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Sher Shah Suri, originally named Farid, was the grandson of an Afghan noble who had come to India to serve Bahlul Shah Lodi. Farid acquired the name Sher Shah from
supposedly having once killed a tiger with his bare hands. Whether or not this is true, what is clear is that Sher Shah was one of the greatest Muslim rulers of India. He served in
the Lodi military, ending up in Bihar and eventually gaining a position of power there. When the Mughals defeated the Lodis, the sultanate started to fragment, and Sher Shah
took the opportunity to consolidate his power and even to extend it east into Bengal and west into what is now Uttar Pradesh. One key victory was his conquest of the fort at
Chunar, where he gained much treasure to finance his future activities. Eventually, he marched on Humayun, defeated him at Chausa, then again at Kanauj, and eventually
pursued him to Lahore and into Sind. Humayun eventually fled to Iran and sought refuge with the Safavid emperor Shah Tahmasp. Sher Shah had reestablished the Delhi
Sultanate.
In his short reign of 7 years (1538-45), Sher Shah transformed northern India. He built four major roads criss-crossing his empire and provided them with fruit trees all along,
with rest stops and wells at periodic intervals. He also minted substantial amount of coin, introducing the 11 gm silver rupee to replace the 10 gm billon tanka, and also providing
a copious copper coinage based on the paisa. The provision of roads and coin combined to facilitate trade and the economy must have boomed. The monetary reforms
persisted after the Suri reign ended; even today India's currency is the rupee and paisa.
Shar Shah died in an unfortunate accident when a rocket his own forces had fired rebounded onto a pile of ammunition near where he was situated. He was mortally
wounded in the blast. He was succeeded by his son Jalal Khan, known as Islam Shah. Jalal tried to hold his father's empire together, but the usual factionalism broke out in his
time and completely fractured the state once he died. With no powerful leader at the helm, northern India became ripe for Humayun's return and the reestablishment of the
Mughal empire.
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Sher Shah (1538-1545) |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Gwaliar
Weight: 11.33 gm., Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 950 (= 1543-44 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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On this coin, the date is in the top left hand corner of the box on the obverse.
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Gwaliar
Weight: 11.43 gm., Diameter: 28 mm., Die axis: 5 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 951 (= 1544-45 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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On this coin, the date is along the left edge of the box on the obverse.
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Satgaon
Weight: 11.23 gm., Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 12 o'clock
Legend, including in the margin name in Nagari sri ser sah,
mint name Satgaon and AH date 950 (= 1543-44 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Shergarh Bakkar
Weight: 11.46 gm., Diameter: 27 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah,
star mintmark of Shergarh Bakkar, and AH date 951 (= 1544-45 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Shergarh Dehli
Weight: 11.42 gm., Diameter: 26 mm., Die axis: 11 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 949 ( = 1542-43 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Jahanpanah type
Weight: 11.28 gm., Diameter: 27 mm., Die axis: 11 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 947 ( = 1540-41 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Note the 6-pronged swastika or whirling wheel on the first line of the obverse. A beautiful coin, this is the plate coin of
Goron and Goenka D809.
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Jahanpanah type
Weight: 11.18 gm., Diameter: 25 mm., Die axis: 5 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 947 ( = 1540-41 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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This coin has a different treatment of the first line of the obverse.
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Jahanpanah type
Weight: 11.18 gm., Diameter: 26 mm., Die axis: 11 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 948 ( = 1541-42 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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This coin has a yet another treatment of the first line of the obverse.
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, mintless type
Weight: 11.28 gm., Diameter: 26-27 mm., Die axis: 8 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri ser sah and AH date 948 ( = 1541-42 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Silver rupee, Jahanpanah type
Weight: 11.09 gm., Diameter: 28 mm., Die axis: 2 o'clock
Legend, including in the margin name in Nagari sri ser sah,
and AH date 949 (= 1542-43 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Sher Shah Suri (1538-45) Copper 1/16 paisa, AH 950
Weight: 1.41 gm., Diameter: 11 mm., Die axis: 5 o'clock
Legend, including AH date 950 ( = 1543-44 CE) /
Legend |
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Apparently an unpublished type.
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Islam Shah (1545-52) |
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Islam Shah (1545-52) Silver rupee, Agrah
Weight: 11.46 gm., Diameter: 25 mm., Die axis: 4 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri isalam sah and AH date 957 ( = 1550-51 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Islam Shah (1545-52) Silver rupee, Chunar
Weight: 11.47 gm., Diameter: 25 mm., Die axis: 11 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri isalam sah /
Legend: Shahada and AH date 955 ( = 1548-49 CE) |
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Islam Shah (1545-52) Silver rupee, Gwaliar
Weight: 11.31 gm., Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 4 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri isalam sah and AH date 952 ( = 1545-46 CE) /
Legend: Shahada |
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Islam Shah (1545-52) Silver rupee, Gwaliar
Weight: 11.38 gm., Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 4 o'clock
Legend, including name in Nagari sri isalam sah /
Legend: Shahada |
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This coin has a different legend arrangement.
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Muhammad Adil Shah (1552-1556) |
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Muhammad Adil Shah (1552-1556) Copper paisa, Jaunpur
Weight: 20.54 gm., Diameter: 22 mm., Die axis: 2 o'clock
Legend: abul muzaffar bi-tayid al-rahman muhammad shah adil sultan, with dotted X mintmark /
Legend, along with AH date 963 ( = 1556-57 CE) and mint name Jaunpur
Ref: Goron & Goenka D1114. |
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After Islam Shah died, his 12-year old son Firuz was crowned.
But a month later he was killed on the order of Mubariz Khan, Sher Shah's nephew, who ascended the throne as
Muhammad Adil Shah. He had a short reign in a much diminished Sultanate.
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