Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Dirham 'Barbed Trefoil' - Shawur ibn al-Fadl
| Issuer | Shaddadids of Ganja |
|---|---|
| Year | 1049-1067 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field occupied by a multi-line Arabic religious and dynastic inscription set within a plain inner circle, with a further marginal legend running around the circumference within a beaded border. The central legend contains the Shahada and related formulae arranged in horizontal registers. The marginal inscription carries additional titulature or Quranic text, partially obscured by the irregular flan and edge damage at upper left. The epigraphy is in angular Kufic script, boldly struck, with some letter forms showing characteristic Shaddadid style. The overall layout follows the standard Islamic dirham format of this era. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Ganja |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish dynasty who controlled Ganja — a major commercial hub on the routes connecting the Caucasus to Iran — and their coinage reflects the fractured political geography of the mid-eleventh century, when Seljuk pressure was steadily dismantling the smaller principalities of the region. Shawur ibn al-Fadl ruled as the dynasty's last significant independent figure before Seljuk encroachment rendered Shaddadid authority nominal at best.
The 'barbed trefoil' attribution in Lowick's Ganja corpus distinguishes this type from the broader A/1492 grouping by a specific ornamental device used as a field marker — a rare enough occurrence to anchor die studies for the reign.