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Fals - 'Ilkhan' Ghazan Mahmud Khan
| Issuer | Ilkhanate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1295-1304 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.68 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field bearing a multi-line Arabic legend arranged within a decorative frame or cartouche, typical of Ilkhanid hammered copper coinage. The inscription, reading 'al-Sultan al-A'zam Ghazan Mahmud Khan', is disposed in several horizontal registers in angular Kufic-influenced script. The coin exhibits the characteristic irregular flan of hand-struck medieval Islamic copper issues, with a dotted or beaded border visible around the periphery. Surface shows natural patination consistent with copper alloy burial, with areas of green cuprite. The strike is slightly off-center, a common feature of this series. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Ghazan Khan's conversion to Islam in 1295 — the same year he seized the throne from Baydu — was a genuine political and personal rupture, not a formality. He took the name Mahmud, mandated the destruction of Buddhist temples, churches, and synagogues across the Ilkhanate, and reoriented the entire administrative and monetary apparatus toward Islamic norms. This fals belongs to that reforming moment, issued under a ruler who was simultaneously the first Muslim Ilkhan and a descendant of Genghis Khan navigating Mongol tribal politics with extraordinary care.
Copper fals from this reign are significantly underrepresented in Western collections relative to the silver dirhams, partly because provincial copper issues were rarely systematically catalogued before the Zeno database made anonymous attributions tractable.