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1/2 Mithqal - Muhammad Khudabanda type A, Mashhad mint
| Issuer | Safavid Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1578 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Hammered gold flan bearing a multi-line Arabic legend in Nasta'liq script densely filling the field, incorporating the royal titulature of Sultan Abu al-Muzaffar Muhammad Shah ibn Tahmasp al-Husayni, with the declaration of servitude to Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. The mint name Mashhad is cited together with its honorific epithet referring to Imam Reza, alongside the regnal year 985 AH positioned within the lower portion of the inscription. The die-struck legend is arranged in a characteristic Safavid radial-panel composition with no border or decorative frame, consistent with early coinage of Muhammad Khudabanda. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله علی ولی الله علی حسن حسین علی محمد جعفر موسی علی محمد علی حسن محمد |
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| Additional information |
Muhammad Khudabanda came to power in 1578 largely because his son Abbas — the future Abbas I — was too young to rule, and because Khudabanda himself was nearly blind, making him acceptable to the Qizilbash amirs who wanted a manageable figurehead. The Mashhad mint held particular significance for the Safavids as the site of the Imam Reza shrine, one of Shia Islam's holiest pilgrimage centers, giving coins struck there an implicit religious weight beyond their monetary function.
Khudabanda's reign saw near-constant Qizilbash factional violence and Ottoman pressure from the west — conditions that make well-preserved gold from any of his mints genuinely uncommon.