The present work describes medieval coins of India discovered in recent times, the trove unearthed of Chandir Jhar village in the Alipurdhar district of West Bengal. It contains 767 silver coins belonging to Suri Sultan of Delhi, Bengal Sultans, Bahmini Sultans, Mughal Emperor Akbar, Kings of Tripura and Koch Behar covering a period of 240 years. The authors have critically analysed the hoard in the context of history and numismatics and carefully examined the coins in an exhaustive descriptive catalogue. The work is a welcome and significant addition to the numismatic literature and will serve as a model for publication of other coin hoards from India. The Catalogue, published here, includes all the coins from the hoard received by the Museum. These include 273 coins of the Sultans of Bengal, 267 coins of the Suri Sultans of Delhi, 1 coin of a Bahamani Sultan of Gulbarga. 2 coins of Tripura, and 222 coins of Koch Bihar and 2 coins of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The earliest dated coins, probably of A.H. 750 (A.D. 1349-50), belong to Shams Al din Ilyas Shah (A.D. 1342-1357) of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty, while the latest dated issue is of A.H. 989 (A.D. 1581-82), issued by the Mughal emperor Akbar (A.D. 1556-1605). It is interesting to note that one of the two coins of Akbar, recovered from the hoard, is dated in A.H. 978 (A.D. 1570-71) and so before the completion of his conquest of Bengal in A.D. 1576. This piece and the Bahamani coin, found in the hoard, could have reached Bengal through inter alia circulation in commerical transactions.
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