Al-Zahir Jaqmaq ruled the Mamluk Sultanate for fifteen years after seizing power in 1438 — an unusual stretch of stability for a regime that cycled through sultans with brutal frequency. A former slave soldier of Circassian origin, he came to power at a moment when Mamluk copper coinage had been so thoroughly debased and counterfeited that local markets in Cairo and Damascus operated with deep skepticism toward small change. Fals of this reign are accordingly found in wide variety, minted across multiple provincial workshops with inconsistent weight control.
Al-Zahir Jaqmaq ruled the Mamluk Sultanate for fifteen years after seizing power in 1438 — an unusual stretch of stability for a regime that cycled through sultans with brutal frequency. A former slave soldier of Circassian origin, he came to power at a moment when Mamluk copper coinage had been so thoroughly debased and counterfeited that local markets in Cairo and Damascus operated with deep skepticism toward small change. Fals of this reign are accordingly found in wide variety, minted across multiple provincial workshops with inconsistent weight control.