1/2 Mohur Ashrafi - Karim Khan Zand Basra mint

Karim Khan Zand never took the title of Shah, governing instead as Vakil al-Ra'aya — regent of the subjects — a deliberate political posture that distinguished his coinage authority from that of the Safavid rulers he nominally propped up. The Basra mint came under Iranian control after his forces captured the Ottoman city in 1776, just two years before this piece was struck, making Basra-mint Zand issues a narrow window of output tied directly to that campaign.

Karim Khan died in 1779, and Iranian forces withdrew from Basra shortly after. This half mohur dates to the final year of that occupation.