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1 Tanka - Shams al-Din Iltutmish
| Issuer | Sultanate of Bengal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1210-1223 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central field depicts an equestrian figure of the sultan in profile facing right, seated on a walking horse and holding a mace or sceptre aloft in the right hand; the rider wears a crown or diadem. The horse and rider are rendered in a bold, stylised manner characteristic of early Indo-Islamic hammered coinage. A circular border encloses the equestrian motif, with a continuous Arabic marginal legend surrounding the central device, reading the sultan's full titulature. |
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Iltutmish never ruled Bengal directly — this tanka was struck under his nominal suzerainty while the sultanate operated with considerable local autonomy during the chaotic consolidation following the Ghurid collapse. After Qutb ud-Din Aibak's death in 1210, Iltutmish spent years securing Delhi against rival Turkish amirs before Bengal's governors reliably acknowledged his authority at all. Coins from this window reflect that ambiguity: struck in his name, but at a remove from any centralized mint control.