Rukn-Al-Din Kaikaus was the ruler of Bengal Sultanate. He sat on the throne of Bengal Sultanate after succeeding his father Nasiruddin Bughra Khan in the year 1290 CE and ruled it till 1300 CE. From the reference of several inscriptions and from his coins, it is found that he had styled himself as ‘Sultan-bin-Sultan’ meaning ‘the sultan, son of Sultan’ and ‘Sultan-us-Sultan’ meaning ‘the Sultan of Sultan’.

After sitting on the throne of Bengal Sultanate he had divided Bengal Sultanate into two parts Bihar and Lakhnauti. He appointed Ikhtiyaruddin Firoz Itgin as the Governor of Bihar and Shahabuddin Zafar Khan Bahram Itgin as the Governor of Lakhnauti. Later he also extended his kingdom to Bihar in the west, Devkot in the north and Satgaon in the south. It is also said that Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji had also accepted his independent dominance of Bengal.

This silver tanka was issued by him from the Lakhnauti mint weighs around 10.6g. The obverse of this coin is inscribed as ‘Al-Sultan Al-A 'Zam Rukn Al-Dunya Wa 'L Din Abu 'L Muzaffar Kaikaus Al-Sultan Bin Al-Sultan Bin Sultan’. The reverse of this coin is inscribed as ‘Al-Imam Legend; Caliph Al-Musta'Sim.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction