Catalog
Tanka - Timur with Mahmud Khan Type 3 - Damghan mint
| Issuer | Timurid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1395-1397 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | The Shahada (Islamic declaration of faith) rendered in Kufic script, arranged within an octafoil geometric frame at the centre of the flan. The multi-line inscription reads across the field in bold, angular Kufic characters, with the lobed octafoil border providing a formal decorative structure. A marginal legend in cursive Arabic script encircles the central octafoil, separated by a linear border. The overall design is characteristic of Timurid religious coinage conventions, emphasising the primacy of the Kalima as the central iconographic element. |
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| Reverse lettering | لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله |
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| Additional information |
Struck at Damghan during the brief window when Timur governed nominally through the Chingisid puppet Mahmud Khan, this type reflects a calculated political fiction. Timur, barred by steppe convention from taking the khan's title himself — reserved exclusively for Genghis Khan's male-line descendants — installed Mahmud Khan as a legitimizing figurehead while retaining all real power. The dual-name formula was not courtesy; it was constitutional necessity within the Turco-Mongol world.
Damghan, an ancient staging post on the Khorasan road, served as a regional administrative node during Timur's campaigns through northern Iran in precisely these years.