ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY

ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY

ONS NEWSLETTER No 139 Winter 1994 ONS News

1. ONS Meeting in Leiden On October 23rd, the annual ONS meeting took place at the Museum of Antiquities/Royal Coin Cabinet, Leiden. Some 20 members

attended. The organisers were also happy to welcome members from Germany and the UK., including our general secretary. The following lectures were held:

T D Yih, Preliminary typology of Sinkiang 5 fen (miscal) silver pieces inscribed Kuang Hsu 4th year. (Summary below). R Dauwe, Coinage of Ram Singh II (1835-1880) of Jaipur. In this lecture Dauwe pointed out the various types of coins issued by this ruler. During the long reign of Ram Singh II coins were issued from two different mints (Sawai Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur) as well as coins in the name of Mohammad Akbar II, Bahadur Shah II, Queen Victoria and Victoria Empress.

After a joint lunch Ellen Raven gave a lecture on The Chhatra-type gold coinage of Chandragupta II (ca AD 380-414). Based on her thesis: Gupta Gold Coins with a Garuda Banner (Leiden 1991) she showed the different classes of Gupta gold coins of the socalled Archer type. In her lecture, Mrs Raven pointed out that the coins of the Chhatra - umbrella-type coins of Chandragupta II can be classified on the same bases as the Archer-type coins of this ruler. Research on this subject is continuing and Mrs Raven (1197) would

welcome details of any Gupta gold coins in the collections of members and numismatic institutions.

The meeting ended with an auction of oriental coins, which raised H. fl. 1860 for ONS funds. Our thanks are due to Spink and Son, London for their generosity in donating material for the auction.

There will be another ONS meeting in Leiden on Saturday 22nd October 1994. Dutch members will receive an invitation in due course,	others may obtain information from the Regional Secretary, Europe.	Jan Lingen
Preliminary typology of Sinkiang 5 fen (4 miscal) silver pieces inscribed Kuang Hsu 4th year.	Dr TD Yih	Firstly an introduction was given of the numismatic history of Sinkiang after the conquest by the Manchu emperor Chien Lung, followed by
a short survey of the monetary units used in Sinkiang during the 3rd quarter of the last century. After the suppression of the revolt of Yakub	Beg in 1877 (i.e., the 3rd year of Kuang Hsu) silver 5 fen pieces were struck in the city of Kucha. These pieces were modelled after the	tanga pieces of Yakub Beg and had legends in Turki only. Two types of pieces were produced: one with the legends obdan gumush (= fine

Preliminary typology of Sinkiang 5 fen (4 miscal) silver pieces inscribed Kuang Hsu 4th year. Dr TD Yih Firstly an introduction was given of the numismatic history of Sinkiang after the conquest by the Manchu emperor Chien Lung, followed by

a short survey of the monetary units used in Sinkiang during the 3rd quarter of the last century. After the suppression of the revolt of Yakub Beg in 1877 (i.e., the 3rd year of Kuang Hsu) silver 5 fen pieces were struck in the city of Kucha. These pieces were modelled after the tanga pieces of Yakub Beg and had legends in Turki only. Two types of pieces were produced: one with the legends obdan gumush (= fine

silver) and the value indication besh fung (= 5 fen) and the other bearing the name of Kuang Hsu. A typology of this latter type was presented.

The obverse has the legend Gangsui Ning (= Kuang Hsu’s). The reverse bears in words, the regnal year of Kuang Hsu. Based on the position of the word ning, a Turki genitive affix, two main obverse types are distinguished. These in turn are divided into subtypes depending on the presence or absence of a decorated rim and on the presence or absence of a date indication in numbers of the hejira year

1295 (AD 1878). A total of 8 obverse subtypes have so far been distinguished. One variant has the date indication 09 instead of 90 (=95).

Two main reverse types can be distinguished. The reverses bearing an indication of the Kuang Hsu year are remarkable in the sense that anumber of pieces have the year indication ochonji yili (= 3rd year) instead of tortonji yili (= 4th year). The indication Kuang Hsu 3rd year (= 1277) is clearly in conflict with the hejira year 1295 (= 1878). The author is grateful to Joe Cribb of the British Museum, London, for providing additional data from the museum.

1. An ONS meeting took place in Cologne on 14th November. 18 members from Germany and the Netherlands attended. Three lectures were given:

i N Bartonitschek - Country, People and History of Malwa.

Jan Lingen - Coins of Malwa. iii W Pieper - Bactrian and Indo-Greek Coins.

1. The guest speaker at the ONS American region meeting at the 22nd New York International Numismatic Convention on the 11th December was due to be Prashant Kulkarni on The Zodiacal mohurs of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir.

2. ONS meetings in London will take place on 23rd April and 24th September at the Coin and Medal Department of the British Museum. The meetings will start at 1.30. For further details contact Ken Wiggins, or Joe Cribb at the museum.

3. ONS Pakistan At their August meeting, the Pakistan Chapter decided to organise a coin exhibition and fair in Islamabad March 1994. The organising will be undertaken by a committee comprising Mirza Shafqgat Mehmood, Mubeen Ahmed, Anwer Iqbal and Hamid Shabbir. Chapter secretary, Shafqat Mirza sees the main objective of the exhibition as the exemplification and portrayal of Pakistan’s centuries old civilisation through

its coins. The announcement of the exhibition has already received good press coverage in the country.

Other News

1. International Numismatic Symposium, Istanbul.

_ To celebrate their first 25 years, the Turkish Numismatic Society (TNB) organised an International Numismatic Symposium in Istanbul on

November 9th and 10th, 1993. Held in the pleasant surroundings of the Sadberk Hanim Museum overlooking the Bosphorus, the programme contained 28 papers, 13 being from members of the ONS. Sixteen papers were in English, one in French and the remainder in Turkish. In the event, only 19 papers were presented by their authors, one via a tape recording, but it is expected that all will be included in the published Proceedings of the Symposium, with English summaries for the Turkish papers.

Although the main theme of the Symposium was intended to be Ottoman numismatics, papers were also presented on the hairstyles of five Roman empresses on coins from Asia Minor, Sasanian drachms of Khusru I in Islamic hoards, figured Islamic coppers from Mesopotamia, coins of the Seljuks of Rum and of the Anatolian Beyliks, and Ilkhanid coins in the Royal Coin Cabinet of Stockholm.

Two numismatic exhibitions had been arranged to coincide with the Symposium. The first was put on by the Chief Engraver of the Istanbul Mint and showed large plaster models of the latest coins, together with medals, some for the TNB, and their dies. The other displayed rare and colourful items from two private collections of Turkish orders and decorations together with tokens and commemorative medals.

Foreign guests were made especially welcome by members of the TNB with excellent meals arranged at restaurants by the Bosphorus and an evening entertainment at a modern ‘Karavansaray’. complete with displays of folk and belly dancing. A post-symposium tour was also arranged to Ankara and Cappadocia.

Although fewer than 50 people attended the formal meetings this may have been partly due to the impressive thunderstorms and torrential rains which Istanbul laid on for the occasion. The resulting traffic jams, in a city cut in half by the Golden Horn(and desperately needing a metro) easily matched anything seen in London at its worst! Nevertheless, the easy manner in which events were rearranged to suit the circumstances ensured an entertaining and useful gathering which TNB are planning to repeat in two or three years time. List of papers actually given Dick Nauta Ottoman Coinage in Yemen Szilagyi Mihaly The Ottoman Coins in Hungary Virginia Maria da Costa Five Roman Empresses: Chronology and Style in the Roman Provincial Coin issues of Asia Minor Ibrahim-Cevriye Artuk Orta Cagda Bazi Islami Sehirlerde Sikke Kesen Devletler ve 0 Sehirlere Verilen Unvanlar. Johann Christoph Hinrichs Hamidogullari Paralari. William F Spengler Patterns of Iconography on Turkoman Figural Copper Coins. Wayne G Sayles Christian Iconography in Mesopotamian Islam: The Numismatic Evidence. Esko Naskali The Coinage of Khusraw II. (Sasanian) M M A-D Bulgaru Sur les Ateliers Monétaires Ottomans aux 2111© - XVII® Siécles. Kenneth M Mackenzie Some Ottoman Coins of the First Karamanli Ruler from Tripoli, 1703-1730 AD. Michael Broome The ‘Sun and Lion’ Dirhams of the Seljuk Sultan Kay khusru II Anne Kroman-Jensen The Origin of the Turkish Ottoman Coins in the National Museum, Copenhagen. Bengt E Hoven Some thoughts on the Collection of IIkhanid Coins in the Royal Coin Cabinet, Stockholm. Cem Mahruki Hatira-i Abide-i Mesrutiyet Madalyasi. Isa Akbas Osmanli Nisanlarinin Arka Tip ve Damgalarina Gore Donemleri. Yilmaz Izmirlier Hamidogullari Beyliginin Darpsehirleri. Celil Ender Istanbul ‘da 19yy da Calisan Bir Tasit “Omnibus” ve Uskiidar Omnibus Sirketi Jetonu Turan Gokyildirim 1992-1993 Yili Inceiz-Maltepe Kazisi Sikkelerinin Incelenmesinden Elde Edilen Sonuclar. Brian Johnson Images of Change: Coinage Design and Political Transformation in 16th Century North Africa.

MRB 2. Auction New - Baldwins. The well-known family numismatic firm of A H Baldwin and Sons Ltd., of the Adelphi, London, has announced plans to hold coin auctions. After over 120 years dealing in a wide range of antique coins and medals, and for many years cataloguing for major auction houses in London and abroad, Baldwins have decided that the time is right to run their own sales.

They aim to hold quality auction sales of fine collections and good single specimens of coins, medals and related material. The first auction is planned for April 1994, with up to four being held each year. Catalogues will be of large A4 format, well-illustrated, compiled with the attention to detail and unwavering consistency for which the firm is renowned. The auctions will take place in a prestigious hotel venue in the manner of the best continental coin auction houses. Unlike continental firms, Baldwins will continue to maintain their stocks of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, British and foreign coins, commemorative medals, tokens, numismatic books, etc., for inspection and purchase at their Adelphi Terrace showrooms, or by post.

Following the withdrawal of Spink & Son from the alliance with Taisei Stamps and Coins of Singapore and Hong Kong, Baldwins have stepped into their shoes as partners with Taisei to ensure the continued success of the annual Singapore Coin Auction held in February and the Hong Kong Coin Auction held in September each year. These two auctions are by far the best occasions to sell coins, medals and banknotes of the Pacific rim countries, especially, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. There is also a strong market for Straits Settlements, Borneo, Hong Kong, German New Guinea, VOC, Australia and India. Top prices are consistently achieved. Both auctions are held in conjunction with a major international numismatic convention and draw buyers from all over the world.

Ron Gillio of Santa Barbara, California, who was formerly associated with the Hong Kong auction is now affiliated with both events. (From press releases)

1. Anyone visiting the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin may like to know that the museum’s coin collection contains several trays of Chinese and Annamese ‘crown-size’ coins and fantasy pieces from the Stackpole Collection and some 21 Arakanese coins collected by Colonel Phayre. The curatorial contact at the museum is Michael Kenny. New and Recent Publications

2. A Checklist of Popular Islamic Coins by Stephen Album, PO Box 7386, Santa Rosa CA 95407, USA.,مم68‎ 212 x 280mm. No illustrations, soft cover, stapled. With introduction and index. $8 ISBN 0-9636024-0-3

Stephen Album introduces this as a general collector guide to Islamic coins. It comprises a listing of all common Islamic issues excluding India and S.E. Asia up to the period of European influence. Coin issues are arranged by dynasty, ruler and denomination, over 3000 types in all. Significant dynasties are provided with a carefully researched selective bibliography and a general overview of the denomination structure. Each coin type gets an estimate of relative abundance. The whole is spiced with historical and numismatic titbits. A more expensive illustrated version is planned for 1994 or 1995.

This modest volume comprises a staggering amount of knowledge and understanding, elegantly compressed into a slim volume, and skilfully presented in a range of typefaces to make the content instantly accessible to the eye. If the project to produce an illustrated edition

is brought to fruition it will be a numismatic work of remarkable value, far exceeding the author’s modest claim to offer a “collectors’ guide”.

It is beyond my abilities to review this work, and it seems to me somehow inappropriate anyway. Album has assessed for himself what it was possible to get into a single volume reference work and has gone ahead and put it in. If the coverage is uneven, it is because so often more than the promised coverage is offered. Your editor has asked me merely to give a personal opinion of the chief value of the work. I make two points: - Hardly a word is wasted in this volume. It does not just contain information, it thrusts it at the reader. It deserves to become a design classic, somewhat like the Bic biro, or the London Underground map. ii) This is the first universal plan of the Islamic coinages west of India. Who produced what denominations, where, and when. Such matters lie very close to the core of history, its inner meaning, the evolving relationship between rulers and ruled. They are important. The material collected together in this volume for the first time is the key to a practical understanding, an overview, of how crucial facets of this relationship have developed in Islamic culture. Robert Tye

1. Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tiibingen In December the first volume of a new series of publications, the Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tiibingen, will be published. It contains coins of the Tiibingen University collection, listed by mint in chronological order, as the title suggest, on the model of the Sylloge Numorum Grecorum. The first volume lists coins from the southern part of the Bilad al-Sham, i.e. Palestine, al-Urdunn and the two southernmost mints of the early medieval Jund of Dimashq (Amman and Adhri’at). Every coin is illustrated. The price of the volume which includes 565 coins on 18 large folio-sized plates will be DM 80.

In addition to some 18,000 ancient and European coins, the Tiibingen University collection holds close to 50,000 Islamic coins from the earliest period of Islamic coinage, beginning with the reforms of the Umayyad’Abd al-Malik just before 700 AD, to the introduction of machine-struck coinage, which began in the 12th century AH in the Ottoman Empire, in the late 19th century in Morocco and Iran and even

as late as the beginning of the present century in Central Asia. The majority of the coins, some 30,000 pieces, are from Stephen Album’s collection which was acquired for the University of Tibingen in 1988 with the help of the Volkswagen Foundation, in order to create a working basis for the Forschungsstelle fiir islamische Numismatik, which was opened in 1990. In the meantime, Stephen Album has added considerably to his former collection, in the form of generous donations, as have other donors, most notably, Claus Pelling and Hans Herrli. Together with my own collection of some 8,000 medieval coins, the whole collection presently numbers about 49,000 coins. It includes only about 2,000 gold pieces. Most other important public collections are more valuable: Tiibingen has neither a 77 AH dinar, nor a 132 AH

abbasid dinar and of course, no standing caliph dinar. Some series like pre-reform Umayyads, Islamic Spain and the Ottoman Empire are relatively poorly represented. Also, specimens of the common Egyptian gold are largely absent. But the coins of Syria, the Yemen, Northern Mesopotamia and the whole of Iran can stand comparison with any other public collection. With regard to these areas, it is not only the sheer number of coins but primarily the relatively continuous runs of different states, which qualify the collection as a significant research tool. ol The idea of filling the enormous present-day discrepancy between published and publicly-collected Islamic coins by means of a sylloge type publication can be traced back to the Oriental Workshop of the 1979 Berne International Numismatic Congress where William Spengler and Michael Bates put forward the suggestion. M Bates is also presently working on a related publication, a sylloge of the David Khalili collection of Islamic coins which is due for publication in the near future.

The next two volumes of the Tubingen sylloge are due shortly. The Eastern Khurasan volume with about 1200 coins from the mints of Panjhir, Ghazna and Kabul, has been written by Florian Schwarz. As long as no problems are encountered in financing the project, this should be out in the spring of 1994, to be followed soon afterwards by the next 81150 al-Sham volume with some 1500 coins, all ftom the mint of Damascus.

The anticipated total number of volumes should be around 35. In order to give an idea of the contents of the Tiibingen collection a provisional publication plan follows. Even if several authors can be persuaded to take part in the publication, this is probably a task which will only be accomplished by the following generation. As the collection hopefully continues to grow, changes to the publication plan may become necessary. Part Area covered No of volumes Approx no of coins I Spain, Maghrib I vol.

Sicily, Ifriqiya, Egypt 1 vol Ill Arabian Peninsula and East Africa 1 or 2 vols IV Bilad al-Sham - Palestine 1 vol - Damascus 1 vol c - e) Aleppo and other mints 3 vols

Vv Al Jazira 3 vols VI Anatolia 3 vols Vil Qiptchaq, Georgia, Armenia | vol Vill Iraq 2 vols IX Khuzistan and Luristan 1 vol X Adherbayjan 3 vols XI Mazandaran (planned by Stephen Album) 1 vol XII Jibal 3 vols XIII Fars 2 vols XIV Khurasan 4 vols XV Syistan, Qandahar, Sind 1 vol XVI Transoxania 2 vols Liitz Ilisch

1. The Netherlands Institute for the Near East (P.B. 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands) has published the following book which may be of interest to students of Dutch colonialism.

Schmidt, J. Through the Legation Window. Four Essays on Dutch, Dutch-Indian and Ottoman History. Leiden, the Netherlands Institute for the Near East. 1992 - VIII, 254pp, illustrated. ISBN 90 - 6258-068-8 HFL 89 /caUS $ 48

The four essays found in this volume deal with little-studied aspects of the historical relations between the Netherlands, the Dutch East Indies and the Ottoman Empire from the Hamidian era until the foundation of the Turkish Republic. They are the result of research undertaken in the Dutch State Archives and the Dutch Foreign Office Archives, which offer a wealth of hitherto hardly consulted materials on the subject. The essays discuss banditry in western Anatolia and its tragic impact on the local Dutch community; the Dutch involvement

in Armenia during the disastrous decade between 1913 and 1923; ‘Pan-Islamism’ and its effect on Dutch colonialism; and Dutch naval visits, both peaceful and threatening, to ports in the Ottoman Empire, particularly to Jidda, Basra, Istanbul and Izmir. The last essay also describes what should be reckoned among one of the most shocking events of these fifty years: the great fire of Izmir in 1922 which led to the exodus of the largest Dutch community in the Levant, never to return.

Central to all four essays are the political implications of the events described: the continuous negotiations, now cordial, then irritable, which were conducted between The Hague, Buitenzorg and Istanbul. Reading through this book, a fascinating world unfolds which is now definitively lost: that of Dutch colonial expansion and extravagant colonial pretensions both in the Ottoman Empire and the East Indies, a world also of a greater cosmopolitanism in the Middle East: of communities of Dutch and Dutch-Indian expatriates; the haughty and mostly aristocratic diplomatic society of Pera (Beyoglu), the Dutch-Levantine colonies of Istanbul and Izmir, and the East-Indian communities of Mecca and Cairo.

The book includes 26 reproductions of photos, mainly ffom the collection of the Leiden Oosters Instituut, and archival documents, most of which are published here for the first time.

1. The following appeared in recent issues of Spinks Circular: Vol. Cl, no 8 Oct 1993: ‘Sikh coin with an enigmatic legend’ by Devendra

Handa. ‘The Coins of the British in India; the elusive great cash of Madras’ by Dr P J E Stevens. Vol. CI, no 9. Nov 1993: ‘The Batavian Countermarked Piece of Eight’ by A S Harley. Vol. CI, no 10. Dec 1993: ‘A New Look at Some Indo-Parthian Coins’ by R C Senior. ‘A Rare Countermark of Bitlis’. by H Wilski. From the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd Series, vol. 3, part II, July 1993. ‘An Ayyar coin from Sistan’ by C E Bosworth & Gert Rispling.

1. Iran, volume XXXI, 1993, published by the British Institute of Persian Studies (available from the Publications Secretary, Miss Mary Totman, 42, Thomas More House, Barbican, London EC2Y 8BT), contains 3 articles of particular interest to ONS members:

2. A G Gubaev, S D Loginov and A 8 Nititin ‘Coin Finds from the Excavations of Ak-depe by the Station of Artyk’, pp 71-74, 2 pt. A listing of 7 Parthian, 13 Sasanian and 5 imitations of Sasanian coins found in excavations. 2. HM Malek, “A Seventh-Century Hoard of Sasanian Drachms’, pp 77-93, 3 pl. A hoard of 295 drachms of Khusru II (AD 590-628) and one of Hormizd V or VI (AD 631-32) and an analysis of the 29 mint signatures found in the hoard which appeared in Quetta 3. AB Nikitin, ‘Middle Persian and Some Other Graffiti on Sasanian Coins from the Moscow Collection’, pp 99-101, 6 pl. A catalogue of 35 coins in the Historical Museum, Moscow, from Kavad I to Yazdgird III with graffiti.

3. Paul and Bente Withers, our printers, have just published British Coin-Weights - A Corpus of Post-Conquest Coin-Weights made in England, Scotland and Ireland for use in Britain. ISBN 9516671 14 Price £95 + £3 p and p (UK), £5 p and p (other countries). 368 pp plus

a 12 page price supplement. Oversize A4. Printed on acid-ffee matte art paper. Case bound. Not oriental, but any member interested in coin-weights should investigate this work. Published by Galata Print Ltd.,…. U.K. A section on Indian coin-weights would have been included, but at the last moment before publication, the authors considered that they had not seen sufficient types or specimens, though they know of more than double the number known to Fred Pridmore. They would like details of any Indian coin-weights that may be in members’ collections.

1. G-R Puin and H Wilski have published an article entitled ‘Ein ganz besonderer Lowenthaler’ (A most unusual Lion Taler) in Geldgeschichtliche Nachrichten 28, pp. 212-3 (1993). The article, an expansion of a paper given at the April ONS meeting in Tiibingen, describes a type of debased Lion Taler with a small Persian inscription which the authors interpret as “riyal pehlevi 7 sh(ahi)”. The term ‘pehlevi’ is said, in this context, to refer to the Isfahan area.

LISTS RECEIVED

1. Stephen Album, PO Box 7386, Santa Rosa, Ca 95407, USA. Lists 101, 102 and 103.

2. Monica Type,… List No. 9. A varied list of ancient, European and Oriental coins.

3. Tan Eng Wan… Penang, Malaysia. A list of Chinese, Annamese, Malaysian and other coins. 4. Lloyd Bennett, PO Box 2, Monmouth, Gwent NPS 3YE, UK. A short illustrated list of rare Chinese coins.

4. Poinsignon Numismatique, 4, rue des Francs Bourgeois, F - 67000 Strasbourg, France. Fixed price list containing a wide range of coins including a number of Islamic coins.

5. GalataCoins….. 104 page list of world coins, and new and secondhand books.

6. Robert Tye. List no. 26. The list is prefaced by a short, but up to date account of the punch-marked silver coins of Ancient India.

Ottoman Copper Coins From Kawkaban And Sa’dah In The Yemen

Dick Nauta, Khartoum, Sudan. Introduction. In this continuation of the series on Ottoman copper coins from the Yemen! I intend to deal with the copper coins of Kawkaban and Sa’dah?2

in one article, as these coinages appear to be rather similar, whilst both towns present the same problem of an unclear history during the Ottoman period of the Yemen.

The history of both towns during the Ottoman occupation is, in so far as it has been recorded, rather confusing. It varied between either outright Ottoman occupation and outright Yemeni possession with in between the stages of armed peace with a kind of mutual recognition,

or a situation where the local ruler was allowed by the Ottomans to rule his town and area as long as he recognised Ottoman overlordship. The actual histories of the two towns are not closely connected. This is largely due to the considerable distance (over 160 km) and the very

rugged terrain that separates the two towns. Moreover considerable differences in tribal composition and political allegiances of the population of the areas concerned created additional barriers to close ties between these towns.

In English language publications on the history of the Yemen, little has been written about the history of these two towns, and practically nothing regarding the Ottoman period. For Kawkaban there is the article by Smith? and for Sa’dah and its surroundings there are the rather confusing snippets of information in Tritton’s book’, but it is quite impossible to knit these into a coherent history for the period under discussion. Blackburn? in the notes to his admirable article on the Ottoman conquest of the Yemen up to the fall of San’a’ in 954/1547 provides a few interesting bits of information regarding both towns. It is likely that more details concerning their history are available from the considerable

number of contemporary or at least historical Arabic and Turkish language sources which are analysed and quoted extensively by Blackburn. All this clearly demonstrates the need for a comprehensive English language history of the region during the period of Ottoman expansion down the Red Sea.

The Mint Towns Kawkaban is a fortress town whose history is closely tied up with the towns of Shibam, directly and almost vertically below it, and, toa lesser extent, with Thula, another fortified town situated within visible distance to the north of Kawkaban and Shibam. Wilson® mentions

another two fortresses with the name Kawkaban, both of which are located in the vicinity of the town of Hajjah, another important historical and strategic fortress town on the western escarpment to the north-west of Kawkaban, overlooking vast parts of the surrounding highlands

and Tihama lowlands. It is, however, evident from all information relevant to this article, that the Kawkaban discussed here is Kawkaban -Shibam/’.

Kawkaban itself is a quite impregnable fortress town guarding one of the routes of access to San’a’ (see map), some 35 km to the northwest of the Yemeni capital. It is situated at about 3000 m above sea level, high above the surrounding countryside which it fully commands

and from which it is cut off by the sheer rock faces of the cliff on the flat top of which the town is situated. | سس سس ف‎ - - EE - -. ® Sa’dah ١ 5 ° » i “dah. an - لخد‎ 5 ا حا‎ @ / 3 / / با‎

\(=\) Wa HIGHLAKDS f Bs Kawkabin a writ ل‎ ٠ 251 Mermar ° c © tis EMH 6 ةوم’ق” ٠ ‎. 2. | Sh el الس‎ 7, ةط‎ ¢ dah

al-Wudaydah \ 7 و‎ wr’ e bay - - WN ىه ذم‎ 5 كل 5 هه‎

N 3 رس‎ ١ 5 t

GULF GF ADF ° gba

Map of the Yemen showing the approximate location of the ten Map of north-west Yemen (Highlands and Tihama) with

mints so far substantiated. For an indication of scale: the linear principal historical towns, Kawkaban and Sa’dah underlined. distance between Aden and Sa’dah is almost 500 km, between (After Touristic Map, State: 1991, Deutsch-Jemenitische Aden and San’a’ almost 300 km. In the rough dissected highlands Gesellschaft e. V. Freiburg i Br.).

terrain, the actual ground distances are of course considerably more. The fortress-town was built on a promontory formed by the end of an extended spur of Jabal al-Dula’, separated from the latter by a deep natural cleft several feet wide. The town can only be reached via a steep footpath which leads up the sides of the cliff from the town of Shibam. Another route to the fortress leads along the flat top of the spur of Jabal al-Dula’, and crosses the natural cleft via a kind of bridge. Both entry routes could be completely controlled from inside the fortress. Although completely intact as a town, fully inhabited and of considerable charm and interest, Kawkaban has lost its role as a strategic fortress town: its poor accessibility in an otherwise well-populated and important highland farming area results in its having little or no economic importance nowadays in the region it once controlled.

After the arrival of the Ottoman Turks in the Yemen, the famous Zaydi Imam al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf al-Din, his equally famous son al-Mutahhar, unconfirmed successor to the Imamate, together with other sons and relatives made Kawkaban and nearby Thula their strategic bases. From here they harassed first the Tahirids (Banu Tahir) from whom they wrested the control of a vast and essential part of the Yemen. When checked in their expansion to just short of ‘Adan by the invading Turks, it was this latter enemy that henceforth would have to contend with the power and energy of this true Yemeni ruling family.

The first direct Ottoman contacts with Kawkaban only came about after the conquest of San’a’ in 954/1547 by the Ottoman commander Ozdemiir Bey. The defeated Yemeni de-facto ruler and Imam designate, al-Mutahhar and his army commanders withdrew to the mountain strongholds north-west of San’a’. Al-Mutahhar retreated to Thula, where the Ottomans later besieged him but failed to take that fortress. AlMutahhar’s brother and second in command, Shams al-Din and the faqih al-Nasiri fled to Kawkaban®. Ozdemiir Bey kept up a constant pressure on al-Mutahhar at Thula until in 959/1552 the Imam agreed to peace and recognition of Ottoman overlordship in exchange for local autonomy over the surrounding area’. This situation remained in force for 14 years until in 973/1566, the truce was violated by hostilities north of San’a’ that were initiated by the then Ottoman Beylerbey Ridwan Pasha”.

There is no mention that after the conquest of San’a’ Kawkaban too was invested by the Ottomans, but shortly after this event in 954/1547 Ozdemiir Bey accepted an invitation from Shams al-Din to visit him in his fortress of Kawkaban and to accept there his offer of peace with (and submission to) the Ottomans. This situation held until 962/1555, when, after Ozdemiir Bey’s departure from the Yemen, Shams al-Din was persuaded by his sons to join forces again with his brother al-Mutahhar!!. The situation around Kawkaban and Thula then apparently remained calm until the provocations by Ridwan Pasha (see above) disturbed the peace again for a number of years to come.

According to Smith it was only sometime after the death of Imam al-Mutahhar in 1570 (977?) that a grandson of Imam Yahya Sharaf alDin, named Ahmad Muhammed Shams al-Din, came to terms with the Turks and was allowed to remain ruler of this economically and strategically important large area to the north and west of San’a’, extending all the way to Bajil and beyond in the Tihama lowlands!2. From the important collection of numismatic notes based on historical source material brought together by Lachman’s painstaking research!3 it would appear that the Ottoman army under Sinan Pasha reached Kawkaban for the first time in 977/1570. The Ottomans attacked Kawkaban but failed to take it!*. All this happened when the Ottomans reconquered the Yemen after having been nearly ousted by the efforts of the Zaydi armies under Imam al-Mutahhar and his brothers during the preceding years.

The fighting between Zaydi and Ottoman troops continued, but after al-Husayn bin Shams al-Din had been killed in battle, his brother Muhammed bin Shams al-Din, who had earlier successfully defended Kawkaban against the Turks, was now forced to conclude a treaty with the Turks, which made him Sanjak Beg (Bey) of Kawkaban in 977/1570. This forced Imam al-Mutahhar also to come to terms with the Ottomans; eventually he died in Thula in 980/1572!9.

Although the articles by Smith and Lachman do not entirely agree about dates and names, it would appear from the information screened by them and Blackburn that Kawkaban was never conquered by the Ottomans. Imam al-Mutahhar at nearby Thula was unsuccessfully besieged twice by the Ottomans: first in 954/1547 and again in 958/1551’®. But neither during the first period of Ottoman conquest and consolidation between 945 and 970, nor after the second conquest of the Yemen, which started after the arrival of Sinan Pasha in 976/1569, was Kawkaban in Ottoman hands.

It would also appear that the eventual peaceful ‘neutralisation’ of Kawkaban took place in 977/1570 (Lachman) or sometime soon after the death of al-Mutahhar in 980/1572 (Smith). The latter author mentions the fact that the Shams al-Din family continued to enjoy their princely privileges of rule over this large area (sanjak) for nine generations!’. This would indicate that the Ottomans left the Shams al-Din family at Kawkaban largely in peace during the remaining period of their occupation of Yemen.

Sa’dah today is an important town, the northernmost large town of the Yemen (see map). It is situated in an agriculturally important area, at a road distance of 243 km due NNW of San’a’ at an altitude of over 1500 m above sea level. Its origins go back to pre-Islamic times.. Its early fame equally derives from its being a producer of iron products, from its position on the traditional ‘frankincense road’, the main

caravan trade route from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, as from its later role as the cradle of Zaydism. This particular form of Shia Islam of northern Yemen was introduced to the Yemen at Sa’dah by al-Hadi Yahya in the 10th century AD. This turned Sa’dah into a stronghold of Zaydism where up to the present time the tomb of al-Hadi Yahya is still venerated at his own mosque. It was in particular the Zaydi Imams and their followers from the northern regions of the country who, throughout the Ottoman occupation of the Yemen, were their main adversaries.

About the history of Sa’dah, little of relevance to the Ottoman period is available to me. It was a completely walled and well-fortified town. Especially regarding the first Ottoman appearance at the city gates and their first conquests of the town I have no information. As

mentioned above, from the disjointed facts scattered through the manuscripts which form the basis of Tritton’s book, no cohesive history can be construed. It seems that confusion reigned all round. From Blackburn’s notes!® we learn that from 941/1534-35 onwards ‘Izz al-Din,

another son of Imam Sharaf al-Din, had been master of Sa’dah. From here at times he made sorties into the northern Tihama coastal plains as far afield as Jizan and Abu ‘Arish, where he harassed Ottoman forces. This ruler was equally opposed to his brother al-Mutahhar and to the Ottomans. Shortly after the Ottoman conquest of San’a’ when he moved south with his army in an apparent attempt to reclaim the Zaydi capital, he was captured by Ozdemiir Bey. He died in late 954/1547 as a hostage on his way to Istanbul. I have no information to confirm that from that year onwards Sa’dah was in Ottoman hands. However it is clear that Sa’dah is in Ottoman hands from 963/1556 till 975/1567, and that it was ruled by the capable Sanjakbey Kése Behram Bey. Following the latter’s death in late 973/1566, Shah ‘Ali Bey was appointed to rule Sa’dah. Owing to this latter’s ineptness in governing the town’s garrison and population, a local Yemeni chief by the name of Ahmad bin al-Husayn bin ‘Izz al-Din who had been granted the rule over two districts to the north of Sa’dah by Ozdemiir Bey, in 975/1567 was incited by the Imam al-Mutahhar to attack Sa’dah together with another Amir. After a protracted siege the town of Sa’dah surrendered to the Zaydi forces in 975/1567!9. Not only did the Ottomans lose Sa’dah, but, in addition two armies sent to the relief of the besieged Ottoman fortress were defeated long before reaching the town with the result that Ottoman power in the north collapsed and the Beylerbey Ridwan Pasha was forced to conclude a peace settlement with the Zaydi forces under the Imam al-Mutahhar2°. Additional circumstantial information confirms that in 973/1566 Sa’dah was still in Ottoman hands?!

After 975/1567 there is a gap in my history of Sa’dah. The town must however have changed hands again at least once (and probably more often), because in Serjeant and Lewcock’s admirable book on San’a’’ it is mentioned that with the change of Ottoman governor in 1021/1612-13 the northern part of the country remained defenceless, which prompted the Zaydi Imam al-Qasim bin Mohammed (al-Kabir) and his followers

to take Sa’dah, in which they succeeded. Apparently the Ottomans, after some fierce battles, were able to regain Sa’dah soon after. «Gs In 1026/1617, with yet another change of Ottoman governors, Imam Qasim once more succeeded in taking Sa’dah from the Turks, this time, it would seem, for good??. In 1028/1619 a truce was concluded between the Imam al-Qasim and the Ottoman Governor (Beylerbey) Muhammad Pasha??. It was the second time that the Zaydi conquest of Sa’dah forced the Ottomans into negotiations with their Zaydi opponents.

History and Numismatics	At Kawkaban both copper and silver? coins are known to have been struck during the Ottoman occupation of the Yemen. Of Sa’dah too,	copper and silver coins*> from the Ottoman period are known.
Regarding Kawkaban, it must be conceded that the coins from that mint may strictly speaking not be termed Ottoman coins, if our	assumption that Kawkaban was never in Ottoman hands is correct. However, it is clear that the silver coins from that mint bear the names of	the subsequent Ottoman Sultans from Mohammed (Mehmed) III, 1003/1594 up to and including Murad IV, 1032/1622 26.
Thereafter it was the Zaydi Imams al-Mu’ayyad billah Mohammed and al-Mutawakkil ‘ala Allah Isma’il respectively, both sons of the	famous Imam al-Qasim, who continued having silver coins minted in Kawkaban in their own names. What has been said about the silver	coinage of Kawkaban with regard to the continuity of its production cannot be said of the copper coins of this mint.

Regarding Kawkaban, it must be conceded that the coins from that mint may strictly speaking not be termed Ottoman coins, if our assumption that Kawkaban was never in Ottoman hands is correct. However, it is clear that the silver coins from that mint bear the names of the subsequent Ottoman Sultans from Mohammed (Mehmed) III, 1003/1594 up to and including Murad IV, 1032/1622 26.

Thereafter it was the Zaydi Imams al-Mu’ayyad billah Mohammed and al-Mutawakkil ‘ala Allah Isma’il respectively, both sons of the famous Imam al-Qasim, who continued having silver coins minted in Kawkaban in their own names. What has been said about the silver coinage of Kawkaban with regard to the continuity of its production cannot be said of the copper coins of this mint.

The first agreement between the Zaydi ruler of Kawkaban and the Ottomans shortly after the fall of San’a’ in 954/1547 took place during the rule of Sultan Sulayman I (926-974/1520-1566). This was an arrangement whereby the Ottomans would recognise the Zaydi ruler’s local autonomy in exchange for his recognition of the Ottoman Sultan as his overlord. Such a ‘deal’ included of necessity the two prime prerequisites, viz.: mention of the Sultan’s name in the Friday khutbah, and the minting of coins in his name?’.

A single thin copper coin minted in Kawkaban and by design attributable to the rule of Sultan Sulayman is most likely from this period?8 As is mostly the case with copper coins, this coin does not mention the name of the Sultan nor is the year (of minting or of the Sultan’s accession) visible. In view of the arrangement made between the Ottomans and the Zaydis, it is not unlikely that silver coins too would have

been struck, as silver coins would always show the Sultan’s name. So far, however, such coins have not been reported.

One coin from Kawkaban in my collection is clearly dated 977, placing it in the reign of Sultan Selim II (974-982/1566-1574). This date

agrees with one of Lachman’s notes, which states that after an unsuccessful attack on Kawkaban by Sinan Pasha, Mohammed bin Shams alDin was recognised as Sanjak Beg (Bey) in 977, i.e. became a local ruler, subject to Ottoman overlordship. Again, these copper coins, of the thick type, do not show the name of the Sultan, nor are any silver coins from Kawkaban in Sultan Selim II’s name known to exist. This latter fact is in itself not surprising, as so far no silver coins of this Sultan of any of the Yemen mints have come to light. This same year 977 has also been found on thick Ottoman coppers from al-Mokha and Zabid; it has been tentatively connected with the arrival of the powerful Ottoman Wazir (Vezir, Governor, Beylerbey) Bahram Pasha, who was largely responsible for the reconquest of the Yemen during the rule of Selim 1129. A third type of copper coin from Kawkaban that so far is only represented by two undated specimens, may after all not be Ottoman but could possibly belong to the subsequent independent Zaydi Imams, the sons of Imam al-Qasim. Its ratio: diameter/thickness places it between the ‘thick’ and the ‘thin’ types of coins. The design of these coins probably included a date and it is hoped that such coins will come to light in due course.

For Sa’dah the picture is less clear. The silver coins, akce, from Sa’dah in my collection are all in the name of Sulayman 1: the only coin with a visible date probably shows the year of the Sultan’s accession, 926, but this is not unambiguously clear. These coins would most likely have been struck there after the actual conquest of Sa’dah by the Ottomans. This took place some time after San’a’ had been conquered in 954/1547, therefore between say 954 and 974 (1547 and 1566). No silver coins from Sa’dah from later reigns of Ottoman Sultans appear

to be known. Like Kawkaban, Sa’dah shows two distinct types of copper coins, viz. thin coins and thick coins. Elsewhere, on the basis of various indicators, I have postulated that the thin type of coins preceded the thicker coinage*°. The thin Ottoman copper coinage, though not dated, shows consistent similarities in ornamentation to that of the silver coins clearly struck in the name of Sultan Sulayman I. It may therefore be safely assumed that these thin copper coins also belong to the reign of this Sultan and therefore can be dated to that period between the (unknown?) first conquest of Sa’dah and the accession of Sultan Selim II in 974.

The Coins Weights and measurements of the coins or coin types shown here are provided in the table below. Fig. 1 shows the ‘thin’ copper coin from Kawkaban, which, though undated, is tentatively ascribed to the rule of Sultan Sulayman [?!.

نا 2

Fig. 1 Thin Copper coin from Kawkaban, with attempted reconstruction Obv.: Hexagram with accents and intertwined ovals in centre Rev.:? ‘azze nasruhu duriba fi Kawkaban (arabesques) reconstruction

Figure 2 shows the one obverse, which appears to be common to all thick copper coins of Kawkaban and three types of reverses of these copper coins..

The obverse consists of a convoluted, toughra-like rendering of the word al-Mahrusah (the well-guarded), an epithet applied on many Ottoman copper coins from Yemen, Egypt and some other mints. The calligraphy of this particular word tends to vary on every coin I have seen, but basically the elements shown in Fig. 2 will be recognisable in all of them.

Of the reverses, the difference between b and c lies in the horizontal stroke of the second letter ‘kaf’ of Kawkaban; in c this extends over

the letter ‘waw’, but in b it does not, nor is there space between the top of the ‘waw’ and the lower loop of the heartshaped knot.

©

Fig. 2. Obverse and different reverses of ‘thick’ copper coins from Kawkaban. Obv.: al-Mahrus(ah) Rev.: duriba Kawkaban (977) In reverse 2a the year appears directly under the lower loop of the ‘waw’; in the British Museum collection there is a coin of similar reverse, but in this case it has an extra line under the mint name, presumably for ‘sanah’, year, and under this line the tops of three figures can be made out, but cannot be read unambiguously (988, 998?).

Figure 3 shows a coin which one would tend to group with the ‘thick’ coins, but on closer inspection of the thickness, diameter and weight it would appear to be in between the two types distinguished here. Only two specimens are known to me, neither of which shows a year.

DOK

fe 65 خم‎ Fig. 3. | Undated copper coin from Kawkaban.

Obv. Tamgha-like ornament, no script. Rev. duriba Kawkaban (possibly with heartshaped knot above)

Although the obverse of these coins shows a ‘tamgha’-like design, which is reminiscent of other Ottoman coins, it must be borne in mind that this particular coin type may be from a later date and may belong to the Zaydi Imams. For the proper dating of these coins, more research in other collections is required.

The Ottoman copper coins from Sa’dah are shown below. In Figure 4 the ‘thin’ type of coin is reconstructed from six specimens in my collection (obv a) and from two illustrations (obv b)22; as usual, none of these coins is dated. Similarities with the coin shown in Figure 1 above (Kawkaban) and those shown for Zabid in my earlier article, types VII and VIII, are immediately evident.

ais Fig. 4. | Reconstruction of ‘thin’ type of copper coin from Sa’dah.

Obv. a. Hexagram with accents and intertwined ovals in the centre. b.Octagram with accents, dots and intertwined ovals in the centre. Rev. ‘azze nasruhu duriba fi Sa’dah.

Of the thick type of coppers, four distinct reverses and two obverses are shown in Figure 5. As already stated for the obverses of similar coins from Kawkaban, the convoluted, toughra-like ‘al-Mahrusah’ tends to be different for each of the coins seen, but all show the basic features to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the relative sizes of dies and planchets and the quality of the strike. Obviously, the cutting of the dies for these intricate calligraphic designs must have been difficult for the probably poorly-trained die cutters that travelled with the Ottoman armies in the Yemen. It is peculiar that on some coins the dates are shown with only two digits in a small recess between the letters ‘ra’ and ‘sin’ of al-mahrusah.

Fig. 5. | Two obverses and four different reverses of ‘thick’ copper coins from Sa’dah.

Obv.: al-Mahrusah (date in two digits) Rev.: duriba Sa’dah (sanah…)

In the reverses there are signs that the date should appear under a line which represents the word ‘sanah’ (year) below the mint name, but unfortunately none of the coins in my collection actually show a date.

Table of details of Ottoman copper coins from Kawkaban and Sa’dah

Figure Year Weight Diameter Thickness Sample Type and Mint range (gms) range range size ‘n’ 1. Kawkaban ND 0.83 12.0 - 13.5 1.1 thin I 2a, b, c. Kawkaban 1.2 12.0 - 18.8 1.5 - 3.0 thick II 3. Kawkaban ND - - 13.0 - 13.5 1.4 medium III 4a, b. Sa’dah ND 0.9 - 1.7 12.6 - 19.5 1.0 6+2 thin I Sa, b, c,d. Sa’dah 2.3 - 6.7 13.3 - 18.0 2.0 - 4.0 thick II

Metrology and Terminology In view of the considerable variations between types and within types of copper coins, and because of the extreme paucity in references to

Copper coins (references to silver coinage are not infrequently encountered) in contemporary historical sources, it is at this stage not meaningful to make any pronouncements on the metrology or terminology of the coins discussed here. Moreover, the copper coinage can

never be viewed in isolation from the silver coinage of the period, and not much is known about that either. Larger samples of coins of one type would be needed in order to arrive at any statistically meaningful conclusions regarding weights and, possibly, values. This goes for all the types and for all the mints. Only if such a task could be accomplished would it be possible to draw parallels, if any, between the coinages of the different mint towns in the Yemen. Such larger numbers of coins from these Yemeni mints could be brought together through the cooperation of the collectors of such coins by providing the information on the coins in their collections. And this can only be effectively done if a comprehensive typology of these coinages can be established first. The present series of articles on the Ottoman copper coins of the Yemen is a first attempt in that direction. Further articles on the Ottoman copper coins of Malhaz, Dhimarmar and San’a’ are in preparation to complement the series. Notes:

1. Earlier articles on the Ottoman copper coins of Zabid and al-Mokha appeared in issues 137 (summer ‘93) and 138 (autumn ‘93) respectively of the Oriental Numismatic Society (ONS) Newsletter. 5s “Ae 2 2. Kawkaban, (also spelled Kaukaban) in Arabic is spelled: © LS pe Sa’dah in Arabic is spelled: © S42 Neither Kawkaban nor Sa’dah are mentioned by Zambaur as Ottoman mints (Zambaur, E. von, Die Miinzpraegungen des Islams, Wiesbaden, 1968, pp.214 and 166 resp.).

2. Smith, Clive, ‘Kawkaban: Some of its History’, in Arabian Studies VI. Eds. R.B. Serjeant and R.L. Bidwell. Scorpion Communications, London 1982.

pp.38-40 4. Tritton, A.S., The Rise of the Imams of Sanaa. Reprinted by Hyperion Press Inc. Westport, Connecticut, 1981.

1. Blackburn, J.Richard, ‘The Ottoman penetration of Yemen’ in Archivum Ottomanicum VI (1980), pp.5S5-100. (Hereafter referred to as ‘penetration’)

2. Wilson, Robert T.O., Gazetteer of Historical North-West Yemen. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, 1989. pp.284 and 285, where he mentions Kawkaban (al-Jahili/Hajjah/al-Jabar) and Kawkaban (Qudam) resp.

3. Ibrahim Ahmad al-Maghafi in Mu’ajm al-buldan wa al-qaba’il al-yemeniyya (San’a’, 1988) does not list the two Kawkabans of Wilson, but mentions yet another four places of that name, viz. one in the Tihama near Beit al-Faqih, another in the north of the country, one to the west of Ta’iz and a part or locality of Hodeidah town. None of these could have been confused with the Kawkaban Shibam of this article. 8. Blackburn, op. cit., note 62, p.82. 9. ibid., note 81, p.90.

4. Blackburn, J.Richard, ‘The collapse of Ottoman authority in Yemen, 968/1560-976/1568’ in: Die Welt des Islams, XIX, 1-4, pp 119-176. Here: pp 140 -141. (Hereafter referred to as ‘collapse’). Blackburn, op. cit. (‘penetration’), note 71, p.85. Smith, op. cit., p.40.

5. Lachman, Samuel ‘The Numismatics of the Yemen of the 10th/16th Century’, (Part 3). In: Spinks Numismatic Circular, July 1992, p.185b, (middle).

6. Serjeant R.B., and R. Lewcock (Eds.), San’a’, an Arabian Islamic City. World of Islam Festival Trust, London, 1983. On p.70b, note 16, it is mentioned

that in the Chronicles of Mustafa Rumuzi, (Futuh-i Yemen), there are several pictures of fighting at Kawkaban when the fortress was held against Sinan Pasha in 977/1569. “The Yemenis are shown as dark and the Turks as light coloured. The Yemenis are generally shown as wearing green, but in point of fact probably wore indigo-dyed clothing”. 15. Lachman, op. cit., p.185b. 16. Ibid. p 185a

1. Smith, op. cit., p.40, end of first paragraph.

2. Blackburn, op. cit. (‘penetration’), p.86, note 73, middle.

3. Blackburn, op. cit. (‘collapse’), p.144-145, from notes 103 and 104 it must be deduced that Sa’dah fell to the Zaydi forces on or before | Safar, 975/7

August 1567. 20. Ibid., p.146, here, confusingly, the year of the fall of Sa’dah, of the defeat of the two Ottoman forces sent to the relief of Sa’dah and of the subsequent conclusion of a treaty between Ridwan Pasha and Imam al-Mutahhar are all placed in Rajab 974/Jan-Feb.1567, thus about half a year before the date

mentioned earlier by the same author (see preceding note). 21. Ibid., p.141. Here mention is made of al-Mutahhar’s strategem to divert Ottoman troops away from San’a’ and Dhimarmar into the hostile northern regions. By despatching a Zaydi force in the direction of Sa’dah, the Ottoman enemy is immediately deceived into thinking that their northernmost outpost Sa’dah is threatened, resulting in the moves which al-Mutahhar had intended and causing the defeat of the Ottoman army. 22. Serjeant and Lewcock, Op. cit., p.73a and b. The actual year is not conclusively clear from the narrative, both 1026/1617 and 1028/1619 are mentioned in

an indirect context, and 1027 could equally be correct. The precise date of this event needs further clarification. 23. Ibid. p.73b. 24. Popp V., G-R Puin and H Wilski, Ottoman Coins of the Yemen. In: A Festschrift presented to Ibrahim Artuk on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Turkish Numismatic Society. T.N.D., Istanbul, 1988. p.257, Table 2. 25. Lowick, Nicholas, The Mint of San’a’, a historical outline. In: San’a’, an Arabian Islamic City, by Serjeant and Lewcock Eds.(see note 14 above), Chapter

16, p.307a. Also author’s collection i.a. 26. Popp et al., op. cit. 27. Subsequent Ottoman governors in the Yemen have made use of the politically expedient and militarily inexpensive tactic to neutralise their opponents by inducing them to sign a peace treaty in exchange for their recognition of the Ottoman Sultan as their overlord. Such recognition would be made explicit in at least two practical ways: mention of the Sultan’s name in the khutbah or Friday sermon and striking coins in the Sultan’s name. Examples of such (attempted) agreements are: with the remaining Egyptian Mamluks and Levends in Zabid (Lachman, op. cit.: pp 147b, in 927; and 148a, in 931); before attacking Ta’izz, with the Zaydi Imam Sharaf al-Din, while the Zaydis held Taiz. The attempt failed and Taiz was conquered by Uveys Pasha in 953, (Blackburn, op. cit. (‘penetration’), p.66, note 8); with the rulers of Kawkaban once in 954 by Ozdemiir (Blackburn, op. cit. (‘penetration’), p.85, note 71) and another time in 977 by Sinan (Smith, op. cit. p.40); various other attempts, i.a. with the ruler(s) of Dhimarmar in 954 (?) and with the Zaydi Imam al- Mutahhar at various occasions.

It is not clear in how far such an arrangement would make the issue of coins per se (in the Sultan’s name) mandatory, nor is it known whether copper coins were generally exempted from the obligation to show the Sultan’s name. Whatever the case, the known copper coins struck by the Levend in Zabid, i.e. from 931/1525 and prior to 945/1539 all show the name of Sultan Sulayman, but no other copper coins from the Ottoman era in the Yemen bear the Sultan’s name except for two thin (and probably very early) copper coins from San’a’ also in Sultan Sulayman’s name and with his year of accession 926. 28. Nauta, Dick, ‘Ottoman copper coins from Zabid in the Yemen’ in: Oriental Numismatic Society (ONS) Newsletter No.137, Summer 1993. A general account of these ‘thin’ type copper coins (Types VII and VIII) is provided after the description of Type VI. 29. Blackburn, op. cit. (‘collapse’), p.126, note 22 describes how in 973/1565 following political scheming by Mahmud Pasha, the original Beylerbeylik of Yemen was subdivided into two new Beylerbeyliks, viz: 1. Yemen, which comprised the Tihama lowlands from north of Jizan to south of al-Mokha, with Zabid as its administrative centre, and 2.Sana’a’, with in the south ‘Aden and Ta’‘izz and in the north Sa’dah. The division therefore ran north-south through the foothills of the highlands.

Co-operation between the respective Beylerbeys was mostly far from cordial. To what extent this state of affairs has had an influence on the development of

separate coin types and standards in these two governorates remains to be seen. 30. Nauta, op. cit., Types VI and VIII, see note 28 above. 31. This coin is from the Hans Wilski collection. The drawing and other details of this coin have been kindly made available to me. 32. The drawing of the obverse of this coin is a reconstruction based on two illustrations of this coin, one of which was kindly made available to me by Dr GR Puin from his collection, the other is from Spink Taisei, Zurich, Auction Catalogue No. 37 (1991), lot 142b. These are the only two coins of this type with octagram known to me. 33. Note 28 above. The Silver Content of late Samanid Dirhams Gunnar Holst In Metallurgy in Numismatics, RNS, London 1980, David Sellwood has an article, ‘The Striking of Samanid Double Dirhems’. Such Samanid and Ghaznavid outsize dirhems were apparently struck during the last quarter of the 10th century. An analysis, quoted in the article, states that a coin weighing 13.68 gm contains 71.9% silver and 28.2% copper. If X-ray fluorescence analysis is employed to determine the composition of ancient coins we must bear in mind that the analysed surface layer of approximately 0.03 - 0.1mm is not representative of the composition of the interior of the coin.

To get an idea of the silver quantity in the analysed coin I have determined the specific gravity of three similar coins (Mitchiner 723 KB16, 12.63gm; 731 YM6, 11.55 gm; 765 AN16, 10.21 gm). The volume of each coin is calculated according to Archimedes’s principle and the specific gravity varies from 9.1 to 9.2. If the specific gravity of silver is taken as 10.5 and that of copper is 8.9, the silver content in the above mentioned coin cannot be more than about 20%.

The same sort of debasement of the silver occurs in Samanid dirhems struck at the mint of Balkh during Nuh II bin Mansur (366-87/97697) and Mansur II bin Nuh (387-89/997-99). The specific gravity of these coins is at the limit of 9.1 - 9.3, which indicates 30% silver content at most. It would be most useful to obtain analytic date for the late Samanid dirhems and group them according to their origins. We would also gain knowledge of the nature of the Samanid ‘silver crisis’, which was partly due to the mines being abandoned because of lack of wood-fuel.

Coming and Going

The coin illustrated here, which recently came into my possession, throws new light on the early coinage of Sind in the Indo-Parthian period. It is of slightly base silver and weighs 3.63 gms. The obverse has a bearded bust to the right somewhat resembling the portrait on some Characenian coins of Attembelos III. The reverse has a swastika surrounded by a kharosthi legend which reads Bagavhanamputrasa Larataraja Spajhanasa. The Pu of Putrasa is retrograde and the first two characters of the last word (the king’s name) are not 100% certain. In fact there may be an additional character inserted between the second and third characters. Below the illustration of the coin (2 times actual size) I have shown the legend as it appears on the coin, made from a direct scan, and below that is the legend as I read it. The coin was

tedly found in Loralai with a f th f th t lus t; 4 ‘aes orn م‎ | sone ri ew tec of as ee a

In ONS Newsletter 133, I announced the removal of a king Otannes from the Indo-Parthian king list and substituted Tanlis, none other than Tanlismardates. Now another contemporary king, Spajhanasa (7?) is about to displace a king, or possibly two, from this list.

In his nine volume work on the Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythic coinage, Michael Mitchiner published a hemi-drachm that belongs to the British Museum, as an issue of Ladhanes, nephew of Gondophares. See coin 1244 on page 821 of volume 9. The portrait on that coin faces left and appears beardless. I recently compared the legend on that coin with my coin above and found them to have the same legend. Thus Ladhanes disappears from our list of kings. The BM copper coin (Mitchiner 1245) is as yet unattributable as I cannot accept the fanciful interpretation read by Dr. Mitchiner. What does the legend mean? It would appear to be saying “Spajhanasa, son of Bagavhanama raja of Larata”. In Cunningham’s Geography of Ancient India he refers to lower Sind as Lar. A bit closer to Loralai was the capital of Upper Sind, Alor. I suspect that Larata was not a million miles away. The reading Larataraja on this coin is confirmed by a re-reading of the legend on the drachms of ‘Pisayu’ son of ‘Ladhanes’ (Mitchiner 1247). The first coin illustrated there was in the Bleazby collection and the Brahmi legend visible on that coin says exactly Larataraja, I suspect that Pisayu might be about to depart from the Indo-Parthian king list, but I will deal with him at a later date, and elsewhere! R.C.SENIOR

Ancient South Indian coins Issued by the Malayaman of Tirucoilur Michael Mitchiner

* In ONS Newsletter 136 (Spring 1993) W Pieper published a group of Malayaman coins under the title “Three hills with river - emblem of an ancient South Indian dynasty. He did not possess sufficient evidence to attribute these coins.

While in Tamilnadu in 1993, I was able to view a number of private coin collections and also to visit sites from which coins are being recovered. The results have been written up as ‘Coin circulation in southernmost India: circa 200 BC to AD 1835’, which will be published in due course by the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies at Nasik.

The following adaptation concerning the Malayaman and their coinage may be of interest to those who have read Mr Pieper’s article.

The Malayaman and Tirucoilur During the Sangam period, at the beginning of the Christian era, Tirucoilur was capital of the Malayaman. The Malayaman chiefs were southern neighbours to the Satavahanas and then to their Pallava successors. Malayaman affinities, however, as reflected both in Sangam literature and by their coinage, appear to have been closer to their southern neighbours. These were the Cholas and the Cheras, to one or other of whom the Malayaman were sometimes feudatory. The Chola capital was situated at Uraiyur, which is now a suburb of Trichy (Tiruchirapalli). The capital of the Irumporai branch of the Cheras was situated at Karur.

The Malayaman were hereditary chiefs whose land was referred to as Malayamannadu in Sangam period literature. The Malayaman chief Tirumudikari fought alongside the Chola king Perunarkilli to defeat the Chera king Cheral Irumporai. By and large the Malayaman appear to have been subservient to these more powerful Chola and Chera neighbours.

The small town of Tirucoilur (Thirukkoilur, Tirukovilur) is situated on the south bank of the River Ponnaiyar within sight of the western hills. It lies some 45 km south-west of Gingee and 60 km west of Pondicherry. Its former importance can probably be attributed to its location at a major river crossing on the north-south trade route skirting the hills (Vellore - Gingee - Tirucoilur - Trichy - Madurai). Tirucoilur, on the river Ponnaiyar, was the Malayaman capital. Their port appears to have been at Arikamedu, the Podouke of classical writers ( situated beside modern Pondicherry).

Nowadays, Tirucoilur, in addition to being the local market town, is also a religious focus. The temple in Kellayur (1 km south) has its origins in the Chola period. The small temple on a rock in the middle of the river is also early. The Murugan Perumal temple in the centre of town is a large building with imposing gopurams visible from some miles away. Much of its present structure dates from about the 16th century, but its origins are earlier. Across the river is the temple of the holy man Shree Ragoothama Theertha Swami who settled at Tirucoilur in AD 1595. One kilometre north of this three large early stone statues have been unearthed. These half length figures of Vishnu (2.5 metres high) and two consorts have been re-erected beneath a corrugated iron roof as a local shrine. A further kilometre north, beside the river, lies the temple of the modem mystic Guru Gnananda. ~ 10 The River Ponnaiyar is some 800 metres across at Tirucoilur and its bed dry (August) for much of the year. Standing in the middle of the causeway across the river at Keelayur (1 km south of Tirucoilur) one can look up the river and observe the ‘map’ illustrated as the reverse design on Malayaman coins. The town of Tirucoilur lies ahead on the left bank and looking upriver, beyond the leftward bend, one sees in front the range of hills with principal peaks to left and right of the river.

People who search the river bed for early coins and other antiquities use the following method. Ancient items are buried some six to seven feet deep and lie where eddy currents between rocks in the river once concentrated them. Men using metal pipes probe the sand of the river bed to locate rocks at the correct depth and with a gap separating the rocks. When a suitable site has been located, a large pit is dug and the sand that is removed is panned to reveal and extract artefacts. Coins were observed with three dealers who each cater for a different facet of the trade: -

• Jeweller who purchases metal as bullion from river diggers and is a major outlet for their produce. He had five kilograms of assorted buckles, finger rings, hair rings and scrap metal. Numerous coins were in the lot, including - Malayaman (x1), Satavahana (x2), Pallava (x3), Chola Raja Raja kasu (x10), Vijayanagar: mainly Krishnadevaraya (x10), Northern Nayaka with Vijayanagar inspired designs (x6), Southern Nayaka (x5), Adil Shahis of Bijapur (x2), Moghul: Aurungzeb of Mazulipatan mint (x2), Nawabs: all of Arcot mint (7), Mysore (x15), Pondicherry (x3), East India Company: 1835 machine struck coppers (many).

• Jeweller who only purchases the better coins from the diggers. His coins included: Satavahana (x3), Malayaman (x4), Pallava (x4), medieval Vira Kerala silver coins (x2).

• Dealer in coins and antiquities. He deals with coins found locally and also trades extensively in Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Coins found at Tirucoilur included: Punchmarked (x1), Malayaman, including one coin of fractional denomination (x5), Satavahana (x3), Pallava (x6), Roman, denarii (occasional), late 4th-5th century small coppers (not uncommon), Chola Raja Raja kasu (x15), Medieval Pandya (x2), Kongu Chera ( 1), Vijayanagar (many), Northern Nayaka (many), Southern Nayaka (x20), Tanjore Maratha (several), Nawabs, all citing Arcot mint (x10), Mysore (many).

In addition to these coins seen at Tirucoilur, many coins found at Tirucoilur were seen in private collections in Tamilnadu. Only one Sangam period Chera coin is known from Tirucoilur and no Sangam period Chola coins. Traders of that period who lost their coins seem to have come mostly from the north (Satavahana, Pallava coins), rather than from the south. Roman coins, both denarii and late coppers, are fewer in number than those found at Karur.

Published coins include some of the Malayaman coins in Krishnamurthy’s booklet! and the Tirucoilur hoard of forged Roman gold coins found in a nearby village. Pallava coins found at Tirucoilur and other sites have been published by Krishnamurthy? and by Thirugnanasampandam’.

Malayaman Coinage: Sangam Period The name Malayaman appears on a number of their coins. The coins are found principally at Tirucoilur (Tirukkovilur), to the west of Pondicherry. Tirucoilur lay on the trade route from north to south which brought many Satavahana coins to Karur. The Malayaman coins also circulated along this trade route. They have been found at Kanchipuram (Sisodia 1979°) to the north and in substantial numbers at Karur to the south.

Malayaman coins inscribed with their name ‘Malayaman’ have been published by Krishnamurthy (19879: 19907, pp. 17-19, 24-30). Some of their other coins are inscribed with the name of a chief - ‘Kari’ (Krishnamurthy,1990: pp.33-35, 55-56). Many of their coins bear no legend and show the Horse facing either to right (Krishnamurthy 1990: pp. 4142, 57-64, 66 -69, 71-72) or to left (ibid., pp. 36-40, 65, 70). A few coins were published previously but not correctly attributed - Sisodia (19798), Mitchiner (1979°) no. 801, and recently, Pieper (1993!%).

The reverse design on Malayaman coins is a map illustrating the location of the Malayaman capital at Tirucoilur One can read it as showing the River Ponnaiyar with fishes in it; the town of Tirucoilur by a bend, on the left river bank; the river rising from a range of hills in

the distance. This is precisely the view one sees when standing in the middle of the river at Keelayur, about a kilometer downstream from Tirucoilur. The reverse design also depicts, as ancillary symbols, the emblems of royalty - the sceptre and ankus.

I Inscribed coins The inscribed classes of Malayaman coins are those bearing either the tribal name ““Malayaman” or the name of a ruler - ‘Kari’, ‘Kara’ or simply ‘Ka’. Examination of the coins shows that the “Malayaman” issues have a wide river on the reverse, whereas the “Kari” coins have a narrow river. The horse on the obverse faces to the right on “Malayaman’‘coins (Krishnamurthy 199011. [pp 24-32) and on “Kari” (ibid., pp 33-35) and “Kara” (ibid., pp 55-56) coins, but to the left on the “Ka” (ibid., pp 36-38; 57) coins.

Ila Uninscribed: horse faces right: wide river on reverse. Uninscribed coins show either a symbol or an altar in front of the horse, instead of Tamil-Brahmi characters.

121” Horse stg. right; circle above, symbol before; all within a frame. rev. Wide river with fishes, rectangle within bend, ankus and sceptre on left. Copper 18 x 17 mm 3.78 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. See also Krishnamurthy (1990) pp 60-63. Horse stg. r., altar before. rev. Wide river with fishes, rectangle within bend, three hills at source of river, ankus and sceptre on left. Copper 18 x 17 mm. 3.52 gm. Ex Tirucoilur.

Similar to above (overstruck on old reverse). rev. Similar to above. Copper 23 x 20 mm. 4.07 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. Horse stg. r., altar before. rev. Wide river with fishes, rectangle within bend, ankus and sceptre on left (hills not visible). Copper 20 x 12 mm. 2.84 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. Similar Copper 19 x 16 mm. 2.18 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. Similar Copper 20 x 19 mm. 2.42 gm. Ex Karur. Similar Copper 20 x 15 mm. 2.43 gm. Ex Tirucoilur.

Similar Copper 17 x 16 mm. 2.16 gm. Ex Tirucoilur.

Similar Copper 17 x 16 mm. 2.08 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. IIb Uninscribed: horse faces right.: narrow river on reverse.

Horse stg. right. rev. Narrow river (no fishes), rectangle in bend; three low hills at source of river; sceptre on left. Copper 17 x 16 mm. 3.28 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. sits Similar Copper 18 x 17 mm. 3.21 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. Similar (with larger hills) Copper 18 x 17 mm. 3.04 gm. Ex Tirucoilur.

IIc Uninscribed: horse faces left.: wide river on reverse. Horse stg. left within dotted frame. rev. Wide river with fishes, rectangle in bend; two hills at source of river. Copper 25 x 18 mm. 4.33 gm. Ex Karur.

Horse stg. left; altar before. rev. Similar to above, but largely effaced. Copper 19 x 12 mm. 2.75 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. Krishnamurthy (1990) p 65. Horse stg. left. rev. Wide river with fishes, rectangle in bend; three hills at source of river. Copper 17 x 15 mm. 2.09 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. A few Malayaman coins show the Chera ‘bow and arrow’ on the reverse (Krishnamurthy, 1990 pp 82 - 84 and 88). These probably reflect a period when the Malayaman were feudatory to the Cheras. Il Small size coins Two of these low denomination issues have been seen. One was found at Karur and the other at Tirucoilur. The design abstracts the two emblems of royalty, sceptre + ankus, which appear as ancillary symbols on the reverse of the large size coins.

Sceptre. rev. Ankus Copper, 14 x 12 mm. 1.08 gm. Ex Tirucoilur. For two related issues see Krishnamurthy, 1990 pp. 73-74. Footnotes

• Krishnamurthy, Sangakala Malayaman Nanayankal, Madras 1990. - Krishnamurthy, ‘Imitation Roman gold coins from Tirukoilur hoard’, Essays in honour of Dr. D.W. MacDowall, Nasik, in press. - Krishnamurthy, ‘Pallava coin with lion symbol’, JNSI 51, 1989, pp 90-92 - Thirugnanasampandam, ‘Kanchi Pallava Coins’, Erode 1989 - Sisodia, ‘Coins of early Kadamba period’, Numismatic Digest 1979, pp 52-56 - Krishnamurthy, Sangam period ‘Malayaman coins’, JNSI 1987, 41- 43 - Krishnamurthy (1990) op. cit. - Sisodia (1979) op. cit. - Mitchiner, Oriental coins and their values: 3. Non-lslamic states and western colonies, 1979. - Pieper (1993) op. cit. 1. Krishnamurthy (1990) op. cit.

Numbers refer to M. Mitchiner (in press) op. cit. سم وح زر حر ها 660 ل من وأا

Editor’s note: Mr Krishnamurthy has also commented on Wilfried Pieper’s article and has kindly sent me a copy of his well illustrated book (in Tamil) on Malayaman coins mentioned in Dr Mitchiner’s article. Mr Krishnamurthy has studied these coins in great detail. He says that a few coins with Tamil-Brahmi legends have come to light and he has read the legend as 1. “Malayaman” and 2. ‘Malayan’. These coins come from the riverbed of South Pennaiyar near Tirukoilur town, in South Arcot District and were issued by the chieftain rulers Malayamans of the Sangan period.

Mr Krishnamurthy has also informed me that during the past 10 years, several Sangam period coins belonging to the Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas have come to light and that he has written two other books on Sangam period coins under the titles “Pandiar Peruvaluthi Nanayangal” (dealing with coins issued by

the Sangan period Pandya kings with the name Peruvaluthi), and “Sanga Kola Chola Nanayangal”.

Notes on the Coins of the Kachwaha Rajputs R Dauwe 4. The Jaipur C.35 - C.47 Confusion. Anyone who orders a Craig 35 paisa of Jaipur with the name of Shah Alam II, will in 80% of cases receive a C.47 piece struck in the name of Muhammad Akbar II. Most dealers seem to have a lot of difficulty in distinguishing one type from another. The origin of the problem is the confusion one finds in the numismatic literature.

To start with Craig’s catalogue: the numbering has been changed from 15, to 29 and finally to 35. Worse, however, the illustrated coin is a Jaipur copper struck in the name of Muhammad Akbar II!

In the Krause and Mishler catalogue the coin illustrated is indeed the C.35 paisa, with part of the name of Shah Alam II visible at the top of the obverse and with his RY 44 on the reverse. No C.47 paisa has been illustrated, but the C.47a nazarana issue is. Unfortunately, another frequently made mistake appears in this catalogue, which is the C.5 paisa of Kishangarh. Both the drawing in the earlier editions and the photograph in the later ones, represent beyond any doubt a coin with the name of Muhammad Akbar II and not with that of Shah Alam II. The fact is that most of what are considered to be C.5 paisas of Kishangarh in reality appear to be C.47 coppers of Jaipur. Mitchiner made the same mistake, since his No. 3612 is definitely a Jaipur copper dated RY (1)7 of Muhammad Akbar II.

Before continuing I should point out that these heavy copper coins are not paisas, but double paisas or takkas. That explains the enormous difference in weight between those heavy ‘old’ paisas (with an average weight between 16 and 19 g) and the light ‘new’ paisas (with an average weight of about 6g).

The minting of the ‘large jhar’ takka started in RY 35 of Shah Alam II and was continued without interruption until his RY 46. These coins were struck on relatively broad flans, so that most of them show part of the emperor’s name as well as his regnal year. It remains uncertain when the minting of the ‘large jhar’ takkas of Muhammad Akbar II began. The author has in his collection a specimen dated RY 8, 18 or 28. Since it was struck on a broad flan and the style is very much like Shah Alam’s coins, the first date seems to be the most probable one. However, the earliest date we know for certain is RY 13 and a remarkable change can be observed: the flans become more dumpy and on a good many coins the style becomes cruder. There must have been an enormous output of the coins dated RY 16 and 17 and it is quite probable that not all of them were produced by the mint of Sawai Jaipur. I am convinced that one or more subsidiary mints were operating for a short time and that most of these aberrant were struck there. One of the possibilities could be Khetri, or some other town in its neighbourhood, since it is well-known that most of the metal used for minting the Jaipur coppers came from that region. The later years of that type are less frequently met with and only the RY 22, 25-27 and 29 are reported with certainty.

Though I have never seen one, there is no doubt that the C.35 takkas of Jaipur were imitated by Kishangarh, but they certainly must look different from those illustrated in K & M or by Mitchiner. The Kishangarh imitation of the C.47 takka of Jaipur is unmistakably the C.25 of that former state. But, as one can observe, the obverse differs in many ways from the Jaipur model, the flower replacing the typical Jaipur cross makes it very easy to distinguish the issues. nT «

A Tibetan Countermark on a Spanish American Coin? Wolfgang Bertsch.

The coin illustrated here was published recently in an Argentinian booklet on Chinese countermarks!. It is a silver 8 reales of Mexico mint dated 1799. It has a diameter of 40mm and weighs 26.85 g. Of the various countermarks on the obverse of this coin, one, on the left, stands out as not being typically Chinese, although it was interpreted by Oliveira Cezar as possibly being an abbreviated form of the Chinese character shou (longevity). A Sichuan rupee which bears the character shou as countermark is known, the mark, however, is very different

from the one on the Mexican coin?. Therefore I would like to suggest another interpretation of the countermark on the obverse of the Mexican coin. It could be of Tibetan origin, or at least intended to be Tibetan. The sign in the oval could represent, although somewhat in error, the Tibetan syllable rgya: GD Two problems, however, make this interpretation somewhat unconventional: the lower curved line (the Tibetan yata) of the rgya would in this case be represented by the lower part of the oval. Secondly there exists an extra horizontal stroke on top which obliges one to transliterate

the sign as rrgya and not as rgya, rrgya being a combination of sounds which does not normally occur in Tibetan. There exists, however, a Sino-tibetan coin, dated 58th year of Qien Long (AD 1793), showing the same erroneous combination of sounds in the Tibetan word for eight: (ae ‘on the left of the reverse. The coin of fig. 3 is a half sho (1/2 chien) having a 32 dot outer circle and was published by Kann?. Recently two specimens of this coin were offered by auction*. The half sho illustrated in Fig. 3 is most probably a forgery or a rejected pattern for a coin for which genuine pieces are known, having the normal spelling rgya in the Tibetan word for eight and a beaded border of only 24 dots. 8 (A 2 م5‎ fig. 4

In conclusion, I suggest that the countermark on the Mexican 8 reales is probably of Chinese origin, but a Tibetan syllable may have been intended by whoever had the punch for this countermark made, in order to make this Spanish-american coin acceptable to Tibetan traders. The Tibetan word rgya has the meaning seal, stamp, mark or.لمعأو‎ The other possibility is that the countermark represents an uncommon Chinese character which I am not able to read. I would therefore be grateful to anyone who could make a suggestion as to how this sign could be read, assuming it to be Chinese. Notes

1. Oliveira Cezar, Contramarcas Chinas en las Monedas Coloniales de Hispano América Siglos XVII-XIX, Instituto Bonaerense de Numismiatica y Antigiiedades, Buenos Aires, 1992, pp. 92-93. 2. Gabrisch, Karl and Bertsch: ‘Chopmarks on Sichuan Rupees and Coins from Tibet’ in Numismatics International Bulletin, Vol. 26, Nr 3, Dallas, March

1991, p. 64, fig 14. 3. Kann, E: Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Coins, 2nd ed., New York, 1966, pp 416-17 and pl. 180, nr. 1460. 4. Superior Stamp and Coin Co., The Irving Goodman Collection of Chinese Coinage. Beverly Hills, June, 1991. Lots 1867 and 1868.

1. Das, Sarat Chandra: A Tibetan-English Dictionary. Reprint, Kathmandu, 1982, p.303.

Review. Turcoman Figural Bronze Coins and their Iconography. Vol. [ - The Artugids by William F Spengler and Wayne G Sayles; Clios Cabinet, Lodi, Wisconsin 1992. Hardback, 15 x 23cm. xxiv pp introduction, 193pp. Illustrations and figures throughout the text with astrological appendix, glossary, select bibliography, concordance of main catalogue reference numbers and quick photographic guide to types. Available leading numismatic booksellers. USA approx $35 UK approx £25.

In the diversity of their iconography the figural bronze coins of the Turcomans are without parallel in the whole range of Islamic coins. These attractive bronzes have long appealed to collectors otherwise deterred by purely inscriptional Islamic coin types and one has seen them offered at auctions and in dealers’ lists tagged on somewhat incongruously to the classical and Byzantineseries. Perhaps this is not so surprising given that the inspiration for many of the coin designs has long been recognised in Byzantine, Seleukid, Roman and Sasanian prototypes. Some have seemed a hybrid of the former, others original and have proved enigmatic. That some of its types bear astrological motifs was drawn to our attention by numismatists in the last century.

Just why then did these Turcoman dynasts, converts to the Muslim faith, who established themselves in the twelfth century in upper Mesopotamia, Northern Syria and thereabouts persist with the use of this eclectic imagery on their coins long after their first crude imitations of local Byzantine coins, with apparent disregard for the islamic convention of eschewing the use of graven images on coins? Just what factors influenced their choice of particular coin types and is there some deeper significance to some of them than pure whim on the part of the die engravers and their employers? These problems have exercised the imagination of scholars for generations. The literature on Turcoman coins goes back two hundred years.

For general background on Turcoman coins we have had to rely up to now on a few monographs, a notable landmark being Stanley Lane Poole’s essay ‘Coins of the Urtuki Turcomans’ based upon a contribution to the 1873 Numismatic Chronicle. In recent years other numismatists, e.g., Nicholas Lowick, Helen Mitchell Brown, B Thomas Curtis have added their ideas on aspects of the iconography in scattered learned journals, not all readily accessible. For coin descriptions we have had the published catalogues of museum collections, some outdated or incomplete, starting with the British Museum (1877) and most recently the monumental and meticulous catalogue of the Bibliotheque Nationale’s collection by Gilles Hennequin (1985). Over the last hundred years only a few new types have been recognised

and on the whole comparatively few original ideas on the iconography have been advanced. Many traditional views have gone unchallenged and the iconography of some of the more enigmatic types has remained controversial and elusive.

This present major study of Turcoman figural bronze coins and their iconography, which when complete, will cover all the relevant dynasties should therefore be welcomed by collectors, numismatists and art historians alike. In handy format and at an affordable price the work is the result of four years of painstaking research and travel by the co-authors, both ONS members. It sheds much new light on individual coin types and the cultural milieu of the Turcoman area and times. ths The first volume covers 58 coin types of the three branches of the Artuqids at Hisn Kayfa and Amid, Khartpert and Mardin, all now in south-eastern Turkey. A second volume in preparation will treat figural coins of the four Zengid kingdoms of the Jazira along with the contemporary Ayyubids of Mesopotamia. A third volume will deal with the Danishmends, Seljuks of Rum, other minor Turkish dynasties and their Mongol and II-Khanid successors.

The authors have broadly divided between them their extensive research, William F Spengler concentrating on coin descriptions and the historical and numismatic aspects, whilst Wayne G Sayles has dug deeply into the art-historical aspects of the complex iconography. This arrangement has worked well and there is much that is complementary in their findings.

A xxiv page introductory section contains the usual acknowledgements and sections dealing with the background to the study, published sources and concordances (seven numismatic catalogues were used as a basis for the study); arrangement of the catalogue; legends and calligraphy; dates and dating; weights and metrology; the need for an art historical analysis; (the choice of images to create an illusion of legitimacy is suggested) the value of images; cultures of the region (the significance of the substantial Christian minority is discussed); the universality of art (contains interesting information on the cross-influenced mutual admiration of each others artistic traditions by the Christian and Muslim potentates and on the neoclassical revival in the Jazira in the 10th to 12th centuries); the sources of images (the authors believe that contemporary artists collected coins from antiquity and used them as sources of imagery); and the astrological influence (the pervasive influence of astrology in the Jazira and on court life at the time is stressed. The authors also summarise their most significant conclusion - that many of the classical prototypes were used and subtly modified for astrological themes and, sensationally, to commemorate contemporary astronomical occurrences, e.g., eclipses or unusual and portentous conjunctions of heavenly bodies). The introduction ends with a helpful table of Arabic word dates normally found on Turcoman coins with a transliteration and a map showing Turcoman mint towns.

The main body of the volume constitutes a catalogue of the figural coin types of each of the three branches of the Artugids preceded by a brief history of the branch and a list of its rulers and dates. The authors assign to each basic design a new type (S/S) number. Digital subtype numbers are used for major design and legend variations and different dates (if any) of the same type.

A clear presentation and consistent format has been adopted in the type catalogue. This commences for each issue with basic information within a rectangle: ruler and his dates, S/S type number, mint, first date of type, coin size range and a photograph from a wellpreserved specimens in either the authors’ own core collections, or in museums, or in private collections. Photographs are generally clear, although in just a few instances a shade dark. A full description is then given of obverse and reverse designs and legends. Legends are rendered in the contemporary Arabic calligraphy and in the positions as found on the average specimen with a transliteration, side-stepping modern Arabic. This is a particularly useful feature of the catalogue to those not specialist in Arabic in view of the wide range of calligraphic styles, flourishes and ornaments found on the coins. A concordance of S/S type numbers with the seven catalogue references is then given, viz. Poole, BMC, Edhem, Butak, Artuk, MWI, Paris, used as a basis of the study. The detailed descriptions of each type are followed by a numismatic commentary discussing such matters as the general historical context of the issue, overlords, unusual or innovative features or anomalies in the design, legend, etc. There is also information on minor variations, questionable attributions in standard references and the on the range of coin weights and sizes. In all, a succinct synthesis of the most important observations derived from the authors’ research and examination of thousands of coins in museums and private hands which took them from America to Europe and the Middle East.

Finally, but by no means least, the iconography of each type is fully discussed in an art-historical analysis supplemented by photographs of prototype coins and line drawings and illustrations of relevant motifs from a wide range of classical and contemporary art objects including metalwork, manuscripts, tesserae, etc. In these analyses a number of stimulating and original hypotheses and remarkable discoveries regarding coin types are put forward. Most of these concern the predominance of the astrological symbolism and allusions behind many coin types. The volume ends with an appendix of two tables showing the domicilia and the exaltation/dejection of the planets, a useful glossary, a select bibliography, and for quick reference, a summary of the concordance catalogue references, together with a four plate photographic guide to S/S types.

Altogether this is a most stimulating study. Some of the conclusions reached by the authors might still be regarded as controversial. They dismiss the once popular theory that the word dirhem contained in the so-called ‘curse’ formula on two types, may be construed as an indication that the bronzes were meant to pass as the equivalent of silver dirhems and that the figural bronze coins constituted a ‘fiat’ coinage for modest transactions. They are justified, I think, in regarding the thesis that the purpose behind the use of Christian imagery on Turcoman coins was a means of facilitating trade with the neighbouring Christian principalities of the Levant, though the presence of large Jacobite and Nestorian Christian minorities in the Turcoman domains may well have been influential. Open to question is their view that the Turcoman princes played little part in image selection beyond approving the final recommendations. Whilst at the nomadic stage, the Turkish way of life was not conducive to a high level of material sophistication, history shows that the Turks were intelligent people and, once settled, quick

to assimilate cultural influences and to become lavish patrons of the Arts and Sciences. The unusual length of the Artugid dynasty, three hundred years, the long individual reigns - eleven of more than twenty years are surely indicative of stability and the political acumen of their rulers, skilfully employing the remoteness of their fortified cities to make and break alliances with more powerful neighbours. That stability also suggests a sensibility to the mixed ethnic, religious and cultural society they ruled. We should not underestimate them. To visit Mardin and see the surviving tradition of fine stone carved buildings is to appreciate that this was once a centre of cultural excellence. I think it likely that the Artuqid aristocracy took an active part in this flowering of culture and the sciences.

The authors are to be congratulated in extending considerably our knowledge of the astrological nature of many of the coin types, particularly the linking of dated issues to contemporary astronomical occurrences. I would not presume to challenge their findings. Only passing mention is made of the Mesopotamian origin of the Islamic iconography of the planets, a subject which could have been developed further. I would mention here an article under Astronomy and Astrology of Islam in the Encyclopedia of World Art, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., 1960, not in the bibliography. This article shows that in the symbols of the Islamic iconography of the planets we can recognise equivalent Babylonian divinities, e.g., Mars, the warrior head-cutter type can be linked to Ninib, the Babylonian god of war. In this connection I was disappointed not to see in the volume under review an illustration of the astrological cycle depicted in the frieze on the bridge over the Tigris at Jazirat ibn ‘Umar (Cizne). This must be important in view of its proximity to Hisn Keyf and Mardin and near contemporary construction. Whilst not a criticism of this work, it is a matter for regret that we still lack a corpus of Artugid coins, and to some extent the exclusion from the study of the silver issues detracts from an understanding of some aspects of the coinage especially in relation to metrology. However, this was not the purpose of the project.

The book is to be thoroughly recommended. It deserves a wider audience than those just interested in Islamic numismatics and art history of the Middle East. There are few more interesting series than the Artugids. This volume contains the fruits of some highly original research. It puts forward some stimulating hypotheses and contains sufficient controversial material to keep us occupied for years to come, hopefully in this newsletter. I for one, eagerly look forward to the next volume. D Priestley

Editor’s note: 75 lots of Artukid-Turkoman coins from the Spengler and Sayles Collection were auctioned on 8 December 1993 by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., (Post Office Box 245, Quarryville, PA 17566 - 0245 USA). The balance of their collections of Artukid figural bronze coins is due to be offered on that company’s two mail-bid sales scheduled for March and September 1994.

Galata Print, The Old White Lion, Market Street, Llanfyllin, Powys.