A Rare engraved and cast brass Tankard made for Amir Shams al-Din Muhammad, Mehrabanid ruler of Sistan, Eastern Persia, late 15th/early 16th century

the body of globular form with a cylindrical neck and curved handle designed as a dragon, engraved along the neck with a calligraphic band against a scrolling foliate background, the body with a row of entwining roundels each containing vegetal designs, above a set of archways with geometric patterns and flowerhead roundels

in general good condition, some weathering to surface, including small areas of corrosion, slight rubbing along parts of decoration, all consistent with age and use, as viewed.
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inscriptions

bi-rasm al-khazana al-amir al-a'zam al-a'dal shams al-dawla wa al-din amir muhammad shah khallad allah zilal ma'dilatahu

'For the Treasury of the most Great Amir, the most Just, Sun of the State and Religion (Shams al-Din) Amir Muhammad Shah, may God make the shadow of his justice everlasting'

Amir Shams al-Din Muhammad was the Mehrabanid ruler of Sistan and son of Nizam al-Din Yahya. He ruled for a short period circa 890 AH/ 1485 AD) before he was deposed by his brother Mahmud.

Absence of the title 'malik' in the inscription must indicate that this piece was made either before or after 890 AH/1485 AD. According to Bosworth, he spend the rest of his life in Quhistan, acquiring extensive estate and managing to remain on amicable term with the new ruler of Sistan, his brother Mahmud, who had deposed him. (Bosworth 1994, pp.428 and 466). According to Ihya' al-Moluk, Shams al-Din Muhammad died in Qa'in in 928 (1521-2) when he was 64 years old (Ihya' al-Moluk, 1966, p. 152).

bibliography
Malek Shah Hoseyn ibn Malik Ghiyath al-Din Sistani, Ehya' al-Moluk,  (History of Sistan up to the year 1028/1618-19), edited by Manoochehr Sotoodeh, Tehran, 1966.
Clifford Edmond Bosworth, The History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz (247/861 to 949/1542-3), Mazda Publishers in association with Bibliotheca Persica, Costa Mesa, California and New York, 1994.