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Tanka - Sultan Husayn Abu'l-Ghazi - 3rd reign - post-reform type Astrabad mint
| Issuer | Timurid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1490-1504 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | A#2432.3 |
| Obverse description | The obverse field is entirely occupied by a multi-line Arabic religious legend executed in bold Naskh-Thuluth calligraphy. The central field bears the Shahada and additional pious formulae arranged in flowing lines. A secondary circular legend in smaller script runs within the surrounding marginal band, typical of the post-reform Timurid tanka format. The die-cutting is confident and deeply struck, with interlocking letterforms characteristic of late Timurid mint practice at Astrabad. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله |
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| Additional information |
Husayn Bayqara's third reign in Herat was the longest and most culturally productive of his tenures, but the Astrabad mint tells a different story. That northeastern outpost sat uncomfortably close to Turkmen and early Safavid pressure, and coinage from there reflects administrative effort to assert Timurid authority over a frontier that was already slipping. The post-reform fabric — lighter, more precisely weighted than earlier issues — was introduced empire-wide around 1469 but took years to implement consistently across peripheral mints.
Astrabad would fall definitively out of Timurid hands shortly after Husayn's death in 1506.