298 H. Blochmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. [No. 3, 



coinage, however, gives 961 ;* and further, 'Adli had reigned for some time, 

 when Humayun, in Zil Hajjah, 961, entered India, and people said that if 

 Islam Shah had heen alive, he would have opposed the Mughuls.f Islam 

 Shah, therefore, must have died in 960 ; the day of the month (26th Zil 

 Hajjah) is very likely correct. 



Islam Shah's coinage seems to bear witness to his superstitious charac- 

 ter. The spirit of the age, and his remarkable escapes from assassinations, 

 perhaps inclined the king to trust to amulets. Many of his coins have the 

 ' Seal of Solomon' and mysterious numbers, which Mr. Thomas passes over 

 in silence, though they puzzled Marsden. What the number 477 on his 

 coins was intended to mean, is difficult to say ; it may stand for the well- 

 known *M *£l dyatrulldh, ' God's sign', the letters of which when added give 

 477. I have no doubt that it resembles the famous numbers 66 (*JJl) ; 786 

 ( (^>jJ\ lij*^! *^l p~i) ; 2468 ( ^ j^J ), and others, which we find used in 

 the heading of letters, on amulets, tombs, and even mosque-inscriptions. J 



Islam Shah, too, lies, buried at Sahasram. 



XXVII. Shamsuddi'n Albul Muzaffar Muhammad Sha'h (II). 



(960 to 962 H., or A. D. 1553 to 1555.) 



His real name is Muhammad Khan Sur. He seems to have been ap- 

 pointed governor of Bengal, in supersession of Qazi Fazilat, soon after Islam 

 Shah's accession and to have acknowledged him as king of Bengal up to, or 

 nearly up to, his death in 960. In 960, however, Muhammad Khan's son 

 rebelled, as will be seen from the following curious inscription. 



The Jaldl Slidh Inscription from a mosque near Sherpur Murcliah, 

 dated 960 H., or A. D. 1553. 



A rubbing of this valuable inscription was received from Mr. E. V. 

 Westmacott, C. S., who found it " at a little mosque just to the north of 

 Sherpur, in Bagura." It measures 16 inch, by 9 inch. ; but to both 

 sides of the inscription are two ornaments, the upper one forming a mimoar, 

 with the Musulman creed in it ; and the lower one being a little square with 

 the words yd allah, ' O God', in it. The little square is surrounded by the 

 phrase yd fattdh, ' O Opener', four times repeated, the alifs of the four yd's 

 forming the sides of the little square. The inscription is — 



* Marsden, PL XXXVI, No. DCCXLYIII. 



f Badaoni, I, 459. 



J Vide J. A. S. B., 1871, Pt. I., p. 257. 



Mr. Thomas (' Chronicles', p. 413, in Islam Shah's coin No. 363) gives a wrong 

 reading, which is repeated on p. 416, No. 366. For ^jU^I ^JC>J\ ^kIs?) alhdmi-ahUn- 

 ildanndn, read ^(iJl \&>&) «V°« f alhdmi lidin-ildayyan. 



