A COLLECTION FORMED BY PAUL STEVENS, SULTANATES Jalal al-Din Ahsan Shah, Gold Tanka, Hadrat Madura, AH 735, 11.02g (Bhandare JONS 186, p.26, Winter 2006). Superb extremely fine and very rare. The obverse title is afzal-al yasin khalifath rabb al-‘alamein jalal al-dunya wa al-din, which bestows on Ahsan the lofty position of “lord of both worlds”, a title “usually reserved for Allah, the supreme God” (Bhandare JONS 186). The reverse legend identifies Ahsan as abu al-dhu ‘afa wa al-masakin “father of the weak and the destitute”. The rendition of the mint as Hadrat (venerable) Madura, previously a Tamil temple city, gives an intriguing perspective on the changing social and religious status of the area during this short period of independence before the rising Vijayanagar Kingdom overwhelmed it. £8000-10,000
altro