2016-11-03 Thu

Shams Al-Din Muzaffar (AH 896-899; AD 1490-1493) was the last Habshi ruler of Bengal. He was from Abyssinia (a nation that comprised the northern half of present-day Ethiopia). Indo-Persian historian has described him as a tyrant, whose cruelty had disturbed not only the nobles but also his people. He was killed by his Wazir Sayyid Husain in 1493 who later succeeded him as Alauddin Husain Shah.

Shams Al-Din Muzaffar had issued coin in gold and silver, most of them have the King’s name and title on the obverse and Shahada on the reverse.

Inscription on one of his gold tanka weighs around 10.5gm, minted in Khazana in the year AH 896, reads “Shams Al-Dunya Wa 'L Din Abu 'L Nasir Muzaffar Shah Al-Sultan Khallada Allah Mulkahu Wa Saltanahu” within scalloped circle on the obverse while “Shahada Within Scalloped Circle and names of four Caliphs Around” on the reverse.

This coin was sold for INR 2, 50,000 in the Todywalla Auction held in Mumbai on 7th November 2014. A similar specimen in a better grade was sold for the 6.5 lacs in an overseas auction.

View more details of the coin here: https://goo.gl/fYHnYs