Research on the Guptas and (Iranian) Huns, 2014-2021 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Numismatic Evidence for Iranian Huns
Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia, 2020
A short overview of the published catalogues of 'Iranian Hun' coins including some sample images. The appendix to the source book provides some concordances and explains the slightly daunting numbering system which has accumulated through several decades of work by numismatists in Vienna. The whole collection (included in the document) is excellently edited by Daniel Balogh.
Ortaçağ Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2024
After Möngke took over the Great Mongol Khanate, Hülegü, who was sent to the west, that is, to the Iranian geography in order to consolidate and continue the Mongolian conquests, dominated the region in a short time and established a Mongolian offshoot state which would later be called the Ilkhanids. Ruling over a vast geography, Hülegü expanded the borders of the state from Oxus to the Euphrates, from the Caucasus to Baluchistan. In this geography generally called the Islamic geography, there were vassal states such as the Seljuks of Rum, the Georgian Kingdom, the Empire of Trebizond, and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia under the Mongolian rule. When Hülegü arrived in Iran in 1254 and 1255, he had coins cut bearing the name of his brother, Möngke, whereas he minted coins for himself using the title “Ilkhan” in 1256. The state he founded was called the Ilkhanids, in reference to the title “Ilkhan” used by Hülegü. When the Mongols came to Iran, they immediately adopted the local money minting methods and style, even though they had not yet converted to Islam. Accordingly, the Ilkhanids had first their coins minted entirely in Arabic script in this geography where Islam was dominant. Moreover, it is observed that the Ilkhanid coins were heavily featured with phrases referring to the beliefs of the local population in order to ensure the support of the local population, such as the first sentence of Islam, the word tawhid. Furthermore, it is seen that since the very beginning of their rule, phrases such as the first sentence of Islam, kalima-i tawhid, referring to the beliefs of the local Muslims, were extensively included in the Ilkhanid coins to secure the support of the local people. However, it has been demonstrated that Hülegü minted coins not only reflecting the Islamic notions and concerns but also his own beliefs, traditions and thoughts under the influence of Islam. Until his death in 1265, Hülegü intensively continued getting coins minted thanks to the rich treasures he captured from the regions spreading a wide geography. The coin patterns he created and formed were used and developed by the later Ilkhanids. This study has not only aimed to examine but also catalogue the 16 Ilkhan Hülegü coins registered in the inventory of the Anatolian Civilisations Museum. Büyük Moğol Hanlığına Mengü’nün geçmesinin ardından Moğol fetihlerini pekiştirmek ve devam ettirmek amacıyla batıya yani İran coğrafyasına gönderilen Hülagü kısa sürede bölgeye hâkim olarak daha sonra İlhanlılar olarak adlandırılacak Moğol şube devletini kurmuştur. Oldukça geniş bir coğrafyaya hâkim olan Hülagü devletin sınırlarını Ceyhun’dan Kızılırmak’a Kafkaslardan Belucistan’a kadar genişletmiştir. Genelde İslam coğrafyası olarak adlandırabileceğimiz bu coğrafyada Moğollara bağlı olan Anadolu Selçukluları, Gürcü Krallığı, Trabzon Rum İmparatorluğu ve Ermeni Krallığı gibi vassal devletlerde bulunmaktaydı. Hülagü, İran coğrafyasına geldiğinde 1254 ve 1255 yıllarında kardeşi Mengü adına sikke kestirirken 1256 yılında ise kendisi adına “İlhan” unvanını kullanarak sikkeler darbettirmiştir. Hülagü’nün kullandığı “İlhan” unvanına nispetle kurduğu devlet İlhanlılar adıyla anılmıştır. Moğollar, İran’a geldiklerinde İslam inancına henüz dahil olmamalarına rağmen yerel para darp metotlarını ve tarzını hemen benimsemişlerdir. Bu doğrultuda İlhanlılar, İslam dininin hâkim olduğu bu coğrafyada sikkelerini önceleri tamamen Arap alfabesiyle kestirmişlerdir. Bunun yanında başlangıcından itibaren İlhanlı sikkelerinde yerel halkın desteğini sağlamak amacıyla onların inançlarına referans veren kelime-i tevhid gibi ibarelere yoğun bir şekilde yer verildiği görülmektedir. Bununla birlikte Hülagü’nün İslam dininin tesiri yanında kendi inanç, gelenek ve düşüncelerini de sikkelerin üzerinde darp ettirdiği tespit edilmektedir. Hülagü ölüm tarihi olan 1265’e kadar geniş bir coğrafyada ele geçirdiği zengin hazineler sayesinde yoğun bir şekilde sikke kestirmiştir. Oluşturduğu sikke kalıpları daha sonraki ilhanlar tarafından kullanılmış ve geliştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi envanterinde bulunan 16 adet İlhan Hülagü sikkesini incelemesinin yanı sıra kataloglaması da yapılmıştır.
Recently Discovered Gold, Silver and Copper Coins of pre-Islamic Sindh and the Yashaditya Series
Numismatische Zeitschrift, 2021
This article discusses a recently discovered gold dinar which enables the name of a ruler in the pre-Islamic Sindhi series of coins attributed to the Rai dynasty to be clarified as “Śrī Jayataka”. In addition, examination of a small group of silver dammas and associated copper units has revealed new types to be added at the end of what is commonly known as the “Yashaditya series” from Sindh, the two copper types being the first base-metal pieces to be attributed to that series. These coins, which reflect both the Śaivite and Vaiṣṇavite religious faiths, announce another previously unknown nobleman – Śrī Varāha – who might have come from the Chach family, ruling a rump state beyond the reach of the Arab conquerors who followed Muhammad bin Qasim, or a small domain under Umayyad governorship, sometime in the mid-710s to mid-720s CE, or perhaps slightly later.
Babayarov G. _ New Reading of Some Turko-Sogdian Coins of Pre-Islamic Central Asia // Lambert 2021 3
2021
This article proposes a new reading of the Pre-Islamic Central Asian Turko-Sogdian coins of the early medieval period. In particular, instead of the readings “ruler Tarnavch / Trabn” (E. V. Rtveladze, A. A. Musakayeva) and “the ruler Qaghan Tobzen” (P. Lurje), the author suggests “ruler Tegin” and “Qaghan, The Ruler of Turan”. The coins of Chach (Tashkent)’s Tegins (c’cynk tk’yn, xwβw tk’yn), can be associated with the Western Turkic Qaghanate (568 – 740), in particular, with the Ashina dynasty. As is well known, in that period the title of Tegin was part of the titular system of the Turkic Qaghanate (552 – 744) and was used by the princes of the Ashina, the Qaghanate’s ruling dynasty. The fact that Chinese writing sources of 7th – 8th centuries mention a rulers of Chach with title of Te-le (Tegin). Among the most types of coins minted in Sogd in the Early Middle Ages, mintages for some extent were directly or indirectly connected to the Turkic qaghans. These coins were distinguished with their iconography, paleography, and categories (volume, size, technics of preparing) with the inscriptions of rulers face-portrait on the reverse part in the form of surrounded by Sogdian legend, in which inscribed the statement as xwβw / twrnyn / x’γ’n “Qaghan, The Ruler of Turan”.