Obverse. Photo © NumisBids
  • 1 Dirham 892-895 AD, Album# 665.3, Egypt, Al-Mu'tadid, Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
  • 1 Dirham 892-895 AD, Album# 665.3, Egypt, Al-Mu'tadid, Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
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".

Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa al-Muwaffaq (853/4 or 860/1 – 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh ("Seeking Support in God"), was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 892 until his death in 902.

Al-Mu'tadid was the son of al-Muwaffaq, who was the regent and effective ruler of the Abbasid state during the reign of his brother, Caliph al-Mu'tamid. As a prince, the future al-Mu'tadid served under his father during various military campaigns, most notably in the suppression of the Zanj Rebellion, in which he played a major role. When al-Muwaffaq died in June 891 al-Mu'tadid succeeded him as regent. He quickly sidelined his cousin and heir-apparent al-Mufawwid; when al-Mu'tamid died in October 892, he succeeded to the throne. Like his father, al-Mu'tadid's power depended on his close relations with the army. These were first forged during the campaigns against the Zanj and were reinforced in later expeditions that the Caliph led in person: al-Mu'tadid would prove to be the most militarily active of all Abbasid caliphs. Through his energy and ability, he succeeded in restoring to the Abbasid state some of the power and provinces it had lost during the turmoil of the previous decades.

The Tulunids, were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid Caliphate, to 905, when the Abbasids restored the Tulunid domains to their control.

Obverse

Depicts the inscriptions in Arabic "For God", "Muhammad is the Messenger of God”, "al-Muʿtadid bellah" (Caliph), "Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad" 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.”

Abu 'l-Jaysh Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn (864–896) was a son of the founder of the Tulunid dynasty, Ahmad ibn Tulun. His father, the autonomous ruler of Egypt and Syria, designated him as his successor. When Ibn Tulun died in May 884, Khumarawayh succeeded him. After defeating an attempt to depose him, in 886 he managed to gain recognition of his rule over Egypt and Syria as a hereditary governor from the Abbasid Caliphate. In 893 the agreement was renewed with the new Abbasid Caliph, al-Mu'tadid, and sealed with the marriage of his daughter Qatr al-Nada to the Caliph.

At the height of his power, Khumarawayh's authority expanded from the Byzantine frontier in Cilicia and the Jazira to Nubia. Domestically, his reign was marked by a prodigal squandering of funds on extravagant displays of wealth, construction of palaces, and the patronage of artists and poets. In combination with the need to maintain a sizeable professional army and guarantee its loyalty through rich gifts, this emptied the treasury by the end of his reign. Khumarawayh was murdered by a palace servant in 896, and was succeeded by his son Jaysh, who was deposed after a few months in favour of another son, Harun ibn Khumarawayh. The Tulunid state entered a period of turmoil and weakness, which culminated in its reconquest by the Abbasids in 904–905.

لله
محمد
رسول
الله
المعتضد بالله
خمارويه بن أحمد
محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله ولو كره المشركون

Reverse

Depicts the inscriptions in Arabic “There is no god but God alone / He has no associate", "To God belongs the command before and after, and at that time the believers will rejoice in the victory of God" and "In the name of God. This dirham was struck in Misr (Egypt) in the year 280."

لا اله الا
الله وحده
لا شريك له
لله الأمر من قبل و من بعد و يومئذ يفرح المؤمنون بنصر الله
بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بمصر سنة ثمانين و مئتين

Edge
Characteristics
Material Silver
Weight 2.89 g
Diameter -
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Misr Mint

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