پژوهش های تاریخی (Mar 2020)
A Historical Analysis of Three Arab-Sassanid Coins of Bišāpur
Abstract
Abstract Arab-Sassanidcoins were minted after the conquest of Iran by Muslims in the style of Sassanidcoins with a Kufic border margin. Most of the coins of the Arab conquerors were silver, but next to them, a large number of copper coins have been found, which often have a great variety of designs. In a few copper coins, there is the name of the mint, the year of coinage, and the name of the ruler. Sometimes in the coins, we come across letters that have not been mentioned in historical texts. These letters make it difficult to identify many copper coins. The subject of the present study was to examine 3 types of Arab-Sassanid copper coins which had the phrase Abād/Azād Bišāpur with a hybrid image on the reverse. As these three coins had no date, this research aimed to answer these questions: is it possible to set a time limit for them considering the chronology of the coins minted in Bišāpur? Does the phrase of the reverse have a special meaning? Or does it just indicate the name of the mint? And is the right word of the obverse the name of the ruler of the area? Introduction Before the rise of Islam, the Arabs used common Sassanid and Byzantine coins in their trade (Rezai Baghbidi, 2014, p. 12). Therefore, after capturing the regions of Iran, they started multiplying Dirhams in the style of Sassanid coins and with the images of Khosrow II, Yazdgerd III, and rarely Hormoz IV. To differentiate their coins from the Sassanids, they wrote Islamic words such as Bismillah, Jayyed, Bismillah Rabbi in Kufic script on the edge of the coins (Sarfaraz & Avarzamani, 2010, p. 137). These coins became known as Arab- Sassanid coins. At first, the name of the Sassanid king was multiplied on the coins, but after Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufiyan came to power in 41 AH, the name of the Sassanid king was gradually removed from the coins (Gyselen, 2000, p. 28). In addition to silver coins, various copper coins have been found in Iranian archeological sites, especially in Fars and Khuzestan regions. Perhaps the reason for this diversity is the lack of a unified central government in different regions. In the turmoil, local commanders were able to form independent governments. Perhaps the Arabs themselves, to manage their conquests, gave power and authority to the local rulers to run the affairs optimally. For whatever reason, the local rulers did not see themselves as obliged to follow the official Arab-Sassanid coins and minted the copper coins to legitimize their work. What is certain is that the coinage of copper coins, unlike silver coins, was not for circulation throughout the country (Gyselen, 2000, p. 15-16). Unfortunately, the historical texts written by Islamic writers do not say much about the local rulers, which makes it difficult to identify the many copper coins obtained from different cities. The coins examined by the authors of the present study were in the same category; that is, the written name on the coin did not appear in historical texts, and unfortunately, they did not have a coinage date. Material & Methods While documenting the coins of the Bu Ali Museum in Hamedan, the authors of this study came across two types of Sassanid copper coins, which had differences in terms of image and inscription with other coins in this collection. There are three types of coins on which, the reverse of the coins, show the phrases of Abād/Azād Bišāpur with the hybrid image on the reverse (a bull with a bearded human head). They differ in the inscriptions and the image on the obverse. This research has been done with a descriptive-historical method based on library studies. Discussion of Results & Conclusions The results of this study showed that all three coins showed the human bust. In the first type, coins entitled ‘Dārā’, contained the most examples of our collection; the bearded frontal bust was surrounded with an aura likely the Zoroastrian fire. On the obverse of the first type, the word ‘Dārā/Dārāy’ has been depicted on the right edge. On the left, similar to the coins of Khosrow II, the phrase xwarrah abzūd can be seen. In the second type, in coins entitled ‘Abāy’, two frontal busts can be seen that the left one was smaller, and the right showed a bearded man with straight hair wearing a Roman-style dress ornamented with a hook on the right side. In the coin of the second type, the word ‘Ābāy’ on the right and the word ‘xwarrah abzūd’ on the left have been depicted. The word on the right edge was read ‘Āzād’ firstly (Curiel & Gyselen, 1980, p. 171). However, considering the arrival of the letter ‘d’ at the end of the word, ‘Abāy’ seemed to be more correct (Gyselen, 2000, p. 71.) The third type showed two heads on one bust clinging to each other from behind. The crown of the pearl was marked with two wings around it and the crescent above. On the obverse, the word ‘Abzāy’ on the right edge and ‘xwarrah’ on the left have been depicted. ‘Abzāy’ can be a present stem of abzūdan and could mean ‘increase’ (Mackenzie, 2000, p. 32). Three coin types displayed on the reverse had a mythical animal composed of the body of a zebu and human bearded head wearing a winged crown. The reverse legends were common and the phrase Abād/Azād Bišāpur has been depicted on the left side. There are different theories about the ‘Dārā’ coin that was more common in our collection: 1) the specific name of the person, 2) the abbreviation of the name of the city of Dārābgard, and 3) the agent noun of the verb ‘dāštan’. If this coin followed the Sassanid silver coins, it should be expected that the name of the ruler was mentioned on the right side of the coin. ‘Dārā’ is a name that has also appeared on Sassanid seals and bullae (Gignoux, 1986; Gyselen, 1993; Yamauchi, 1993). In the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), one of the earliest Japanese historical sources, it has been mentioned that in 660, when an Iranian (Persian), whose name was Dārā, returned to his country. He promised the Emperor that he would come back and work for him again (Morita, 2012). This person seemed to be from a noble class and was of special importance to the Emperor of Japan. The above cases showed that the name ‘Dārā’ was common among the Iranians during the Sassanid and the early Islamic period. There may also be a connection between ‘Dārā’ on the coin and the person who has been written in the Chronicles of Japan. Perhaps he was one of the Iranian nobles who came to Iran during the internal revolt and managed a region. But in the case of the other two coins, the special name ‘Abāy’ or ‘Abzāy’ has never been seen on seals or historical texts. Of course, as mentioned above, on the right side of the obverse of the Arab- Sassanid copper coins, there was not always a proper name. Looking at the chronometry of coins and according to what was said about ‘Dārā’ and his presence in Iran, it might be assumed that the coin was minted in the year 40 AH. This is the same year that there were riots in the region since the martyrdom of Imam Ali, and Azād-Bišāpur refers to the independence of the region during this period. The other two coins ‘Abzāy’ and ‘Abāy’ were minted following the coinage of ‘Dārā’ as a slogan.
Keywords
