1 Dirham - Ahmad b. Nasr Isbijab

The Qarakhanids were the first Turkic dynasty to convert to Islam en masse, and their coinage reflects the administrative complexity of a khaganate that functioned as a confederation of semi-autonomous appanages rather than a centralized state. Local governors struck in their own names beneath the senior khan's authority, which is precisely why regional issues like this one from Isbijab — a major Silk Road entrepôt on the Syr Darya frontier — can carry names that appear in no dynastic succession list but were genuine holders of minting rights.

Isbijab, later known as Sayram, sat at a critical node between the steppe and Transoxiana.