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Drachm - al-Fadl b. Sulayman Arab-Khwarezm

Issuer Abbasid Caliphate
Year 782-789
Type Standard circulation coin
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Reverse description Mounted horseman depicted in profile, shown in a schematic style typical of Arab-Khwarezm provincial issues of the late 8th century AH. The rider appears on horseback within a circular border, with additional decorative elements or abbreviated inscriptions in the surrounding field. The design is a local adaptation of Sasanian and Central Asian equestrian motifs, characteristic of the coinage struck under al-Fadl b. Sulayman.
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Edge Plain
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Additional information

Al-Fadl ibn Sulayman al-Tusi served as governor of Khurasan under the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi and briefly under al-Hadi, a tenure covering roughly this coin's date range. Arab-Khwarezm issues of this period reflect the Abbasid administration's effort to impose caliphal monetary authority over a region that had maintained its own distinct coinage traditions for centuries — the local Khwarazmian types had circulated there since well before the Islamic conquest. The hybrid character of these provincial drachms, retaining Sasanian-derived fabric while bearing Arabic religious formulae, was not stylistic compromise but administrative pragmatics.

At 2.15g, this piece falls below the standard dirham weight, consistent with documented weight drift in eastern provincial issues of the late 8th century.

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