Abbasid Caliphate Egypt Al-Ma'mun 1 Dirham

History

Obverse. Photo © Sixbid.com

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 (786-833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mun,
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 "Muhammad is the Messenger of God” 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”, "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, may God bless him”, "for Caliph Al-Mamun" and "Tahir" (military commander). Ṭāhir ibn Ḥusayn (Tahir bin al-Husayn), also known as Dhul-Yamīnayn ("the ambidextrous") and al-Aʿwar ("the one-eyed"), was a Persian general and governor during the Abbasid Caliphate. Specifically, he served under al-Ma'mun during the Fourth Fitna and led the armies that would defeat al-Amin, making al-Ma'mun the caliph. He was then rewarded as governor of Khorasan, which marked the beginning of the Tahirids. محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله و لو كره المشركون لله محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم للخليفة المأمون طاهر
Reverse	Depicts the inscriptions in Arabic "In the name of God, This dirham was struck in Madinat Tahiriya in Misr ( Egypt) in the year 204", "There is no god but God alone / He has no associate", "al-Sari" and "Al-Maghreb" (west of Baghdad). Al-Sari ibn al-Hakam ibn Yusuf al-Balkhi served twice as the Abbasid Caliphate's governor of Egypt. His first tenure as governor of Egypt was short, lasting from April to September 816, but he was reappointed to the post in March 817 and held it until his death in November 820. He was succeeded by his sons as nominal governors of the province. The north remained under Abd al-Aziz's son Ali (Abd al-Aziz also died in 820), and a first Abbasid attempt at recovering control over the province by sending Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani in 822 was thwarted. Al-Sari's son Ubayd Allah ruled as governor until mid-826, when Abdallah ibn Tahir was named governor of Egypt and re-established Abbasid authority. According to the Arabist Thierry Bianquis, the succession of al-Sari by his sons signals the first attempt at creating an autonomous dynasty ruling Egypt, heralding the more successful Tulunids and Ikhshidids. بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بمدينة الطاهرية بمصر سنة اربع و مئتين لا اله الا الله وحده السري لا شريك له المغرب
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