Bengal AH 887 tanka
This specimen was lot 42431 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, September 2026), where it sold for $12,200. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Lovely Choice Mint Bengal Tanka of Jalal al-Din Fath, INDIA. Bengal Sultanate. Gold Tanka, AH 887 (1482/3). Khazana Mint. Jalal al-Din Fath. NGC MS-63. Obverse: "fath shah sultan ibn mahmud shah al-sultan sikkah sikkah khazana 887"; Reverse: "al-sultan ibn al-sultan jalal al-dunya wa'din abu al Muzaffar". An EXTREMELY RARE emission of Jalal al-Din Fath, with it being more than a decade since the last public sale offering of a gold Tanka of his. The surfaces are nicely lustrous, with minimal marks or handling, and only a touch of weakness being the only minor drawback. It is impossible to predict when the next nice example of Jalal al-Din Fath will come to market, but history suggests it will be a rather long wait, only increasing the urgency to bid on this example.
Mahmud Shah II (Rukn al-Din Barbak Shah) ascended the throne at a time when the authority of the Bengal court was increasingly undermined by factional rivalries and elite power struggles. His reign was marked by acute internal instability, largely driven by the rising influence of Habshi (Abyssinian) military slaves and palace guards, whose expanding role in court politics significantly weakened centralized royal authority. These powerful military elites exercised substantial control over administrative and succession affairs, reducing the sultan's effective autonomy and accelerating the erosion of dynastic stability. The culmination of these internal tensions came in 1486 AD, when Jalal al-Din Fath Shah was overthrown and killed in a palace coup. His violent removal effectively brought an end to stable Ilyas Shahi rule and paved the way for a brief but consequential phase of Habshi dominance in Bengal's political history. From a numismatic perspective, the reign of Jalal al-Din Fath Shah remains significant despite its brevity. Coins were struck in his name at major mints, including Gaur (Lakhnauti). His silver tankas and copper issues continue the established epigraphic and stylistic conventions of Bengal Sultanate coinage, typically bearing the kalima and Islamic religious formulas alongside his royal titles. These coins provide important evidence for late 15th-century mint practices and the persistence of traditional monetary forms during a period of political fragmentation."
Wikipedia mentions this ruler as Jalaluddin Fateh Shah (r. 1481-87). He was assassinated by the commander of his palace guard, who then seized the throne as Shāhzāda Bārbak, who ruled less than a year.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold.
Catalog reference: G&G-B600 (RR).
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2026.
Link to:
- Bengal AH 864 tanka, Barbak Shah
- Bengal AH 907 tanka, 'Ala al-din Mahmud Shah I
- Coins and currency dated 1482