Dirham - al-Ẓāhir Baybars I

Baybars I consolidated Mamluk power with unusual speed after personally striking the fatal blow to Mongol expansion at Ain Jalut in 1260 — the same year he seized the sultanate by murdering his predecessor Qutuz. His monetary program was deliberate political theater: standardizing the dirham coinage helped project legitimacy for a ruler whose claim to power rested entirely on force. The Bal II#44 type belongs to a reign defined by near-constant military campaigning, including the systematic dismantling of remaining Crusader fortifications along the Levantine coast.