500 Manat Soltan Sanjar

Soltan Sanjar — more properly Sultan Ahmad Sanjar — ruled the Seljuk Empire from 1118 until his catastrophic defeat by the Kara-Khitai at the Battle of Qatwan in 1141, after which he was captured by the Oghuz Turks and held prisoner for three years. His tomb in Merv, now within Turkmenistan's borders, survived in recognizable form for eight centuries before Soviet-era neglect accelerated its deterioration.

This coin belongs to a commemorative series issued by Turkmenistan under Saparmurat Niyazov, who aggressively promoted a specifically Turkmen historical identity during his presidency. The 500 Manat denomination had negligible purchasing power by 2001, making these pieces commemorative in function from the outset.