2019-09-17 Tue

This silver tanka was issued by Danujmardan Dev of Bengal Sultanate. Danujmardan Dev was descendant of Deva Dynasty of Bengal. This dynasty was founded by Raja Ganesh; whose ancestors were landlords of Bengal. Raja Ganesh was appointed as an officer in the court of Ilyas Shah. When Ilyas Shah started becoming weaker he took advantage of their weakness and seized power in Bengal. Raja Ganesh wanted to place his son, Kans Jha or Kans Shah on the throne of Bengal Sultanate. To place his son on the throne of the Bengal Sultanate he converted his son into Muslim and made him sit on the throne with the title Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah.

The Coins issued by Deva Dynasty was very very notable as the language and script used by them on their coins are Bengali and the date used is of Saka era. Coins issued by Dhanujmardan Dev bears the legend ‘Sri Sri Da/nujamardda/na Deva’ on the obverse side and ‘Sri chandi/charana pa/rayana’ on the reverse side.

This silver tanka issued by him from the mint Chatigrama (Chittagong) from the saka era 1339 weighs around 10.57g. This silver tanka issued by him is listed for INR 1,25,000 in the upcoming auction of Oswal which will be held in Mumbai on 19th October 2019.

Image Courtesy: Oswal Antiques