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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 

Prototype for Chingiz Khan

409, Lot: 815. Estimate $150.
Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, Persia (Post-Seljuk). Khwarizm Shahs. 'Ala al-Din Muhammad II. AH 596-617 / AD 1200-1220. AR Dirham (17mm, 3.11 g, 8h). Citing Abbasid caliph a1-Nasir. Ghazna (Ghazni) mint. Kufic legend: 'Ala al-Dunya | wa al-Din Muhammad | bin al-Sultan ('Ala al-Dunya | wa al-Din Muhammad | bin al-Sultan) / Kufic legend: a1-Nasir | al-Din Allah | amir al-mu'minin (al-Nasir | al-Din Allah | Commander of the faithful). Tye 207; SNA Tübingen XIVd, 608 var. (field marks); Album 1721; ICV 1901. Good VF, toned. Well centered and struck. Scarce.


From the BRN Collection.

'Ala al-Din Muhammad was arguably the greatest of the leaders of the Khwarezm empire, which reached its greatest extent under his rule. In his campaigns, he defeated the Seljuk Turks and the Kara-Khitay, ousting them from Persia. By 1212, his empire extended from the river Jaxartes to the Persian Gulf. In light of these accomplishments, he proclaimed himself shah, and demanded recognition from the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir. Upon al-Nasir's refusal, Muhammad proclaimed one of his nobles to be the new caliph, and raised an army to overthrow the Abbasids. Unfortunately for him, his forces were decimated by a blizzard while crossing the Zagros Mountains, and the whole endeavor was lost. Shortly thereafter, in 1218, an emissary arrived from the Mongols, whose own empire had spread west, and was now on the border of Khwarezm. Underestimating the nascent Mongol state, Muhammad killed the diplomats, and sent their heads back to Chingiz Khan. This fateful event was the catalyst for the great Mongol invasion that eventually swept across the Middle East to the eastern border of Europe. Unable to resist the approximately 120,000-man Mongol army, Muhammad fled west and soon died in exile on an island in the Caspian Sea.

This particular issue was the prototype for coins of Chingiz Khan that were struck in Ghazna during the Mongol pursuit of Muhammad's son, Jalal al-Din Mangubarni, who fled south towards India. See lot 820, below.