Abbasi - Karim Khan Zand Type C, Širâz mint

Karim Khan Zand never took the title of Shah, ruling instead as Vakil al-Ra'ya — regent of the subjects — a deliberate political posture meant to legitimate his rule without the dynastic bloodline the Safavids had made obligatory. The Širâz mint was central to this project: by striking coin in his own name from a city he rebuilt into a functioning capital, he was asserting administrative sovereignty through the monetary system rather than through royal titulature.

Type C of this abbasi series reflects mid-reign die revisions made as his government stabilized, distinguishable from earlier types by calligraphic layout adjustments that remain a minor classification headache for collectors working from worn examples.