ABSTRACT
This chapter encompasses a period covering more than three and a half centuries in the history of medieval Bengal (1205 to 1576), which began with the establishment of the Turkish rule under the leadership of Ikhtiyar al-din Bakhtiyar Khalji. During this period, Bengal witnessed a new and stable coinage-based system which took root from 1300 in the time of Shams al-din Firuz Shah, the governor appointed by Delhi. It gathered momentum with the initiation of independent Sultanate rule by Fakhr al-din Mubarak Shah, that continued up to the fourth decade of sixteenth century. The regular currency was a silver coin or tanka (average 10.6–10.8 grams in weight), generally used for revenue collection, government expenditure, and the transactions of the traders. An occasional issue of gold coins of the same weight standard was probably used for ceremonial purposes. Instead of low value copper coins or small denomination silver coins, transactions for daily necessities were carried out through cowry shells.
