Obverse. Photo © acsaerch.info
  • 1 Dirham 820-827 AD, Album# 223.7, Egypt, Al-Ma'mun
  • 1 Dirham 820-827 AD, Album# 223.7, Egypt, Al-Ma'mun
Description

The Abbasid Caliphate (Arabic: الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from the prophet's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs for most of the caliphate from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, near the ancient Babylonian capital city of Babylon. Baghdad became the center of science, culture and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".

Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid (Arabic: أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد,ʿi; 786–833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mun (Arabic: المأمون), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. He succeeded his half-brother al-Amin after a civil war, during which the cohesion of the Abbasid Caliphate was weakened by rebellions and the rise of local strongmen; much of his domestic reign was consumed in pacification campaigns. Well-educated and with a considerable interest in scholarship, al-Ma'mun promoted the Translation Movement, the flowering of learning and the sciences in Baghdad, and the publishing of al-Khwarizmi's book now known as "Algebra". He is also known for supporting the doctrine of Mu'tazilism and for imprisoning Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the rise of religious persecution (mihna), and for the resumption of large-scale warfare with the Byzantine Empire.

Obverse

Depicts the inscriptions in Arabic "For Caliph", "Muhammad is the Messenger of God", "Al-Mamun" and “He sent him with guidance and the true religion to make it victorious over every religion although those who associate others with God dislike it.”

للخليفة
محمد
رسول
الله
المأمون
محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله و لو كره المشركون

Reverse

Depicts the inscriptions in Arabic “There is no god but God alone / He has no associate", "Ubayd Allah bin Al-Sari", "Al-Maghreb" (west of Baghdad) and "This dirham was struck in Misr (Egypt)in the year 201."

Ubaydallah ibn al-Sari (Arabic: عبيد الله بن السري) (died 865) was a governor of Egypt from 822 until 826. A son of al-Sari ibn al-Hakam, he was the third and last member of his family to autonomously rule over parts of Egypt during the troubled period following the great Abbasid civil war, and his surrender to Abdallah ibn Tahir in 826 marked the re-imposition of firm Abbasid control over the province for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.

Ubaydallah's governorship came to an end in 826, when al-Ma'mun again sought to achieve greater effective control over the country by dispatching to it the Tahirid general Abdallah ibn Tahir. While Ibn al-Jarawi immediately offered his submission, Ubaydallah attempted to fight off Abdallah, but his forces were defeated and he eventually decided to seek a guarantee of safety instead. This was agreed to and Ubaydallah made his submission to Abdallah, who sent him off to Baghdad. Following this, he never returned to Egypt, but he remained in Iraq and eventually died in Samarra in 865. and "In the name of God. This dinar was struck in the year 209."

لا اله الا
الله وحده
عبيد الله بن السري
لا شريك له
المغرب
بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بمصر سنة عشرة و مئتين

Edge
Characteristics
Material Silver
Weight 2.87 g
Diameter 22 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Misr Mint

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