Second specimen known. Extremely fine, Extremely rare.

Muhammad Shah Shuja's was appointed by Shahjahan as the Subahdar of Bengal and Bihar from 1641, and additionally, of Orissa from 25 July 1648. During his governorship, he built the official residence 'Bara Katra' in the provincial capital Dhaka. After the illness of Shahjahan in September 1657, a power struggle erupted among the his sons Shuja'a and Murad Bakhsh. Shah Shuja'a proclaimed himself as Emperor in Bengal and Bihar, and Murad declared his bid for power in Gujarat. urangzeb initially backed Murad, but later cunningly eliminated him to ascend the throne at Agra. He then sent Mir Jumla to subjugate Shuja'a. Shuja'a was defeated in the Battle of Khajwa on 5 January 1659. He retreated first to Tandah and then to Dhaka on 12 April 1660. He left Dhaka on 6 May and fled towards Arakan with a fleet of boats. Mir Jumla reached Dhaka on 9 May 1660 and was then appointed by Aurangzeb as the next Subahdar of Bengal. Shuja'a struck coins from three mints - Akbarnagar, Katak and Patna, the last two being extremely rare with only one piece known so far of each. A rupee of Patna mint is listed on www.zeno.ru as Zeno #137500. The mint-name is engraved in the left margin with only one nuqta, that of the final 'noon'. The same nuqta is clearly visible on this coin, which confirms it as an issue of the same mint. A comparison with Zeno #204139, a rupee of Akbarnagar mint of the same type, shows that the shosha of 'K' in the mint-name and the letter 'Alif' preceding it, occupy the same space. Evidently therefore, the mint-name on this coin is not Akbarnagar. Additionally, the layout and engraving style of the coin is similar to the 'Zeno' specimen of Patna - the only difference being the placement of the RY, which on the 'Zeno' coin is placed outside the rectangular margin, whereas on this coin, it is placed inside it.