Dirhem - Murad III Baghdad

Murad III ascended the throne in 1574 following the death of Selim II, and Baghdad at this point had been under Ottoman control since Suleiman the Magnificent's campaign of 1534 — a conquest that ended nearly a century of Safavid contest over the city. The Baghdad mint was strategically maintained precisely because the eastern frontier remained contested; Safavid pressure never fully abated, and the mint's output served logistical as much as economic purposes.

Murad III's reign saw the resumption of serious Ottoman-Safavid warfare in 1578, just three years after this piece was struck.