Tripura SE1508 tanka
This specimen was lot 2655 in Stephen Album sale 38 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2020), where it sold for $309.40. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPURA: Rajadhara Manikya, 1586-1599, AR tanka, SE1508 (1586), lion left, attractive strike, Fine to VF." Tripura was a princely state in the hills east of Bengal and north of Chittagong. It was a British protectorate 1809-1947. Wikipedia notes, "Rajdhar Manikya I (d. 1600), also spelt Rajadhara Manikya, was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1586 to 1600. Formerly a warrior-prince who fought with distinction during his father's reign, upon his own ascension to the throne, Rajdhar showed little interest in such matters, instead becoming occupied with religious pursuits. The decline of Tripura is thought to have begun during his reign." The SCWC comments, "The coins of Tripura are unusual in that the majority have the name of the king together with that of his queen, and is the only coinage in the world where this was done consistently. In common with most other Hindu coinages of northeast India, the coins bear fixed dates. Usually the date was that of the coronation ceremony...." The Tripura kingdom existed before the coming of the Mughals in the sixteenth century. The Mughals managed to seize the flat part of the kingdom but were never able to penetrate the hill districts. The British established a protectorate over the kingdom in 1809. They called the state "Hill Tipperah" to distinguish it from a district in Bengal state called plain "Tippera". Altho surrounded to the north, west and south by Bangladesh, it is still today part of India.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 10.5 g, silver, this specimen 10.76 g.
Catalog reference: KM-97.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 38, featuring the Dabestani Collection of Persian Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
Link to:
- Tripura SE1503 tanka = 1581
- Tripura SE1521 tanka = 1599
- Coins and currency dated 1586
- return to coins of India