418 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVIII, 
River, Mymensingh, is correct, the fact probably furnishes one 
in Bengal during the reign of Shamsuddin. In this case it 
resulted in the absorption either of the petty sovereignty of a 
Hindu Raja (who may have fled from Bengal to the Madhupur 
jungle for fancied security from his Musalman foes), or of an 
outlying portion of the dominions of Kamata or Pragjyotishpur 
(Assam). 
Ghivasuddin was not allowed to share the sovereignty 
with his father without dispute, and it was the successful attempt 
of another son of Shamsuddin, viz.: Shihabuddin Bughrah 
Shah, in 717-718 to obtain the same right of coinage as his 
brother that ultimately led to the affairs of Bengal again 
becoming of active interest to the sovereigns of Dehli. The 
few coins of Shihabuddin previously recorded are al) dated 
718, but the unit decimal on a coin in my possession, which was 
purchased at the Calcutta mint in 1906 from among the rejecta 
of a find made at Murshidabad the previous year, seems clearly 
to be -17, yse ew .! As there is also a coin of Ghiyasuddin of 
717 in the Shillong Cabinet and no coins struck by Ghiyaguddin 
in 718 or 719 are known, Shibabuddin seems to have success- 
fully ousted his brother from his position as joint ruler with — 
Shamsuddin during the year 717, and, possibly, maintained 
himself in power at Lakhnauti for two years longer. In 720, 
however, Ghivaguddin’s coins begin again and are found in 
comparatively large numbers for each of the succeeding years 
until 723; in which year Ghiyaguddin’s coinage as an inde- 
pendent King comes to an end? 
le y possess two fairly satisfactory contemporary 
authorities for this period, Ibn Batitah, the Tangiers doctor, 
who arrived in India at the beginning of the Hijra year 734 
(September, 1333), but who dictated an account of. his travels 
. > 
of another independent line of Bengali Kings with Fakhruddin 
and Ilyas Shah. 3 
P va pee a goes ; 
* The British Museum Catalogue gives one coin of 728, buton um 
spection the unit word was found to be undoubtedly us’, 80 that the 
real date of the coin is 729. : : 


