Dr Sutapa Sinha

Dr Sutapa Sinha

Bengal Sultanate Coins

Research scholar, Centre for Archaeological Studies & Training, Calcutta

In 1996 I undertook a research project entitled "Coinage and Currency System of Bengal Sultans (1204-1576 AD inmy capacity as Fellow of the Institute. A part of this project involved indepth study and documentation of coins preserved in public collections inridge the UK. I applied for a Visiting Fellowship in 1997 and received the award in 1998 which was the ideal time for mto visit the UK after completing the first phase of rsearch work on the coin hoards of the Bengal Sultanate in India. Four months in the UK afforded me the opportunity to examine, document and photograph the entire collection of Bengal Sultanate coins presented in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. I also took the opportunity to study biographical material on some pioneer numismatists of Bengal in the Oriental and India Office collection of the British Library and examined archaeological artefacts found from Gaur, West Bengal, now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The visit to the UK enabled me to get international exposure in the field of numismatics. Before the tenure of this award was complete, I was offered the Hirayana Trainee Curatorship on the Silk Road in numismatics by the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum, During this traineeship I was able to visit several museums and historical sites of England and Scotland and to study the coin collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale and a number of museums in Paris. I was also able to attend the 15th South Asian Archaeology Conference at Leiden in the Netherlands. I also was elected a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and became a member of the Oriental Numismatic Society, London. Susequently I also received a travel award to visit the historical sites of Bangaldesh offered by the International Centre for Studies in Bengal Art, Dhaka.

The research material gathered from collections in the UK was extensively used in my PhD entitled: "Coin Hoards, Currency Patterns and Trade: Sultanate Bengal (AD 1204-1576). A monograph entitled Bengal Sultanate Coins in the Museums in the UK: A report" is publisehd as Occasion Paper no. 13 by the Centre for Archaeological Studies and Training , Eastern India . I have activitely communicated and shared my experience gained during teh award with my colleagues and inspired them to apply for research grants also.