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Sulṭāns of Bengal – Sikandar bin Ilyās (AH 758-792, AD 1357-1389), Series 10 – Nawalistān (mulk) Mint

Different from the Chāwalistān tankas listed as G&G B172. A new discovery, known from only two specimens. The mint-name ’Mulk Nawalistān’ is a new addition to the mints of Bengal Sulṭānate. The type is not listed in G&G but it fits in with types G&G B192-B194 and B197/197A/197B, struck around the same time at mints Fīrūzābād, Mu’aẕẕamābād, Shahr-i-Nau etc. each with a distinct mint epithet. The adjective ’al-Sikka al-Mubārak’ indicates this was a ’blessed coin’, probably indicating its commemorative nature. The identity of ’Nawalistān’ is uncertain, although a mint named ’Chāwalistān ’urf Arṣah Kāmrū’ is known to briefly operated earlier during the same Sulṭān’s rule, striking coins of a very different type (B172). The coin offered here puts a question mark on the reading ’Chāwalistān’. Thanks to Dr Shailendra Bhandare

	الواثق بتائيد الرحمن أبو المجاهد سكندر شاه إبن إلياس شاه السلطان		يمين خليفة الله ناصر أمير المؤمنين غوث الاسلام و المسلمين خلد الله خلافته
The legend in a circle: al-wāthiq bi-ta ‘yīd al-raḥmān abū al-mujāhid sikandar shāh ibn ilyās shāh al-sulṭān (= He who trusts in the support of the merciful, father of the holy war, Sikandar Shāh son of Ilyās Shāh the Sulṭān). Margin as described in series 10.		The legend in a multifoil: yamīn khalīfat allāh nāṣir amīr al-mū’minīn ghawth al-islām wa al-musilmīn khallada khilāfatahu (= The right-hand man of the caliphate of Allah defender of the leader of the faithful, helper of Islam and the Muslims, perpetuator of his caliphate). Mint and date in margin: ضرب هذه السكة المباركة في ملك ناولستان سنة ثمانين و سبعمائة = sanah tamanin wa sabamayat ẓarb hiza al sikka al mubārak fi mulk Nawalistān.

Actual Weight (g)

10.85

Actual Diameter (mm)

~30

Composition

Silver

Catalogue

GG	Photo Link	Denomination	AH	Provenance	Comments	Rarity
B194C	2965c.	Tanka	780			RRR