Mukaththir b. 'Isa b. Fulayta ruled as Sharif of Mecca during a period of intense rivalry between the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimids for religious legitimacy over the holy cities. The Sharifate itself — a hereditary governance structure over Mecca drawn from Hashimite lineage — frequently played these competing powers against one another to preserve local autonomy. Coinage in this context was an assertion of that autonomy as much as anything administrative.
The light weight of surviving specimens reflects both the fragmented silver supply reaching the Hijaz and the relatively low striking pressure typical of provincial Abbasid-era issues in the region.
Mukaththir b. 'Isa b. Fulayta ruled as Sharif of Mecca during a period of intense rivalry between the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimids for religious legitimacy over the holy cities. The Sharifate itself — a hereditary governance structure over Mecca drawn from Hashimite lineage — frequently played these competing powers against one another to preserve local autonomy. Coinage in this context was an assertion of that autonomy as much as anything administrative.
The light weight of surviving specimens reflects both the fragmented silver supply reaching the Hijaz and the relatively low striking pressure typical of provincial Abbasid-era issues in the region.