievement of Shah
received Islam at his hands.
on
worked
Jalal
popular fancy and gave
the
among
which are current
multitude of legends
to a
the
Bengal peasantry and which,
an
amazing
admixture
of
on
fiction
rise
analysis, reveal
and
history.
A
remarkable attempt was made by Mr. H. E. Stapleton and Maulvi Tasaddaq Ahmed, Khan Bahadur, to distil
some
history out of
August, 1913, Saint of
in
an
Boatmen
:
of these article
legends
and the
Muhammadan
First
Invader
Mr. Stapleton published the
In this article,
of Sylhet."
Dacca Review^
in the
on â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "Ghazi Saheb, the Patron
reading of an unpublished inscription from the shrine of
Shah
Jalal,
now
which states that the
of
first
Muhammadans was
the
Shah,
Firoz
This
date
is
Dacca Museum, Sylhet by of conquest the
preserved in
of
the
very
in
703
Dehli
H. during the reign
line
interesting
of
and
Bengal Sultans. has, as
presently show, very important bearings on the
shall
I
history
of Bengal.
The
following are
the
conquest of Sylhet by Shah (i)
main events Jalal.
Burhanuddin, a solitary
of Sylhet,
in story of the
Muhammadan
inhabitant
was punished by Raja Gauda Govinda
offence of sacrificing a cow.
for the
IBN-BA TUTA'S TRAVELS IN
Burhanuddin appealed
(ii)
of
B^^
151 the
to
reigning
Bengal, sometimes called Firoz Shah and
Sultan
sometimes
Shamsuddin and who evidently was Shamsuddin Firoz Shah, son of Nasiruddin Bugrah Shah.
Shamsuddin sent his sister's son Sikandar occupy Sylhet and drive out Gauda Govinda.
(iii)
Ghazi to
Sikandar came, occupied Sonargaon, but was
(iv)
Gauda Govinda.
thrice defeated by
When Shamsuddin came
(v)
man
defeat, he sought out a
of
to
know
saintly
Sikandar's
of
character
called
Nasiruddin shipasalar and sent him to succour Sikandar.
Burhanuddin
(vi)
aid of
Shah
Nasiruddin
and
Jalal
in the
meantime had secured the
360 followers and he joined
his
Triveui.
at
They marched forward, joined Sikandar and Gauda Govinda was defeated (vii)
his
with
forces at
and
last
country occupied.
The meeting has confused
Nasiruddin with Shah Jalal at Triveni
of
writers
all
they have
;
taken Triveni to be
Allahabad, and have introduced the intervention
Emperor
of
Dehli to justify
near Satgaon Zafar
Khan
Nasiruddin's journey
But Triveni was evidently
Allahabad.
in
in
Bengal.
Triveni
of militant
inscription
of
Muhammadan 698
H
1. 2.
was conquered by
Âť
it
is
may be
that
at
time a rendez-
mentions one Nasir
not possible
relationship with Zafar
thinks that he
up to
Triveni
free-lances. Zafar
alias Burhan Qazi^ but from the
the inscription,
the
the
698 H, during the reign of Kaikaus, and
the place appears to have been
vous
of
Khan was the
fragmentary nature of to
accertain
Mr. R. D.
same person
J.
A. S. B. 1870. P. 285-286.
J.
A. S. B. 1909. P. 248.
Khan's
Mahmud
as
what
his
Banerjee
Barkhan
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
152
who
Ghazi,
tomb
me
to
buried
the
in
Khan and who
Khan,
of Zafar to
lies
of Zafar
This Nasir
is
enclosure said
Mahmud
to
of Triveni
be idntical with Nasiruddin
help Sikandar and this explains
close
the
be the third son
to
appears
Shipasalar
why Shah
sent to
met him
Jalal
at Triveni.
At the time when Balban came H. = 1281 A.
(680.
was
practically
From
Bengal.
confined
Bengal was held
a
in
chastise
of
west
1281 A. D., this part of
to
of
sort
Tughril,
occupation
and part
north
to
1202 A. D.
to
Muhammadan
the
D.),
military
occupation.
Balban had to negotiate with Danuj
Ray. the Hindu
order to prevent
Tughril's escape
chief of
by
Sanargaon
in
But things began to
river.
blishment of Nasiruddin, son of
change with the Balban,
of Bengal.
The Muhammadans began
directions.
Militant Fakirs
Islam.
the
The
petty
and went down one by one. of the
Muhammadan
began actively
Hindu
country naturally opposed the
chieftains
Their defeat
over
the
aggression
at the
rise
in all
preach
to
all
Muhammadan
free-lances gave
tude of legendary tales
spread
to
esta-
the Sultan
as
to
a
hands multi-
interwoven with miracles and
true history, that found ready favour with the peasantry
and which are
still
current in the country.
The famous autobiographical poet Krittibasha has the following^
lines :
of
the Bengali
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
"Formerly, there was a Maharaja Vedanuja by name
VangaV His courtier was Narasimha Ojha. Calamity Vanga and all men lost peace. The Ojha fied from Vanga and came to the banks of the Ganges.^' There has been much speculation as to who this (in
befell
Vedanuja might be and whether he might be I.
J.
Page 437.
M.
Ray's
History
of
Dacca
(vernacular)
identical Part
II.
IBN-BATUTA'S TRAVELS IN BENGAL
Ray
15$
Sonargaon who met Balban. I am him with Danuj Ray of Sonargaon^, as the sequence of events suits him very well. Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri informs me that with Danuj
of
inclined to identify
Nepal, (May, 1922), he paid a
in his last trip to
shrine of Vajrayogini near
him that one of
Vajrayogini
ago^ to save
The
visit to
the
priests told
Ananda Vajra had fled with this image from Vanga about six hundred years from
it
had deposited
Kathmandu.
in
it
Mahamahopadhyaya
the
hands
of
the iconoclasts and
present shrine
its
The
Nepal.
in
image had its original shrine in the well-known and markedly Buddhistic village of Vajrayogini in the Vikrampur i)argana of the Dacca District. This is very probable. This also
fits in
is
inclined to believe that this
well with
the
evidence
other sources regarding the political
Bengal
Danuj with
in
the beginning
is
the
of
century
14th
who was powerful enough
l^ay,
to
East A. D.
negotiate
no more heard of after 1281 A. D. conquered in 703 H.= 1303-1304 A. D.
Balban,
Sylhet
of
deducible from
condition
is
Sikandar Khan Ghazi,
Cauda Govinda
whom
the Sultan
sent to chastise
must have begun by reducing Sonargaon, as any man of ordinary sense would do. So, in all probability, Sonargaon fell in 702H. = 1302-1303A.D. and this is confirmed by the appearance of Shamsuddin Firoz Shah's coins from the Sonargaon mint in 705 H.*'* Sikandar Khan Ghazi^ the to Tradition ascribes before he helped in the Sundarbans conquest of the Satgaon had been conquered by conquest of Sylhet. H. Zafar Khan before 698 Thus we see that the conquest of Sylhet in 703 H. that, practically the whole of does not stand alone Bengal, including parts of Sylhet and Tippera, was of Sylh-t,
;
1.
Vanga denoted East Bengal,
in those 2.
Supplementary
Cabinet. 3.
particularly
Dacca
Division,
the
Shillong
days. P.
Catalogue
100.
Dacca Review. August, 20
1913.
of
coins
in
EARLY LYDEPEXDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
154
conquered and the conquest consolidated during the quarter of a century from 691 H. 7 iSH. (i2g2-i3i8A.D). during which Kaikaus and Firoz were on the throne
—
of
Bengal.
The town
of
Habank a ad the
'Blue River.'
There are two possible
sites for the
town
Habang
about six
miles
One
is
the
hillock^
of
Habank.
north-west
and the other is Bhanga, where the river the Surama Barak branches off into two rivers, viz and the Kusiara. of Sylhet^
:
—
have not been able to ascertain whether there is Habang by name, six miles north west of the town of Sylhet, and if there are any vestiges of an ancient town on the site. But in this part of the country where big towns are so infrequent, the reasonableness of the existence of a big town, only six miles off the metropolis, is not very apparent. Bhanga, on the otherhand, occupies an important site on the junction of but there is no trace important rivers and land routes of one of the grandest and most beautiful of places there which Ibn-Batuta speaks of. Towns disappear and grow fast in Eastern India and the glory of Bhanga may have disappeared during the course of these five long centuries. Major Rennel prominently marks Bhanga on his Map No. ix of the Bengal Atlas. The period of 15 days taken by the traveller to reach Sonargaon from Habank suits Bhanga very well, which I
really a tillah,
;
is
about 50 miles up, to the east of Sylhet.
Three
rivers
answer
to the term,
— "Blue river", viz
the Surma, the Kalni, and the
other
than
really leads
the to
Surma the
is
Meghna. But I think no meant by the traveller. It
Lakhnauti country, as well
Sonaroaon. I.
Yule: Cathay and the
Way
Thither. P. 517.
as to
APPENDIX H SULTAN FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNAUTI (Translated from the Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi of Zia Barni^ by Maulvi Muhammad ShahiduUah,
M.
Lecturer in Sanskrit and
A.,
Bengali, Dacca University.)
Reign of Firoz Shah.
The On
8th Discourse.
the narration of a piece of the conquest of the world by
the king of the age and time, Firoz Shah, the Sultan, and on the description of
march
the
Lakhnauti and on
of
banners
the exalted
towards
Lakhnauti and on the bringing of mountain-like elephants and innumerable booty from that country and on the Governor of Lakhnauti becoming sincere
and obedient
And Firoz
the conquest
to the exalted Court.
also in the
Shah,
of
the
first
years
of
his
world-protecting
accession, Sultan king,
was
pensing justice beneficient to the administration world
dis-
the
and was keeping orderly and united the inhabi-
tants of the world
and
of
kindness,
with
when
juLÂŤtice,
was
it
auspicious ears that Iliyas,
who was
benevolence, mildness
made
the Governor
forcibly holding that country,
assembled
a
multitude
of
of
had
paiks and
men) made plump with waters
reach
to
of Bengal,
at
his
Lakhnauti that time
dhanuks (bowand had raided
Tirhut rashly and had oppressed the Mus^almans and the
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
156
Zimmis of
Non-Mussalmans
e.
{i.
living under the protection
Mussalmans) and had molested the country
frontier
and that, on account
J
of intoxication of
and exploitation
and usurpation
which
with
his
and
plundering
and
country
that
Mussalmans and
the rayats
oppressing
for
religion,
the
protection
attainment
the unfailing
of
On
glory the
victory,
conquest of the world and the lordly
of that un-
account
the
of
Commander
of
all
on the
sorts of affairs of kingship
army from
and was pleased
Pandua province
and,
Dehli, the
to
with
Oudh.
of
chieftains of
march
towards
In
of
country
the
Lakhnauti
march,
Rajas and
the
All
the
willingly
infantry,
following
camp
a vast
and
reached
the
Ranas
and
keeping
Lakhnauti
imperial
of
was authorised
Hindustan who before the accession
with their cavalry and
banners.
Holiness
H., came out with
capital
continuous
towards
started
the
of
and commandership,
Firoz Shah, had been disobedient and ent,
Islam,
of
of character,
trait
the worlds,
10th Of Shawal, 754 A.
victorious
zeal
the Faithful, the son of the uncle
the prophet of the Lord of
over
of
habit
Firoz Shah, the lord of the world, who, by His the
the
complete
of
been devastating
had
he
Mussalmans.
the
of
done
had
which descended on the head
towns
inordinacy
he
and on account
;
fortunate of the unfortunate, the
that
forgetting himself, he had been looting
might
lucklessness
on
of
indiffer-
and gladly the
exalted
multitude as-
sembled and the exalted banners with innumerable multitude of
crossed
the
Lakhnauti and
information of the retreated
from
Under the
river
Saravu.
his assistants
arrival
these
inspiration
of
Iliyas,
the
governor
and helpers, received
the
exalted banners and
and retired to Tirhut. Bhang, as he was boasting
frontiers of
ofwaifare and encounter with the
imperial
army,
he
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNA UTI ascertained the truth
and
When
Islam,
King
the
of
recited
the sky-scraping Imperial
shadow over
its
and Gorakhpur, and the
flight.
through divine protection,
crossed the river Sarayu and
umbrella cast
verse of
the
7-57
land
the
Kharosa
of
army entered
victorious
the
country of the aforementioned Rajas, the imprisonment
was broken
the governor of Pandua, so that,
for Iliyas,
as swiftly as possible, he
and became engaged
and Gorakhpur, the Raja the
to
fortifications.
kingdom
When
who was
Gorakhpur,
of
Tirhut
Kharosa
country of
the
to
and the Raja
Raja,
tribute
Pandua from
came
the exalted banners
great
to
making
went
in
a very
Kharosa, who used to pay
of
Oudh
of
before
had been
it
seized with weakness, estrangement and perplexity, and
had been
years
for
tribute,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when
Rajas came before
aforementioned
the
and with numerous
Court
dust
ihe
offered
of
umbrella,
of elephants
a
and saddled
and
noble chieftains
with
to
nobles
the
wore
the
kings,
in
in
their
became
dress
of
of
Kharosa
of
ears
( i.
obedient
put
made
e.
and
lakhs
past years
;
of silver
and
for
on
robes
The
on the
and
country,
his
and
robes
aforementioned
rings of
humble
thraldom
submission to
the
)
as
years
the
arrears
and
exalted
to the treasury of the
coins
future
respectable
put
received
submissive
Court, and caused to reach several
an
also offered presents
of
country favour.
sincerity,
all
magnanimity,
country
the
his
magnificent
his
Certain other
of
magnitude
the
kissed
Gorakhpur
of
adorned and ornamented
tiorses.
The Raja
him.
according
with
of royal
and an
crown
robe
with
The Raja
and received, out
presents
Imperial
the
valuable presents
Court.
the
number
a
had held back the
and
rebellious
exalted banners reached that place,
the
army
of
the
they agreed to
pay
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
158 a
and
tribute
fixed
gave
pledges
exalted Court and were
to the
on
revenue,
behalf
with
kings,
their
all
exalted
cavalry
and
Lakhnauti and
towards
For some
banners.
tribute
appointed collectors
the
of
their
for
of
These
Throne.
marched
infantry,
Pandua, following the exalted
days
banners halted
exalted
the
within the boundaries of their countries and they, as far as
obeisance
and
;
showed submission and made
power,
lay in their
it
account
on
obedience of these,
of the submission and Fartnan was promulgated from
a
Throne, out of excess of mercy, that the
the auspicious
army should not plunder any village of the countries of the Rajas and if a slave was captured, he should be set free. When the exalted banners marched victorious
towards Lakhnauti from
and news ing
from
verse of
of
the
the
army,
victorious
these
Rajas
the
reach-
postponed
he
warfare
means recited Pandua but from
swiftest
and went
flight
of
about
Iliyas
banners,
Tirhut by
Pandua and made called
the country
the said
exalted
the
of
and
reached
to
he
the fear
;
could
not
settle
even
at
near Pandua
at a place
fortification
which had water on one side and jungle
Ekdala,
on the other. From Pandua, he brought
men
fit
for
work,
with their wives and children, to Ekdala, and-there he hid him.self
and became engaged
From
self-defence.
religious warriors
and Ghazis
was about
to fly
infantry.
He saw
eyes in the
and
restless at
Jakat
from
shadows and the
from
mirror
in
his
his
The
as
if
in
Islam and
for
the
of the victorious army, life his cavalry
own death
of experience
Ekdala.
Ranas
making preparations
body and from
clearly
Gorakhpur, and Tirhut
in
fear of the king of
and
own
and remained anxious
exalted
from fun.
with his
banners reached Jakat
cast
The Raja
and the Zamindars of
their
of Tirhut
that country
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNA UTI came
became
Court and offered presents and obtained
the
to
and
honour
robes of
No
Tirhut from the
army
Law and
it
had
country of
the
befell
Officers administering
of Islam.
Imperial
the
of Tirhut
obedient and tributary as
oppression
according to
Justice
from
The country
favours.
as submissive,
been before.
pointed
169
Code were apThat country
the
Court.
became well-governed and united. The Imperial banners marched towards Pandua from Tirhut by conBefore
tinuous marching.
this,
and the people
of
the governor of
iliyas,
Pandua with
had reached
Lakhnauti,
of
Pandua had
retired
to
his multitude
Ekdala which
had water on one side and jungle on the other. took
counsel
with
his courtiers
agreed that as the
were drawing near and those
rains
were excessively low lying,
lands of rain,
Iliyas
and followers and they
much
they would be so
such big mosquitos would
grow,
with
filled
that
the
The
king would not be able to stay there.
descent
the
water and
with
army
not be able to stand the stings of the mosquitos after,
with
of
Iliyas
Islam
the
this
the world
conjecture and speculation,
Ekdala with
to it
would retreat
his
asylum.
his
people
When
the
and
army
reached the boundaries of Pandua, the lord of issued a Farnian that none might molest the
world
helpless
of
lord
With went
and made
multitudes of
the
rain
army.
his
the said
Shortly
would descend from heaven and with the
rain
descent
of the
horses would
who were
left
at
Pandua and none might
burn and destroy the palace and the garden of Iliyas and that none should harass Pandua. Some cavalry
and infanry
of the
vanguard arrived
not molest the people of Pandua of the infantry of the rebels that of
Iliyas
and
seized
the
at
Pandua. They did
but put to sword some
were
horses
in
the
which
residence
they
found
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
160
The
residence.
his
at
exalted banners became sta-
the brink of the water
tioned on
front
in
Ekdala.
of
The army of Islam encamped in that deserted place. From the Throne, a Farman was issued to the effect that the people of the army should make ready Kankars and should
be engaged
crossing the
river
and
making
in
preparation for
should, without delay, construct
dams and bridges and other things by which the army The lord of the world could easily cross the water. ordered that as soon as the means for crossing the water
Farman
were ready, he would send a
army should
the
down.
upside
the
to
They
river.
possible,
as
swiftly
over
at
one time, capture
Ekdala and turn Ekdala
army had made ready make preparations for cros-
After the whole
Kankars, they began sing
water
cross the
elephants, trample
the
to the effect that all
desired to
cross
trample
to
the
river
as
down Ekdala and
to turn out the warlike people of Ekdala. It
occurred
mind
the blessed
to
of the
lord of the
its being filled with faith, that when army would cross the water and would plunder Ekdala
world, on account of the
and capture the royal elephants, large
number
— in
such a tumult,
men, guilty and not
of
guilty,
put to the sword. In conquering the wicked Iliyas,
blood the
of
the
Zenana
innocent Mussalmans would be
of the
Sunni Mussalmans would
hands of the unrestrained dhanuks,
mob,
—
— the
much
spilt
fall
paiks
a
would be
and
into the
and the
idolaters and Non-Mussalmans. Outrages would take place and the high, the wise, the sufis, the
students, the Dervishes, the hermits, the
the
travellers
property
of
would be the
weak would be
ruined.
innocent,
and
chattels
and
oppressed and the army. And without no other way would be removed
seized
imperial elephants, in
The
strangers
the
by the
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNA UTI
wicked
had
fortified
of
this
of
his
highhanded and
the
of
the evil the
themselves
which
apprehension, the
faith,
with
lord
one
in
was
of
and
place
water and jungle. the
entirely
world
the
of
oppression
the
who had gathered
161
after
Full result
every
prayer prayed to God, the Most High, with humiliation
He might
and lamentation that ot
army
his
army
the
prayer
One
transgressors
of
the king of
of
day, a
and
mind
the
incline
Ekdala with
of
and
rebels
meet
Then, one morning, the morning
Islam.
of
so
would come out
he
that
Iliyas,
Mussalmans was accepted.
the
Farman was
published
the
to
that
effect
army would not assemble in the Court because it had remained for some days at this station and the military station had become unhealthy on account of the
At
concourse of people.
large
became glad came out
at heart
army
and the bazar people and the mob
of Kafikhar"^ with
joy and made
the whole
this,
exultation
and shrieks
of
for the other station fixed on, with noise
and tumult.
On
hearing the noise
followers
thought
towards the
that the
.As the anger of God had overpowered make any investigation to ascertain the news of retreat. From the inspiration of
city
Iliyas,
he did not
truth
of
the
Bhang and from an out
of
Ekdala with
and arrayed
Thus
place.
army
of
people, Iliyas and his army was perhaps retreating
of the
his in
excess of
self-conceit,
his elephants, cavalry
elephants battle
in
front
array he stood
Islam and began fighting
;
in in
Iliyas
came
and infantry the
deserted
front of
the
and such an amount
of
improper things became manifest
of
Islam offered two genuflections of prayer in gratitude
The
in battle, that
place dressed with concrete for camping.
the kin<y
>
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
IQ2
acceptance
the
for
supplication that the guilty
the
of
might be differentiated from the innocent and that the upon war might come in view in intent rebels
He
place.
deserted
the
God and rode
praised
to
battle.
When on
fell
eyes
the
hunters
skiiful
jubilant
as
deer in
the
veteran
the
of
dark-fortuned
those
soldiers
wretches,
they
when they
find
desert and reckon
of
Islam
were as herds
them as caught
of
in their
They considered the rebels assembled there as already trampled down under the hoofs of their horses and torn to pieces. As they knew that right and trap
were on
justice
and
their side,
and oppression
injustice
on the side of the enemy, they were expecting help and victory
from
Some
Heaven.
unlucky and the
came
evil-doers
The Farman,
the army.
world-conquering king
the
divisions
was
army
the
chiefs
in front to
authoritative
the
of
the
of
that
the
encounter
as destiny, of
issued
they
of
some
to
should
of
attack
those unlucky creatures. After having captured them by the waist, the
army
Akbar and drew the of
very
the
AUa-ho-
swords from the scabbard.
their
onslaught
first
Iliyas,
of Islam raised the noise of
governor
they
dispersed
At army
who kept
Lakhnauti,
of
the
head and had come with
pride of leadership in his
the all
his followers, helpers, cavalry
and infantry, intending to
encounter the army of Islam.
They were
into CO ifu^ion
and
Blood flowed
in
fight,
the
royal
staff,
army the
pri le
all
streams of
Islam
royal
was cast out
utterly
from
At the very outset
captured
trumpet
the
and
the
thrown them. of
the
umbrella, the
standard
of
governor of Lakhnauti and 44 elephants. Iliyas, who had in his head the idea of leadership and kingship,
the
became
vanquished
in
the twinkling
of
an
eye and
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNA UTI
bridle from
not distinguish the
he could
such a hurry that
fled in
1 G,5
and the stirrup from the
the back-string
side.
The with
victorious soldiers of the
their
swords
within
as thickly
vanquished
to shut,
killed of the black-faced one,
The
formed.
rebels
as
From
the harvesters reap the ripe cereals with sickles. the
off
men
felling
Iliyas,
time the eye takes
the
cut
[slam
of
the cavalry and the
heads of
the
following the
infantry
anny
heaps and stacks were
became so much bewildered and
confused from fear of the victorious soldiers of Islam, that they to
lost
nor
flee
all
knew
sense the
and could not from
right
the
were unable to retreat and began to
feel
find
way They
ttie
left.
the
swords of
the soldiers of Islam and the victors of religion on their
head and presented their lives to the treasurers of
The famous Paiks
of Bengal,
themselves fathers
styling
who
of
for
hell.
years had been
Bengal and were spoken
heroes and had been receiving quids from
Iliyas,
the Bhang-ediier, for their bravery and had been
wildly
of
as
throwing about
their
side of that wild
maniac together with the Rajahs made
arms and legs standing by the
plump with the waters
of
Bengal,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when
the battle
commenced, they put their two fingers into their mouths before the tiger-throwers and the arrow-shooters of the victorious army, forgot to stand to attention, threw their
away
swords and arrows from their hands, rubbed their
foreheads on the ground and became food for the swords.
was not yet afternoon when the whole of the deserted place and plain became filled with the slain and heaps formed everywhere. The army of Islam It
became hands
victorious
and
They came back
immense booty
fell
into their
safely with their booty without
the loss of a hair on any-body's head.
164
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
'
When
came and
the time for the evening prayer
and the
became
of victory
effect
the
God
victory narrated above took place with the help of
evident, His Majesty
was pleased to come to his splendid court and issued a Farinan to the victorious army that they should retire to their own places and should bring to the royal camp
members
the followers the
who had
Lakhnauti,
Amirs
of the household, the
and the personal attendants
of
the Governor of
Iliyas,
their hands, (some) with
fallen into
their hands thrown on their necks, and (others) with hands bound behind tfcfeir backs, -with the umbrella, the staff and with the 44 elephants and the the other royal insignia,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
horses with saddles and without saddles. Thereupon, the
made
elephants were
and the
to pass before the throne
spectators were astonished at the sight of the elephants
Mahuts
and
The
mountains.
looking like
the
of
old keepers of elephants
swore
elephant-stable
royal
in
one voice before the throne that such huge elephants, each of which was
like
Dizhruin, had
at
not
an
iron-mountain or a fort of
any time
from
reached
Dehli
passing
before
any place.
When
the
exalted throne, the
those
and Amirs who difficulty
put ;
oij
lord
the
Iliyas,
the
mind the idea
Now,
after
excess will
the
of
loss of
not
rise
of
servants
Elephants,
say to
the sight
the of
those kings
before him
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "These
governor of Lakhnauti, into
strength
battle
these
elephants
the
of
these
in
his head, and put into
army
with the
elephants,
again and he will
with sincerity and submission, sorts
to
were present
pride of kingship rang loudly his
world, at
of the
was pleased
elephants,
elephants
were
elephants
of
come
Dehli
dust
of
before
me
the
and every year various
and presents
will
especially such big ones,
be sent to Dehli.
stir
up pride
in the
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNAUTI head,
they
if
fall
hands of inconsiderate been pleased to say that
the
into
kings have
Great
persons.
does not look well except in the elephant-
the elephant stables of
kings whose kingship
elephants
fall
into the hands
many dangers
lay eggs in his
the
means
with him
165
of his destruction
just.
is
If,
God
forbid,
how head and how they become of a fearless tyrant,
and
fall,
and do not remain
!"
After the afore-said that the elephants
Imperial
stables
events,
Farvian was issued
a
and the horses should be sent
and the Amirs and
had been captured from the
army
of
to the
the notables v/ho the Governor
of
Next
Lakhnauti should be handed over to the general.
day before the lord of the world awoke and opened the
shops
of sugar
the almighty
of
gratitude and offered thanks to
God on account
— on the second day of the said army,
victorious
— may
the low, the cavalry,
Hindus, army,
the
bazar
assembled
God
the
of
victory,
people
— men — the high
of the
all
help them,
the infantry, the
and
heavenly victory,
and
Mussalmans, the
and the attendants on the
crowded
before
the
Court.
They prayed that they might plunder Ekdala and trample it down with imperial elephants and might drive away the followers of Iliyas. The lord of the world, on account of
perfect
religiousness,
did
not permit
be trampled down with elephants, and thus
Ekdala
to
ordered
:— "The
party which rebelled and became the
elements of disorder has been killed
in large numbers in and the elephants which were the cause of the arrogance and perfidy of Iliyas have been all captured. God, the Most High, has given us victory and help. The
battle
time for the descent of the rain of mercy has neared. Our efforts should
the present
be to this effect that the Mussalmans and
army
of Islam
who
are-
now
in safety,
should
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
166 return
homes
respective
thei^
to
such victory and aid (from God),
After
safety.
in
not advisable
is
it
to press for excess."
made
His Majesty then
the people assembled before
the court begin their return journey and the
exalted
banners, victorious and aided (by God) began to return
towards the capital Dehli and reached the boundaries of
and Jakat with continuous
Tirhut
whoever
to the effect that
captive from
them
other
of Islam
issued
held a
and reached
the exalted
The
the river Sarayu with perfect
Jafarabad
was
return
to
that place,
banks of the river Sarayu.
the
army crossed
Permission
and
Farman was
army
in the
From
place.
banners reached victorious
special
In those
the country of Bengal, should set each 'of
free at that
safety
A
were appointed.
officers
representatives
administrators,
countries,
march.
height of victory.
in the
given
the
to
chiefs
Amirs, the kings and nobles from Hindustan
and
who had
taken part in the expedition to Lakhnauti and Pandua, following
the
of
Karra and
notables
When
banners.
exalted
banners crossed the
Ganges
river
Manikpur,
His
Majesty
and the famous men
of
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sayids,
prayers.
Fakirs and
place,
under the shelter of the
nuous march country
and
He the
all
were favoured with profuse charity
the poor of the country.
From
that
Majesty of God, the
reached the country of Kul by conti-
and the Fakirs and the poor villages
Throughout the country officers
the
many and
He gave
to the
exalted banners
favoured
Ulemas, Shaikhs, and the whole
population of Karra and Manikpur the grant of their
exalted
boundaries
these places.
gave Jagirs, positions and ranks to supplicants,
the
the
in
and men
in state
were of
given Kul,
service
royal
great
men,
attended the
of
the
charity. chiefs,
court in
FIROZ SHAH'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO LAKHNA UTL 167 crowds by way
him
of receiving
and triumph and were
in
Amirs,
guards
princes,
presents,
and
and the Judges
Chief-Justice
and Shaikhs came to receive His
Jahan,
Kotwals
Vizirs,
courtiers,
the
of the tovvn,
of his victory
with
Humayun Khan
Khilats and other favours. A'zam with
honour
distinguished
Majesty up to Jhajar
and Chandosh and to congratulate him on
his victory,
and
The exalted banners under the protection of the majesty of God crossed the ford of Kabulpur and A'zam Humayun Khan Jahan made so many excellent presents of valuable articles of gold and silver and Arab and Tatar horses, with saddles and kissed the dust of the court.
without
saddles,
station of Kabulpur, that they
the
at
could not be accommodated in the
and the eyes
plain and open place become dazzled at the
spectators
of the
On
exhibition of presents of various colours.
H
the
12tll
at the rising of the lucky star of Sll'abau, 755 A. and at the auspicious moment, the exalted banners with so much victory, triumph and conquest, entered the capital of the empire. The elephants and horses, which ,
were sent from the victory to
places
special
attendants
of
The
Amirs and courtiers and governor of Lakhnauti, who
the
in the
hands of the victorious
were brought on the public road spectators
Pandua
and the
Iliyas,
were captives and were army,
Lakhnauti and
of
of
the
town,
of the capital.
soldiers
and
bazar
people, Mussalmans and Hindus, male
and young, expressed joy of
Lakhnauti
arches
;
at
were
and female, old the tamasha of the booty
made
so
much
presents there bazar.
victory
and
were
The
at
singing
the
town on world with
The people
and conquest. every quarter
the
in
the occasion of the return of the lord of
offered
there were feasts, and
and dancing
at
every lane and
people, â&#x20AC;&#x201D;attendants, slaves,
servants
and
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
2(]8
companions who were Shah, the
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; could of
sight
the
became
friends
He
issued a
The
people
and praised him
silver
on
gifts
Farman
should
blessed
and the lord
;
kingdom and power, big purses
that
effect
universal
in
prayer for conquest and
charity
divine help
the town
and
Shaikhs and offerings
The king
to
gifts
the
holders
the
to
Islam,
of
to the
in
of
night in the
the king,
to
Through the favour
the
of
made
the conqueror of the world, presents were
hermits.
of
needy and the mendicants
who had been engaged day and
protector of religion.
of
the
of the
be taken to the Juma mosques and large
supplicants, the poor, the
Ulemas
At
the inhabitants of the town.
all
the
to
enclosed places and given
the capital,
Firoz
of
for joy.
booty of the rebels, the hearts of the
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; may God perpetuate his
bestowed kingly
court
themselves
restrain
joyous.
world
lord of the
world,
not
in the imperial
the
king, to
the
hermitages of of
Astanas and
gratitude
for victory
and divine aid, paid a visit to the tombs of the saints On the arrival of the exalted and bestowed gifts. victorious
banners,
and divinely aided, with security
and booty, the hearts and the country,
their breasts obtained Iliyas, the
Governor
and obedient, hands
of
the
of the
after
gifts as
After
ease. of
the
conquest,
said
Lakhnauti, became submissive
having received a lesson
divinely
expressed sincerity and trusted
inhabitants of the capital
and low, became pacified and
high
aided
army.
obedience and
He sent
at
the
again
through
persons two despatches of presents and ample tokens of obedience
to
the
Court and
the petition of submission of an Amir.
wrote
HPPENDIX
III.
MAHUAN'S ACCOUNT OF THE KINGDOM OF BENGALA. The circumstances Mahuan,
the
Embassy
that
reign
the
of
which
attached
The
slation
following
by
interest
of
Chinese Bengal about 1406 A. D. during Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah, came to be
R. A. S.
(J.
account
the
the
to
visited
have been narrated on
written,
book.
under
interpreter
P. 529-33)
1895
65,
66 of
this
from Mr. Phillip's tran-
extracts
students of
all
pages
the
be read with
will
history
of
medieval
Bengal
"The kingdom from
by ship
as follows
A
:
then
has
vessel
favoured
course
with
a
she anchors.
at
wind the
a
for
a
is
reached
Maoshan and
being reached,
north-west,
and being
for 21 days, arrives first at
modern Chittagong) where used to ascend the
distance of 500
// or more, one Sona-urh-kong (Sonargaon), Travelling from this place in a south-
at
place
where one lands.
the
these
Small boats are then
up which,
river,
fair
;
steer
to
(Chatigaon,
Cheh-ti-gan
arrives
islands
(Bengala)
Su-men-ta-Ia (Sumatra)
of
shaped
is
(Nicobar)
the Tsui-Ian the
Pang-ko-la
of
kingdom
the
called
stages, the kingdom of kingdom with walled cities king and officials of all ranks
westerly direction for thirty-five
Bengala
and
(in
is
reached.
the capital)
It is
the
a
It is
an
products are abundant and
its
have
their
22
residences.
extensive
country
people nunjerous
;
;
its
they
^
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
170
Muhammadans and The
are
their dealings, are
in
build
rich
straightforward.
ships
open and
which they
in
commerce with foreign nations many are engaged in trade, and a goodly number occupy themThey are a darkselves with agricultural pursuits. carry
on
skinned
them
;
although
race,
you
occasionally
a light-complexioned person
the
;
among
see
men shave
their
heads and wear white cloth turbans and a long loose robe with a round
and which
is
which they put on over
collar,
heads
their
fastened in at the waist by a broad coloured
handkerchief.
They
king and his
officers
their head-dress
The language
wea'- pointed
dress
all
leather
The
shoes.
Muhammadans
like
;
and clothes are becomingly arranged. people
of the
is
Bengali
Persian
;
also
is
spoken here.
The currency Tang-ka which inch
of the country is
on with
in weight,
diameter and
in
coin
silver
a
two Chinese mace
and two-tenths
either side.
is
is
but for
coin,
this
is
one
are carried
purchases, they use
by the foreigners kao-li (cowri).
The whole year have two crops
small
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
engrraved on
All large business transactions
a sea-shell called
called
is
hot
like our
rice a year
of
summer.
They have
They
three
or
four kinds of wines, the cocoanut, rice, tarry and kadjang.
Ardent
spirits are sold in the
Not having any
tea,
market places.
they offer their guests the betel-
nut in its place Their streets are well provided with shops of various kinds, also drinking and eating houses and bathing establishments
Among fabrics.
manufactures are
their
One
like
our
Pi-chih". This fabric
and made up I.
kinds of cotton
Pi-pu has the foreign
name
of a soft texture, three feet
of
broad
lengths of fifty-six or fifty-seven feet.
in
Pichchhila
is
five or six
?
MA HUA N'S A CCO UMT OF BENGA LA. There four
very
also a ginger-yellow fabric called Man-che-ti,
is
more wide and fifty feet long. is It woven and strong. There is another
or
feet
closely
fabric
171
wide
feet
five
and
twenty, feet
long called
Shah-na-kieh, like our Lo-pu.
There
wide and sixty
meshes
are
It
gauze and
like
There
more
texture
of this
somewhat
much used
made up and
feet
The It
is
lengths of 40 or
in^
or
five
Hin-
turbans.
for
inches
six
A\ide.
resembles very much the Chinese San-so.
There
Mo-hei-mo-leh*
is
made up
has a
facing
four
five-tenths
to
lengths
in
On
twenty feet or more and four feet wide it
of
feet long.
open and regular.
is
Sha-ta-urh
is
and two
feet
name
another kind with the foreign
is
pei-tung-ta-li, three feet
of
both sides,
thickness, and
in
resembles the Chinese Towlokien.
The mulberry Silk
tree
painted
ware^
scissors are
and
basins, to
all
silk-worms
be
cups,
like a deer's
You
find
grades with their
system
of
which There
that
is
is
is
They manufacture
of a tree,
as
public
official
which
with
us, officers
residences,
their
is
a
smooth
of various
seals
and
They have
correspondence is
gold,
skin.
here,
standing army which chief of
found here.
guns, knives and
steel,
had here.
white paper from the bark
and glossy
are
and caps embroidered with
handkerchiefs
a
paid in kind, the commander-in-
called a Pa-szu-la-urh'-^.
another class of
to say, musicians.
men
Kan-siao-su-lu-nai,
These men, every morning,
at
about four o'clock, go to the houses of the high officials
and the
rich
;
beats a small I.
Malmal.
one man plays a kind drum, 2.
of trumpet,
another a large
Fauzdar
?
one.
another
When
they
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
172
commence,
their time
when
end,
the
to
slow,
is
and
gradually increases
it
music suddenly stops.
the
go
they again
to
when they
houses,
the
all
In this
At meal times,
way, they pass on from house to house.
receive
presents of food or money.
twelve months go The month. intercalary no J out ships and sends them to foreign countries
They have year
the
to
king
fits
a fixed calendar
;
they have
^
to trade."
NOTES Measure Mr. Phillips takes a This
about
is
of
//.
to be equal to ^rd of a mile.
//
the highest
estimate
of a
//,
as will be
apparent from the following enumeration. Index volume
the
In logical
Survey Reports,
of in
Cunningham's
Archaeo-
the glossary of terms,
//
is
taken to be equivalent to ^th of male. Dr.
him
A.
V.
Smith,
to Watters'
Yuan Chwang
of
valent
to
about 5^
in a
.
long article on the "Lineal measures
Yuan Chwang"
(J.
R. A. S.
discusses the question in great detail, and
to the conclusion I
II,
Appendix contributed by
Chwang", on the itinerary P. 330) makes 100 // equiThis makes a mile equal to
//.
Fa Hian and
P. 65
(Vol.
about 18 miles.
Major Yost, of
the
in
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "On Yuan
that a
Yojana
is
1903,
comes
equal to 5"288 miles
This evidently refers to the Hijra jear.
MAHUAX'S ACCOC'XT OF BEXGALA. and a
equal to '1322 miles.
is
//
equal to about 7^
The is
'500
we
get j^
But
and taking that by the expression
Mahuan had about 600
it is
so very
his mind,
may
in
estimate distance on a
to
difficult
from a boat
interpreter
// in
to a mile.
//
route
river
mile
a
//.
144 miles,
or more'
//
makes
This
distance of Sonargaon from Chittagong
actual
about
J74
full
sail,
that the Chinese
easily have erred on this
side or
that
side by tens of miles.
Eiugdoui of Beugala. According
to
Mahuan, the kingdom
of
reached from Sonargaon
by travelling 35
south-westerly direction.
When Mahuan
the
A'zam Shah and existence
of
within the limits of the kingdom
There
doubt that
in
is
little
speaking
of the
of
kingdom
the of
Ghiyasuddin
of
of
Chinese
the
kingdom
a
the
of
an independent principality with
cities
in
Ghiyasuddin
probability
little
is
stages
is
visited Bengal,
country was united under the rule of there
Bengala
walled
Ghiyasuddin. interpreter,
Bengala,
is
speaking
whom
the
embassy
to
was sent and who sent one in return. Firozabad was then the metropolis and Firozabad very prabably was a walled city, as Gaur or Lakhnauti undoubtedly The direction from Sonargoan is north-west, was. but
Mahuan was
south-west,
considerable
as
easily
one
distance,
has
led to
before
to
believe
that
go south-west turning
was
it
to
north-west
a in
The distance from As in the case Sonargaon is recorded as 35 stages. The real of //, the measure of a stage is uncertain. going to Firozabad from Sonargaon.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
174
distance between the
which would give the
distance,
traveller
after
seeks
measure very
7
rest
two towns
miles
walking or for
is
about
to a stage
some
If
250 miles,
stage
means
going over which, a
time,
7
miles
suit
the
well.
\
APPENDIX
lY.
SYNCHRONISTIC CHART OF HIJRA AND CHRISTIAN YEARS. N. B.
Th e date of-the Christian year shows
071
• li
hick day the eq nivalen t
Hijra
year began. 735
^334
Sept.
736
1335
Aug
737
1336
738
1337
July
739
1338
))
740
1339
1
!
Dec.
I
759
1357
21
76o
1358
10
761
1359
30 20
762
1360
763
1361
Oct.
31
1362
n
21
)
9
764
n
Nov.
14 3
23 II
)
741
1340
June
27
765
1363
742
1341
n
17
766
1364
Sept.
28
743
1342
6
767
1365
M
18
May
26
768
1366
))
15
769
1367
Aug.
4
770
1368
744
1343
745
1344
746
1345
1
)
1
•
!
April
747
1346
748
1347
749
1348
n
750
1349
Mar.
751
1350
752
1351
1)
24
771
1369
13
772
1370
753
1352
754
1353
))
755
1354
Jan.
756
1355
1
))
757
1356
))
758
1356
Dec.
1
II
10
7
28 16 5
July
26 15
I
773
1371
.,
22
774
1372
II
1
775
1373
June
23
28
776
1374
1)
12
18
777
1375
II
6
778
1376
May
26 16
779 780
1378
5
781
1379
25
782
1380
1
Feb
1)
1377
M
April 1
i>
3
2
21
10
30 19 7
17 i]
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL. Mar.
28
810
407
June
8
1
408
May
27
1
409
)j
16
410
)
783
1381
784
1382
)i
17
811
785
1383
)i
6
812
786
1384
Feb.
24
813
1
787
1385
II
12
814
788
1386
))
2
815
1
22
816
I
789
1387
Jan.
790
1388
.11
791
1388
Dec.
792
1389
))
793
1390
))
794
1391
795
1392
796
1393
Nov. 1
411
I
412 413
April
25 '3
1)
))
'
3
March 23
414
31
818
t4i5
)»
20
819
[416
))
9
820
1
417
Feb.
29
821
1
418
))
17
822
]
419
Jan.
6
823
1
420
• 1
]
6
1
817
1
1
13 I
18 8
28 17
27
824
))
16
825
[421
Dec.
26
)i
5
826
[422
))
15
24
827
^423
,,
13
828
[424
Nov.
Oct.
797
1394
798
1395
799 800
1396
801
1398
802
1399
n
803
1400
Aug
804
1401
805
1402
M
806
1403
July
807
1404
)
808
1405
809
1406
1397
1
Sept. n
))
June ))
3
829
22 1
I
)'
830
426
))
831
I
427
Oct.
832 833 834 835 836
[428 )
1
1
1
429
430
6
))
425
10
18
421
1
21
29
1
1
Sept. ))
431
ji
432
Aug.
5
23 13 2
22 1
30 19
9 28
GENERAL INDEX. — 85.
Atrai.
Abbaside— 138. Adina mosque
— 53,
R— 87.
A'zam Shah. Vide Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah.
72.
Azim— 85,
Vide Shams-i-Siraj Afif.
Afif.
— 168.
Astanas
A. Abaninath
86.
Ahmad Shah — 8.
B.
Ahmed. Maulvi
Tasaddaqe—
—
—
9, 10, I4-5-
'Alauddin Firoz Shah
—
6, 7, 107,
109, 113, 133.
Firfe
10,
Vide
153.
'Alauddin
'Ali
— Ghiyasuddin — 136, 152,
Balban
«53-
Allahabad—
147, 151.
no,
Ammonia — 8. Ananda Vajra— 153.
Banga
Shaikh— 11 r,
scholar
numerals-'4
Archaeological Survey Reports -
Cabi-
Vide Zia Barni.
— 142. Ashurah — 136.
Shihabuddin
60-1-3-6-7,
97-8-9, 100,
loi. 107, III, 112, 113, 133.
Bayley. Mr.
67, 131, 172.
E.C, Hon'ble— 60.
Bazuha — 79.
Asafat
Behar— 35, Bengal— 18, cabinet of— 61,
of
90, 100.
Assam Govern ment-^i
43, 44.
— 25, Bengal — Benares
I, 3,
30-7,
Asmantara — 86.
23
:
6, 7'
;
34,36; coin
Barni
Bayazid Shah.
4.
Society
;
— !3I.
Barkhan Ghazi — 151-2. ;
—
Arabs— 140
— 148.
Barahnagar— 143.
112.
;
;
Vide Vanga.
70.
net of
Arab— 145 horses— 167. Arabic— 135
—
Bangiya Sahitya Parisat
—
65, 67,
131, i3if, 151.
Bangalah
Annahar Alazrak — 142. Anupnarayan 86.
D.— 9,
Mr. R.
Banerjee.
— 164-5-6-7-8.
Asiatic
— 83,
Vajrayogiiii.
Shah.
Anwar.
—
Bajrayogini
Mubarak — 9, Shah.
Baghdad 138. BahadurShah See Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah. Bahmani king I3lf. Bahram Khan 9, 13, 14, 132.
—
-6-9, 20-I-2.3, 132, 137, 149.
Amir
17, 26, 42, 43.
—
5, 79,
'Alauddin 'Ali Shah
'Ali
—
—
150.
Ain-i-Akbari
'Ali
Badaoni
132.4.5.6-7, I.
11-4
44-5-6-7-8.
7,
20-4-5-8-9,
65-6,
III,
r42-3-4-5.6-8.9,
150 '-2-3-5. >63. 166, 169,173
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL
178
—
Bengal— coins 4,
5.
6,
Sultans of
4.
Muhammadan History history 134,
of
68,
63,
9,
—
2,
136.
rulers
of
—
8.
Social
52.
9,
—
of— 80. Throne
Bengalees
Way
Thither
144-5-6, 154.
Chatganw — 78,
— 136.
Chatgaon 52,
—language— 70. — 67, 79, 116. Bhaduria — Bhaturia — 79, 80-1-4 Bengali
-i
Beveridge. Mr,
-6-8-9,
M.— 9.
149.
— 6,63,109,
no,
113,
123, 124, 125, 145.
Chatigrama
— 119.
Cheh-ti-gan. (Chittagong)
Chengho
— 169.
— 66.
Chief Justice— 167.
Bhaduris— 84-5-6-7-8.
— 156,
China
i6t.
Bhanga — 154.
Chinese
(Iliyas)
hills
97,
138,
141, 143-
Bhang-ea\.ev-(\\iya%)
— 25,
163.
— ambassadors—-97,
169.
Court 133-
— 37,
Chittagong—
Bhasoriya— 79.
Bhushna~88,
— 147. —65, 66, 67, 78,
Chilmari,
R.— 147.
Bhagirathi.
Bhangra
— I39f,
Chakravarti Mr.
135, 169, 173.
Bengalee Sultan— 49,
Bhang
Campos. Mr. J. Cathay and the Chandosh — 167.
of
Atlas— 154.
Bengala— 66,
— 171. — 146.
Calendar, of Bengal
1
14, 119,
146,
147,
149, 172. I73-
Chronicles of the Pathan Kings
89.
Blochmann. Dr.
—
i,
4,
3,
5,
9,
of Dehli.— 144.
— 81.
12-6-8, 22, 28, 32, 39, 40, 58,
Chullan Jheel
60-1-2-8-9, 70,
Contributions towards the His-
79,
90-I-3-4-
7-8, 100, loi, 115.
Blue River
— 142,
Bose. Mr. S. N.
Brahmaputra, R. British
I.
W,— 38.
Mr.— 18,
61, 62.
— 146,
147.
Museum Catalogue — 68.
Bughra Shah.
See Nasiruddin
Bughra Shah. Burhan Qazi
— 151.
Burhanuddin—
50, 151.
Burhanuddin
Assagarji— 141,
142, 150.
Calcutta— 146.
Geography
of
Blochmann's
Dr.
39-
Cooch-Behar— 2, Cotton fabrics Coivri,
14, 40.
— 170.
— Currency
of
Bengal
—
170.
Cunningham.
General— 67,
90,
97. 172.
Dacca— 6, 6,
C.
and
Bengal.
— 135.
Botham. Mr. A. Bourdillon.
tory
154.
153
Dacca
District
8, 7. ;
Division
Museum—
119, 120, 150.
1
1,
of—
of— I53f. isf, 21, 56,
GENERAL INDEX. Dacca Review
m^
—68,
loo,
121,
— 135, 155. — 146. Danujamarddana Deva— 109,
Dacca University
Dakshin Shahbazpur
7,
1
10-3-4-5-6-7-8, I20.I-2-3, 134,
Danuj
Roy— 152, Mr.
144,
10-4-5, 21, 32, 33, 71-3-4-5. 92, 102-
69,
3-9. 114, 118, 124, 128, 173.
Shah
Vide
:
164, 166.
— 155,
'Alauddin
Shamsuddin
150-
Tughlak )— 17,
20-.
1-3-4.
Shah
(
30-1-2.4-56-7.8, 41-
2-'3-4-5-6-7-8-9,
160.
«32, 133.
144.
Fulmali
136, T44.
:
— 136,
Bengal
4-5-6-8-9,
136, 143,
— 135,
Shah.
Sultan of Firoz
— 160.
Dinar— i2,s, Dirham
63,
55,
Firoz 34-6-7-8,
132-56,
81,
>56,
Dhanuks
— 135
20-5-6-8,
17,
42-3-4-6, 150.
112.
Firoz Shah.
Defremery.
Dervishes
43, 48,
Grant's Analysis of— 88.
Firozabad-9.
Firoz
153
Dara— 86. Dehli— 5,
Ferishta— 31, 42,
Finances and Revenue 0/ Bengal:
123, 129, 150, 153,
50-1-2-7-8,
Begum
72,
156, 168.
>55.
-83.
Dizruin, fort of —164.
Dowson
—
G.
5, 81.
Doeakh'i-Pur niamat. — i;^^,
Gai-ya-szu-ting— 66, 67, 97.
Ganesh,— Raja— 78,
£.
8-9,
Egypt— 142. 29,
30,
34, 38, 46,
48, 49, 158, 159, 160, 161, 165.
Ektakia Bhaduria— 82 84. Elliot— 5, 31,
34; and Dowson
42, 81.
Emperor,— of Dehli— 5,
7,
38.
Mubarak 3I/
30.
R.— 146,
Gaur— 26,
Sliah—
63,
20-
132-6-7,
146,
Ghazis
— 136-7-8-9, 158,
of Sylhet
29, 30, 85, 86, 146,173.
— 150.
— 158.
Ghazi Shah.
See Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah.
140-1-3, 166. 159, 160-1-2-
1-2-3-8, 83.4.9,
Ghiyasuddin
Shah— 6,
7.
>33. 169, 173.
Bahadur
—
4-5-6-8.
Bur or Burah
Fathbad— 63.
Ghiyasuddin Balban
— i7if.
152, 166.
52-3-8-9, 60.1 3-4-5-6-7-8-9, 70.
136.
Farman-8j,
Fauzdar
90-
151. 153-
Ghiyasuddin A'zam
i4.'^-8-9.
Fakirs
Ganges.
Gauda Govinda, — Rajah
Ghazi Shah
9. 'o-i-3-3f-4.5.6-7-8-9,
Fakhra— 30,
86,
79,
0-1-2-3-4.5-6-7,
Ganesh Narayan— 85. Ganga, R. — 136, 146.
—150.
P.
6-7-8,
I
123. 134-
Ekdala— 26,
Fakhruddin
109,
7,
Shah,—
137.
— 136. — 137.
Ghiyasuddin Tughlak
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
180
Ghulam Husain Gien-fuh-ting
2,
5,
44, 79.
Kien-fuh-ting
(
Ibn-Batuta
)-
pur— III,
147.
-
Gorakhpur
— 157,
Grant Mr.
J—
Gulbarga
I3if.
Id (Sacrifice)
158-
143-4-
135,
— Sultan
of
Jaun-
113, 115, 134-
— 142. Shah
Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi
88, 89.
— 17,
18, 19, 27, 28, 31. 132, i37f.
— 22f, 40.
Guthrie. Col
16. 17,
Ibrahim Shah
Gladwin— 79. Goalanda
—
5-6-8-9, 150, 154.
67, 97, 98.
Shah
Iliyas
—7,
— Shamsuddin— Haji 20-I-2-2f-3-4-5-
16-7-9,
6-7-8-9, 30-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-
Habaiig
40-I-2-3-4-5.6-7,
— 154.
Habank— 142 Haibat
154.
Khan— 50.
51.
Independent— Sultans
Harun-al-Rashid
See
Saifuddin
— 145. Emperors — 154.
of—
138.
Eastern
— 72.
Museum
Indian
M.
(I.
Hijra— i7if.
— 131. King — 13!. State — 131.
Tippera
Catalogue
13-4-5-8.
C.)
21,
20,
32, 33. 41. i3if-
Indian
Museum
Coin Cabinet—
8.
7,
Hindus — 146,
Hindustan—
165,
167.
Initial Coinage of Bengal— 2, 14, 15,
156, 166.
Hin-pei-tung-ta-li, a cotton fabiii
— 171
2l-2f-7-9, 32, 33,40, 52-7-
7-89, 69, 72.
Islam— 156-8-9, Geography
and
History
Bengal
Dr.
:
of,
of
Jadkanw
— Bengal —
4,
Dacca (Vernacular) India,
as
Historians
—
told
— 152;
by
6.
Dr.— 72.
6
its
— 149.
Jadunarayan-85,
•
own
Jafarabad-166.
— 166. Jajnagar —
Jagirs
Hulagu — i39f,
Jalaluddin
—
',0,
in,
117.
See Zafarabad.
See Zagirs.
36, 46.
— 158,
Jakat
"Hydrochloric Acid -8,
86,
122, 123. 134.
Hui-ti— 56.
Husain^Shah
160-1-2-3-6-8.
Blochmann's
on— 68,
History
Hoernle,
Bengal
of
-5India
Hash t-kani — 1 44.
essay
Descen-
dants of— 99.
— 16.
Hamza Shah. Hamza Shah.
Hindu
83,
133.
Haji Iliyas
Hill
Coins of— 27.
5-7.
Hafiz— 70,
81,
75.
132, 133. 155-6-7-9. 161-2-3.4-
166.
Muhammad Shah—
6, 7, 8, 67, 77, 109,
4-5-6. 122-3-4-9,
110-1-2-3-
i30-i-if-2-4.
^
GENERAL INDEX.
— 147.
Karra— 166. Kastabir Mahalla— 1 Kathmandu — 153.
78.
Kayasiha Patrika
Jalaluddin— Shaikh,
— 138,
181 Al-Tabrizi
142, 149-
Jamuna^Iocal R.
Jannatabad— 59, Jarret Mr. —79. Jaunpur— 6, 34,
Kayasthas 42-6-8, 51,
36,
III, 134. R.)
— 136,
Java— 143.
— police station— 145. — 112.
21,
32,
— (41,
39, 6o-3-4-5-7-§.
72-3-4-6-8-9, 116, i3if.
(J.
142,
Kharosa— 157. Khilats— 167.
Khorasan — 135.
Khulna — 121
ofcoins~2l,
find
;
55. 63. 90.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
19.
-167. Khansa
Jhajar— 167. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (J. A. S. B.)— i, iSf,
—
Khan Balik (Pekin) — 141. Khan Jahan, — Azam Humayun
146.
Jaynagar Jeetmal
— 121.
— 82.
Khalif— 13S. Khalifat
Jaun (Jamuna
1.
R. A. S.) 65, 169,
Khutba — 22. Kien-fuh-ting— 66, 67.
Kotwals
172.
— 167. — 152.
Judges— 167. Juma mosque — 168.
Krittibasha
Junk— 143.
Kula Panjika 80. Kulin Brahmins 79.
Kul,
—
K. Kabulpur, ford of—
Kadr Khan—
9,
L
167.
ir,
15,
20,23,
Lakhnauti
—
10,
9,
'Kaikaus,
— Sultan
of
Bengal
9,
— 128.
Kalni, R.
on coin
— 131,
book'- of Ghulam
Hus-
'Little
— 60, 67, — 83, 84
— 96. Lo-pu- a cotton fabric — 171. Lotah —
161.
sain
78, 79.
Kansiaosulunai (musician)
of,
132.
Kamrup — 72. Kans, Raja
5,
6, 8.
— 171.
Lulu— 136
Kantars — 135. (cowri),
Bengal
— 170.
173.
172, 173.
Lion — figure
138, 142, 148,
Kankars, Kankhars ~i6o,
Kansaram
162-4-5-1 "-7-8,
Z»— 169,
— 154.
Kamru— 33,
20-2-8-9,
41-2-3-4-5-7,
132-3-6-7, 142, 149, 154-5-6-8-
151. 154-
Kaoli
15,
30-1-2-4-5-6-8,
132.
Kali ma
— country of— 166. —
M. currency
of
Madhu Khan — 83, Maghrib -1 35,
136.
84.
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
182
Magistrate of Dacca
— 6.
Muhammadan— Sultans of
— of
123.
Mahuan
-
65, 66, 169, 172,
173.
— 164.
;
— 6,
coins of
37, 45.
Malik Tazuddin— 36,
37.
Malmal— a cotton
Bengal Rulers
—
8, 130.
Muizuddin — 136.
— 147. 83.
Khalif—
Mustasim Billah—the
Malik Saifuddin— 35,
138. I39f-
N.
fabric—
1
7
— 152.
Narasimha Ojha Naserit— 85, 86.
1 f
87.
Mahmud — 151,
Nasir
Man-che-ti, a cotton fabric
— 171.
Manikhur — 166. Maoshan, islands— 169. Kedarnath Mazumdar Mr.
— —
152.
Nasiruddin Bughra Shah
— 136,
137. 151. 152-
Nasiruddin
5'/n'/>asfl/flr— 151,
Natore— Raj family of-
152
87, 88
.
Nepal -1 53.
120.
Mazumdar— Mr.
— 121. Mecca — 142. Meghna, R. — 146,
Krishnacharan
Ncvill.
Col— 21,55,
Nicobar
Mo-hei-mo-leh, a cotton
fabric-
— islands —
Nimgachhi—
— 135. 63,
of
Tabakat
— Akbari — 4;, 43,
North Bengal—
A.
J.
— 33, 54-6-8-9,
65.
121.
81, 88, 109.
Numismatic
171.
1
Nizamuddin — autlior -i
S.
Supplement
Mubarak Shah. See Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah. Mughal Emperors— 5. Muhammad Almasmudi— 135.
Muhammad Shah, See Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Muhammad Shah II— of Gul-
— I3if.
Nur-Kutab Alam -i
1
1, 1
15, 134.
Ocean— 145.
—
Ojha Narasimha — 152. Orissa— 25.
Oudh— 156,
157.
P.
Pabna — 121. Paiks
— 155,
Paiasi-88.
to
B,~i8f.
70, 91, 95, 105, 108, 109.
barga
73.
R.— 142.
Nile.
147, 154
12!.
Muazzamabad
63-4-5,
6-8, 91-2-3-4.5-6, 100, loi.
Ming dynasty of China— 66 Mitra— Mr. Satish Chandra
Morocco
Bengal
Munsiganj —
84.
Malik Firoz— 19.
Malwa— 80, Man — 144.
History of
4.
Muktaveni
Maizuddin— 83,
23,
MS-
137.
Mahendra Deva— 7, 109, no, 122, 134; coins of— 113, 121,
E'ahuts
Tughlak — 17,
Muhammad
Maghribin (Ibn-Batuta)— 141.
160, 103.
</
GENERAL INDEX.
183
Pandua— 6,
29, 30, 38, 7-8-9, 166, 167.
53,
Pandunagar— 109,
113, 119, I20, I2i, 123.
156118,
—
Par^ana— 84. Patts—yg,
of
— 13,
Hindustan
18.
88.
—
—
i
Pichchhila, do— 170. Pipu, do 170.
—
(Chittagong)—
146.
Porto Pequeno (Satgaon)— 146,
Portuguese— 145, 146. Portugtiese in Bengal
71.
—
99.
7,
MM.
Haraprasad.
Satgaon-
71-6-7,
6, 63, 64,
95,
102-4-7-8-9, 124, I45-6-7-8-9, i5i. 153. Satgara 82, 87. Satyaban 81.
— — Satyadeb — 83. Sena kings — 146. Seth.
Mr. Radhesh Chandra—
120-3.
— 146.
Shahidullah,
— 144.
Muham-
Maulavi
mad — 155.
Priyadeb —81, Prices current
1
153.
Mr.— 65, f.6, 67, 97, 169, 172, Pichih, a cotton fabric— 170. Grande
:
Sastri.
70.
Phillips.
Porto
—
Sanyal, family of— 81, 85, 88. Sarayu. R. 156, 157, 166.
Pazulaurh 171. Pekin 141. Persian
fabric^
Santore 82-3-4-7-8-9. Sanyal Chakra 82. Sanyal. Mr. Durga Chandra So,
Patna— 84.
—
— 135.
Sanguinetti Mr. Sanso — a Chinese
Paper,— of Bengal— 171.
Coins of
133-.
Sai-fu-ting— 97
Pan-ko-Ia (Bengala) 169.
Pathan Sultans
—
Saifuddin Hamza Shah 6, 7, 61 85,89, 90-2-5-6-7-8-9, 107, 117,
— — 149,
Shah Jahan Shah Jalal
80, 86, 87. 150-1-2.
Shah-na-kieh— a cotton fabric Raiganj
— 121.
Rajahs— 88, Rajshahi
171.
— in, — Shams-i-Siraj Afif — Shaikh Anwar Shaikh Zahid
89.
— 156-7-8,
Ramjiban Ray— Ranas 156.
— —
163. 87. 88, 89.
Rati 135, 136, 144. Ray. Mr. J. M.— isaf. Ray. Mr. Radhika Bhusan Rayats 156.
1 15, 1 16. 17, 25-6-8-9,
30-1-4, 41-2-3-8-9, 51. Firoz Shah. Firoz Shah.
Shamsuddin
Rennel. Major— 79, 87, 146, 154. Riyazu-s-Salatiii— 2, =., 16-7-9,
Shamsuddin
29, 36, 44, 48, 53, 59, 65, 71-2-8, 89, 96, 99, 107, 1 10-34-57. 123. Rohilkhand— 86.
RohiIla-86,
Rupendranarayan — 87.
Rup^nj— police
112, 115.
1, 1 12,
Shamsuddin
— 121.
—
11
station— 6,
Iliyas
name
Iliyas
Shah.
See See
Shah. of
—
Another 99. 85, Shihabuddin Bavazid
Shah. Sha-ta-urh.— a cotton fabric
—
171. 138, 143, 148. Shihabuddin,— brother of Ghiyas-
Shayda-137,
uddin Bahadur Shah- 137. Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. See Bayazid Shah, ShLllong Coin Cabinet 8,9,13-
—
3f-4-8-8f-9, 22-3-7.
Shillong. Sacrifice (Iir)^i42.
Sadkavvan
M9-
— 136-7.!
Supplementary Cata-
logue of coins 145.
I'
of— 8,
in
the Cabinet
I?, i3f, 21-2-3-4,32-3-8, 54, 55. i53f-
EARLY INDEPENDENT SULTANS OF BENGAL.
184
Shirazi— 149. Sikandar Khan Ghazi 151-2-3. Sikandar Shah— 7, 33-5-6-8, 40-
—
50-1-2-3-5-7. 61-3-
1-2-5-6-8-9,
4-9, 70-1-2-4-5, 84, 93, 133. Sanyal— 81. 2 2.
Smith.
Dr. V.
9, io-i-3-3f-4-5-6-
24-6-7-8, 30-2-3-4-5. 41, 7, 45. 50 1-3-7. 61, 63, 70, 72, 83, 109, 1 10-2-3- 4-5-8, 132-37f-8, 143-8-9. 151-2-3-4. 17'. 173-
—
Sona-urh-kong Stapleton. Mr.
•
E.— 24,
H.
68,
121, 123, 129,
a measure of distance
173. 174.
Stewart.
Mr.— 5.
— 136,
U. Ulemas 166, 168. Upendra Narayan— 86,
—
Vaidyas— 82.
—
Sultan -US-Sultan 95. Sumentala (Sumatra)
— 169. Sundarbans— 53. Sunni, — Mussalmans — 160. Surma. R. — 154.
age
— —
Walters.
25, 31, 34,
167.
Mr.— 172.
— 172.
Yuan-Chwang — 1 72. Yule. Col.— i39f. 143-4-5-6-7-9,
5.
154-
Yuktavent — 147.
Yung-lo— 65-6-7, of
78.
Bengal— 1 70.
—
Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi
— 42, 43,
81.
— 167. Tazuddin— 35, 45. Thomas. Mr. — Tatar, horses
Zafarabad— 37,
46, 48.
See Jafarabad. Zafar Khan— 3C-1-5, 4I-4-5-7. 5°Zafar Khan Conqueror of Tri-
— — 151-2-3. Zafarpur — 36, See veni
2, 3, 4, 9, I2-34-5-6-8-9, 20-i-2-2f-3-7.9, 40,
52-4-6-7-8-9, 60, 69, 72, 144.
^ 149,
— 152.
W.
Tarash— 121 Tarikh-i-Ferishta 5. Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi— 5,17, 155.
Tibet— 138. Tirhut— 131,
153, i53f.
Kings--- 146.
— 141,
Yojana
—
of— 153. Im-
Wang-ching-hung— 66.
—
Tamasha-—i6j. Tangan. R.— :;o. Tangka.currency
— 153.
Vanger Saviajik Itihask — 80. Varendra — 79, So, 81. Varendra Brahmins — 86, 88.
Vizir
Suvarnagrama 118. Sylhet— 149, 150-3-4.
Tabakat-i-Nasiri
of
Vanga— 152,
1
Tabakat-i-Akbari— 5,
— 84.
Vajrayogini. Shrine
Vasudevpur 121. Vedanuja Maharajah Vikrampur 153.
160.
87.
V.
Varmma
Subuddhi Bhaduri— 81. Sufis
— Tughra — 128.
Triveni 147, 151, 152. Tsuilan, islands— 169.
Vajrabahu
69.
105,
69, loi, ISO-
Stages
1
—
—
A.— 172.
Sonargaon— 6,
fabric
Tughril 152. 24 Parganas'^-145,
Sikhai
Sikka
cotton
a
To\v-lo»kien,
153-*^
.
Zagirs— 8i.
G Jagirs. iii. i^ Zahid, Shaikh Zia Barni-25-6-8-9, 4*, 4"^. 81, .
-'48,
—
..
155.
-i?»*^f»Vj—.156.
•
^ilM'^
PLATE Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah
-5
741 H.
Shill.
D. M. 749 H.
750 H.
'Alauddin 'AH Shah
^/
Thos. 743 H. Ikhtivaruddin Ghazi Shah
:^'<-
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..^ fWr^
1.
M. 743 H.
^
if ^
^^m
Thos. 753 H. Shill. 750 H. Sliamsuddi'n IHyas Shah
Shill. 4-v
SS'
I.
PLATE lUyas ..^^^
Shamsuddin
Iliyas
Shah
Sikandar Shah
Os
^00 M. CO
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A'zam Shah
II.
I PLATE
% '^ij
3b
Sikandar Shah.
III.
PLATE
IV.
Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah.
I
PLATE
I
Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah.
'^i^iS
iS^k
Saifuddin
Hamza
Shah.
V.
2^
Saifuddin
Hamza
Shah.
.l15J5^*
Bayaiid Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah.
\
PLATE
"
(
"-J
'
3
'fk
Shihabuddin Ba)-azid Shah
'AJauddin Firoz Shah.
VII
I
I
2
D-4
D-5
Mahendra
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D-5
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Danujamarddana and Mahendra Deva.
PLATE IX
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PLATE
Jalaluddin
Muhammad
X.
Shah.
S-c-oJLe 1.*=
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mi^
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Bhattasali, Nalini Kanta Coins and chronology of the early independent sultans of Bengal
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