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Dirham - Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla
| Issuer | Hamdanid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 961 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a multi-line central field in Kufic Arabic script arranged in stacked horizontal registers, recording the names of the Hamdanid co-rulers Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla along with the mint and date formulae. A circular marginal inscription in Kufic script runs around the periphery within a beaded border, typically bearing a Quranic verse or additional titular epithets. The flan is slightly irregular, as is standard for hammered Islamic silver coinage of this period and region. Letter forms are angular and compact, reflecting the lapidary Kufic style favored on Hamdanid dirhams. The composition closely mirrors Abbasid prototype designs, affirming the dynasty's political legitimacy. |
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| Mintage | 349 (961) |
| Additional information |
The Hamdanids occupy an unusual position in tenth-century Islamic numismatics: a Shia Arab dynasty ruling from Mosul and Aleppo while nominally acknowledging Abbasid suzerainty, their coinage routinely named two rulers simultaneously. This dirham names both Nasir al-Dawla, holding Mosul, and his brother Sayf al-Dawla, the celebrated Aleppo amir whose court attracted al-Mutanabbi and other major Arabic poets. Joint naming on silver was a political signal, not administrative routine — it asserted dynastic cohesion at a moment when Buyid pressure from the east was making Hamdanid unity an urgent priority.
By 961, Nasir al-Dawla's grip on the Jazira was already weakening under Buyid encroachment.