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Dirham - al-Ẓāhir Baybars I
| Issuer | Mamluk Sultanate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1270-1275 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field occupied by a four-line Arabic religious legend disposed horizontally within an inner circle, presenting the shahada and Quranic passage attesting to the Prophet's mission. The inscriptions are rendered in a bold, clearly spaced Naskh-influenced script characteristic of Mamluk silver coinage. A marginal band with additional text runs between the inner circle and the outer beaded border, which encircles the entire reverse design. The flan is irregular and slightly uneven at the edges, as typical of hammered Islamic dirhams of this period. |
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| Reverse lettering | lā ilāha illā Allāh Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahū bi al-hudā |
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| Additional information |
Baybars I came to power by personally killing the Mongol general Kitbuqa at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 — the first major Mongol battlefield defeat — and spent the following decade systematically dismantling the Crusader coastal fortifications. His dirhams from this period were struck across multiple Syrian and Egyptian mints, and Album 883 encompasses considerable variation in mint name and regnal year placement that collectors frequently underestimate.
Baybars also installed a puppet Abbasid caliph in Cairo after the Mongols had extinguished the Baghdad caliphate in 1258, using the arrangement to legitimize his coinage and administrative authority simultaneously.