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Qirat - Tashfin ibn 'Ali
| Issuer | Almoravid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1143-1145 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 10.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Crudely struck hammered silver flan bearing the Shahada in two lines of Kufic-style Arabic script across the central field, reading 'There is no god but God / Muhammad is the Messenger of God.' The legends are contained within a roughly circular border, consistent with Almoravid epigraphic coinage conventions. The script is boldly rendered despite the irregular flan, with characteristic angular Kufic letterforms. No figurative imagery appears, in accordance with Islamic numismatic tradition. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field occupied by three lines of Arabic Kufic script identifying the Almoravid ruler and his titles. The legend reads 'Amir al-Muslimin / wa-Nasir al-Din / Tashfin ibn Ali,' proclaiming the issuer as Commander of the Muslims and Defender of the Faith. The inscription fills the flan within a plain circular border, with the crude, somewhat irregular strike typical of Almoravid hammered qirats of this period. No mint name or date appears on the die. |
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| Additional information |
Tashfin ibn 'Ali ruled the Almoravid empire for less than two years before dying — accounts vary between a fatal fall from a cliff near Oran in 1145 and a battle death — leaving the dynasty to collapse almost immediately after under his son Ibrahim. These small silver qirats were the fractional currency of a regime already in terminal decline, with Almohad forces pressing hard from the south and Christian kingdoms consolidating pressure in the north.