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Dirham - 'Ilkhan' Arghun Khan
| Issuer | Ilkhanate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1289 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.42 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field bearing the name and titles of the Ilkhan ruler Arghun Khan inscribed in multiple lines, combining Uyghur script in the upper register and Arabic script below, reflecting the bilingual administrative tradition of the Ilkhanate. A hawk (falcon), the dynastic emblem of the Mongol rulers, is depicted in the lower portion of the field facing right with wings folded and a six-pointed star beneath its feet, with a radiate sun-face motif appearing behind or above it. A beaded border encircles the design, and the coin exhibits a post-mint piercing at the right side. |
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| Mintage | 688 (1289) - Tabriz mint |
| Additional information |
Arghun Khan ruled the Ilkhanate from 1284 to 1291 and spent much of his reign attempting to forge a Franco-Mongol alliance with European Christian powers against the Mamluk Sultanate — a diplomatic project that consumed enormous energy and ultimately produced nothing. He dispatched at least three embassies westward, including the famous mission of Rabban Sauma to Rome and Paris in 1287–88, just a year or two before this dirham was struck.
Arghun was Buddhist, which makes the Islamic formula on his coinage a purely political convention inherited from Ilkhanid administrative necessity rather than personal conviction.