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Dirham - Alp Arslan Muhammad
| Issuer | Great Seljuq |
|---|---|
| Year | 1069 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing a four-line Arabic Kufic legend comprising the Shahada: 'There is no god but God, alone, without partner; Muhammad is the Messenger of God.' The inscription is boldly struck in raised relief within a plain inner border, surrounded by a toothed or beaded outer border. The marginal legend, containing the mint name and regnal date formula, is largely off-flan on this specimen. The overall style is characteristic of Great Seljuq hammered billon dirhams of the mid-5th century AH. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Alp Arslan's reign reached its peak just three years before this coin's issue date, when his forces annihilated the Byzantine army at Manzikert in 1071 and captured Emperor Romanos IV — an event that opened Anatolia to Turkic settlement and permanently altered the region's demographic composition. The billon fabric of this dirham reflects the monetary degradation that plagued Seljuq coinage through the mid-eleventh century, as silver supplies struggled to keep pace with an expanding empire administered across fragmented iqta holdings.