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Qanhari Dirham 'Damma' - Al-Simmah
| Issuer | Qanhari Dynasty (Sind) |
|---|---|
| Year | 820-850 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.48 g |
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| Obverse description | Crudely struck hammered silver flan bearing multiple lines of stylized Arabic-derived script arranged in three registers across the field, characteristic of the highly degenerate epigraphic style associated with Qanhari damma coinage of Sind. The legends, heavily worn and compressed, fill the available field without a formal border, reflecting the abbreviated and schematic calligraphic tradition of this provincial issue. The overall style demonstrates the strong local adaptation of Abbasid coinage conventions prevalent in early Islamic Sind. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse struck on an irregular, ragged flan displaying further degenerate Arabic script arranged in compressed horizontal registers, consistent with the reduced and schematized epigraphic treatment typical of Qanhari damma fractions. The legends are heavily stylized and partially illegible due to the crude hammered technique and the small module of the flan. The surfaces show characteristic dark patination with areas of encrustation, consistent with long burial in the Sindhi soil. |
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| Additional information |
The Qanhari rulers of Sind occupied an awkward political position in the ninth century — nominally within the orbit of Abbasid influence yet functionally independent, issuing their own coinage rather than striking in the name of the caliph. This small silver piece belongs to the damma weight standard, a regional adaptation that diverged from standard Arab-Sasanian monetary practice and reflects the hybrid administrative reality of post-conquest Sind. The 'Al-Simmah' attribution identifies a specific issuing authority within the dynasty, though the precise chronology of individual Qanhari rulers remains contested in the numismatic literature.