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1 Qirsh - Ali Dinar
| Issuer | Sultanate of Darfur |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the tughra (royal cipher) of Sultan Ali Dinar, rendered in bold Arabic calligraphy in the traditional Ottoman-influenced style. The tughra is flanked on either side by foliate or vine-like ornamental devices bearing pellet clusters, characteristic of Darfur coinage. The flan is irregular and slightly rough, consistent with primitive hammered production at the Al-Fashir mint. The overall composition is centered but exhibits the typical off-strike and planchet irregularities endemic to this issue. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field bears a three-line Arabic inscription within a plain inner circle, reading the mint and Hijri date formula. The legend is surmounted by a crown-like decorative element at the top of the inner circle. Foliate ornamental devices with pellet clusters appear in the left and right margins outside the inner circle, mirroring the obverse decoration. The flan is irregular with characteristic surface roughness and planchet flaws typical of the hammered billon coinage of the Sultanate of Darfur. |
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| Additional information |
Ali Dinar was the last sultan of Darfur, restored to power by the British in 1898 after the Mahdist state collapsed at Omdurman. He ruled with considerable autonomy for nearly two decades, minting his own coinage as a deliberate assertion of independence from Khartoum. This billon qirsh, struck in AH 1327, was produced in extremely limited quantities — Darfur lacked sophisticated minting infrastructure, and the coins show it. The British eventually grew suspicious of Ali Dinar's wartime sympathies with the Ottomans and invaded Darfur in 1916, killing him at the Battle of Beringia and ending the sultanate permanently.