Sale: CNG 73, Lot: 1166. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 13 September 2006.  Sold For $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Islamic Sultanates. Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. 1204-1206. AV 20 Rati (2.29 g, 8h). Uncertain mint. Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam, Sultan of Delhi. Dated Samvat 1262 (1204 AD). Horseman riding left, holding up-raised mace; date in Devahagari in outer margin / “Srimat mahamada samah” in Devanagari in three lines across fields. CIS B3; Rajgor Type 104; LOW 151 var. (star on reverse). Near VF. Very rare.

The Ghurids established a sultanate in the region of Herat in the mid 12th century. Muhammad bin Sam conquered northern India in 1193 and founded a separate dynasty centered at Delhi, which in 1204 embarked on a campaign to conquer the Ganges valley and Bengal. The first coins of the new Bengal sultanate are rare 40 and 20 rati gold pieces, most with Islamic legends, but a few rare pieces exist with Bengal Nagari script.