2019-04-27 Sat

Saif Al Din Hamzah was the fourth ruler of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty of the Bengal Sultanate. His reign spanned from 1410-1412. In all probability, he was a puppet king, with real power resting in the hands of Raja Ganesh. A civil war in Bengal broke out during Hamza's reign. In 1412, after only 2 years of ruling, he was killed by his slave Shihabuddin.

Hamzah Shah ruled for a brief period, and, as a consequence, his coins are scarce to rare. During the reign, he issued silver coins in the denomination of Tanka. These coins were struck from mints such as Hadrat al-Firuzabad, Iqlim Muazzamabad, and Satgaon.

Depicted above silver Tanka is attributed to his reign. The obverse of the coin depicted the legend ‘saif al-dunya wa'l din abu'l mujahid hamzah shah ibn a'zamshahbin Sikander Shah bin Ilyas Shah al-sultan’. The reverse of the coin has legend ‘Nasir Ameer al-Momineen Ghaus al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen Khallada Mulkuhu’ within field.

Image Source: Classical Numismatic Gallery