1896.] R. Burn— .i neiv Mint of Akhar. 109 



This coin is not in Thomas or in the Panjjib and Calcutta catalogues, 

 or in the B.M. catalogue. The obverse corresponds with that of No. 

 9877, p. 146 of the Calcutta catalogue, a silver coin, and the epithet 

 •' Ghaus al islam Ava al raasalmiu " is found on a coin of Sikandar Shah 

 bin Iliis Shah, No. 9872, p. 143. 



4. A neio Mint of Akhar. — By Richard Burn, I.C.S. 



The coin Avhich I send for inspection bears a mint name which I 

 read as Manikpur. If this reading is cori'ect it adds a new mint city 

 of Akbar to those already known. The coin is in good preservation, 

 weighs 325 grains and its diameter is '875" and every letter exoeufc 

 the " kaf " is unmistakable. The unit figure, however, is not on the 

 reverse, though there seems to be a trace of 9. 



Manikpur has been a celebrated place since the conquest of Qanauj , 

 and indeed its Shaikhs claim to have been settled, there more than a 

 century and a half before. Standing on the bank of the Ganges in the 

 district of Partabgarh opposite to Karra, it has again and again 

 been the scene of battles under both Pathans and Mughals. From 

 Katlagh Khan under Nasiru-d-din Mahmud in A.H. 654 to the Marathas 

 in A.D. 1760-61, rebels to the central government have ravaged the 

 neighbourhood. It was in the sands between Karra and Manikpur, 

 according to Ziau-d-din Barni that Alau-d-din Muhammad treacherously 

 seized his uncle Jalalu-d-din Firoz Shah by the hand, at the same time 

 giving the signal for his assassination. Under Akbar the sarkar of 

 Manikpur was included in the Subah of Allahabad, and even in his 

 reign the same lawlessness prevailed. Perhaps the most important 

 battle of that time was that in A.H. 974 when Akbar's rapid approach 

 forced Khan Zaman Klian to raise the siege of Shergarh and withdraw 

 to Karra where his brother Bahadur Khan was besieging Majnun 

 Khan Kakshal, the Jagirdar. Tiie Emperor followed and at Rai Bareli 

 heard that the rebels intended joining the sons of Mirza Sultan. By 

 a forced march he reached Manikpur, and as no boats could be secured 

 he swam the river on an elephant followed by a hundred cavalry. It 

 was the old stoiy of the army spending its night feasting in imagined 

 security. Before they had time to recover from their confussion Akbar 

 was in their midst joined by Majnun Khan and Asaf Khan Jagirdar of 

 Karra. Khan Zaman Khan was trodden to death by an elephant, and 

 Bahadur Khan was killed by some of the Amirs. 



The vicissitude.s of Manikpur came to an end in 1762 when it was 

 incorporated in Oudh by Shuja-ud-daulat, in which province it still 

 remains. Its population at present is under 2,000, but the gardens and 

 groves in its neighbourhood still contain ruins that bear witness to 

 its former importance. 



