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Dirham - Salar ibn Yazid citing Caliph al-Qa'im, Three-Pointed Star Type
| Issuer | Shirvanshah dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1050-1063 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by a multi-line Arabic Kufic legend arranged in horizontal registers across the flan, presenting the Shahada and the name of the Abbasid Caliph al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah. The inscription reads in four lines: 'There is no god but God alone, He has no partner; Muhammad is the Messenger of God; al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah.' The die is struck on an irregular, slightly buckled billon flan with characteristic hammered fabric, displaying dark patination over the raised legends. The field is flat and unadorned, with no decorative border visible on this specimen. |
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| Reverse description | Central field bearing a prominent three-pointed star motif with a pellet at its centre, characteristic of the so-called Three-Pointed Star Type of the Shirvanshah coinage. Surrounding the central device, a multi-line Arabic Kufic legend disposed in registers across the field names the local ruler Salar ibn Yazid with the honorific 'Amir al-Mu'minin.' The flan is irregular and slightly broader at the top, struck in billon with variable alignment, and covered with a dark grey patination. The boldly raised star device and surrounding legends are well-defined despite the worn and porous surface typical of hammered billon issues of this period. |
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| Additional information |
The Shirvanshah rulers of the eastern Caucasus occupied an awkward political position during the mid-eleventh century — nominally subordinate to the Abbasid caliphate yet increasingly pressured by the expanding Seljuk sultanate moving through the region. Citing al-Qa'im, the Abbasid caliph who reigned from 1031 to 1075 and famously endured the Buyid occupation of Baghdad before finding renewed authority under Seljuk protection, was a calculated gesture of legitimacy rather than any reflection of real political dependency.
The three-pointed star type designation distinguishes this issue within Salar ibn Yazid's coinage and is the primary die-identification marker used by specialists working from the Zeno corpus.