Large silver tanka (or rupee) of Sher Shah Suri (1538-1545 AD), Agra mint, Delhi

Description

Inscriptions on both sides, naming Sher Shah and giving his titles. Dated to 948 AH = 1541 AD. Agra mint. Excellent high grade huge silver coin, measuring 27mm, 10.9 grams. Scarce. "The coins of Indian Sultanates" #D-770. Sher Shah Suri (born Fahrid Khan; later renamed Sher Khan after killing a tiger; c. 1486 - May 22, 1545), was an Afghan ruler (shah) in North India (1540-45) and founder of Sur dynasty. He was the son of Hasan Khan. According to his teacher, Fahrid Khan was exceptionally bright as a child. Farid's father Hasan Khan was the jagirdar or landlord of Sasaram in Bihar. Farid left home at the age of 22 and went to Jaunpur. In Jaunpur, he devoted some time to study and very soon became proficient in Arabic as well asn literature. In 1522, Farid served for Bahar Khan, the governor of Bihar. His master was impressed by his service and devotion. Bahar Khan conferred on him the title of Sher Khan for having shown gallantry in killing a tiger single-handed. Later, Sher Khan was appointed Vakil (deputy governor) and also a tutor of Bahar Khan's son Jalal Khan. Jealous of Sher Khan's success, his enemies poisoned his master's mind and he was thus deprived of his father's jagir. He joined the Babur camp where he served from April 1527 to June 1528. But soon, he left Babur and returned back to Bihar and took over his old job as a guardian of Jalal Khan. Jalal Khan being a minor, Sher Khan became the virtual ruler of Bihar. In 1531, Sher Khan asserted his independence from Humayun, Babur's successor. The unexpected rise of Sher Khan made the Lohani Afghans and Jalal Khan impatient. They even entered into an alliance with Muhamud Shah, the king of Bengal. Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul River in 1534. Later, he invaded Bengal and Muhamud Shah handed over him a large sum and territory to make amends. He then became the independent ruler of Bihar and Bengal. In October 1537, Sher Khan again invaded Bengal and besieged city Gaur. Humayun realising the strength of the Afghan, marched to oppose Sher Khan in December 1537, and besieged Chunar. However, the brave army of Sher Khan baffled all the attempts of the assailants for six months which gave all the time to Sher Khan for reduction of Gaur by April 1538. In 1539, when Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Khan cleverly went and occupied the Mughal territories in Bihar and Jaunpur. In 1539, Sher Khan was able to defeat Humayun in the Battle of Chausa. Again in 1540, he defeated Humayun in the Battle of Kannauj, and went on to capture Delhi and Agra. Later he subjugated the areas of Bengal, Malwa, Raisina, Sindh and Multan easily. He, however, faced strong resistance against Rao Maldev, the Rathore Rajput ruler of Marwar. In a very short time, Sher Khan extended his kingdom from Bengal in the east to the river Indus in the west. He then besieged the strong fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, where he died in an accidental explosion of gunpowder.
On Oct 3, 2022 at 17:40:37 PDT, seller added the following information: