1893.] 
W. Irvine — Reigns of the later Moghul Emperors. 
261 
Dated coins for the 51st year of a reign necessarily imply fifty completed 
years of that reign. Now, the silver coins Nos. 843-846 in the British 
Museum, are dated in ’Alamgir’ s 51st year. On the other hand, there 
is no dispute about the date of his death; it took place in 1118 H. 
Even if we allow up to the last day of that year, where can you find 
room, within that limit, for fifty completed years, unless you throw hack 
the first day of the reign into some part of the year 1068 H. ? 
As I am led to believe, the argument for 1069 H. is founded on the 
rule that the enthronement, the reading of the khutbah, and the issue 
of coin, taken together, form of themselves the official act of accession. 
In cases where there is no proof to the contrary, I see no reason to 
quarrel with this assumption. Indeed, for some purposes, it might even 
be the only right date to consider. For instance, if I wished to fix the 
date from which ’Alamgir became undisputed sovereign, I should, with 
Mr. S. Lane Poole, elect for the year 1069 H. On the other hand, if a 
sovereign, in defiance of facts, chooses to fix an assumed or fictitious 
date for his accession, it is useless for us to say that he had no just right 
to do so. The all-important things for us are: 1st, to know that ho 
ordered the adoption of such official date; and 2ndly, to ascertain, on 
the best evidence, what that date was. Of all the acts of sovereignty 
hardly one can be held more formal and official than the issue of 
coinage : and can we suppose that on the face of that coinage any date 
would appear, other than, one fixed according to official reckoning? 
Over and over again, we find that the official reckoning and the date of 
accession, according to actual facts, are altogether discrepant. It is so 
in the case of ’Alamgir. 
Bahaduk Shah. His father died at Ahmadnagar, in the Dakhin, 
on the 28th Zu,l-Ka’dh, 1118 II. (2nd March, 1707). He heard of the 
event at Jamrud, west of Peshawar, on the 18th Zu,l-Hajj, [Kamwar 
Khan. Tdrikh-i-Salatin-i-Ghaghtaiyah, my copy, and Jag Jivan Das, 
Gujarati Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh. written in 1120 H., [B.M. Add!. MSS. 
No. 26,253]. He was enthroned at Pul-i-Sliah Daulah Darvesb, about 
15 miles west of Lahor, in Muharram 1119 H. Muhammad Kasim, 
Lahori, 'Ihratnamah, India Office Library, No. 252, and Jag Jivan Das, 
already cited). Muhammad All’s Burhdn-ul-Fatuh (B.M. Oriental MSS. 
No. 1884, fol. 162b.), fixes this enthronement on the 24th Muharram 
(26th April 707). He gained a complete victory over his brother 
Azam Shah at Jajau, near A'grah, on the 18th Rabi’ I. 1119 H. (18th 
June 707) — (Danishmand Khan, ’Ali takhallus “ Jangnamah,” and Khafi 
Khan. II, 590). But on the 1st' Shawwal 1119 H. (25th Dec. 1707), he 
issued an order that his reign should commence from the 18th Zu,l-Hajj > 
1118 II. (22nd March 1707), the day that he heard of his futher’s death 
