Seljuqs, Great Seljuq. Tutush. AH 486-488 / AD 1093-1094. AV Dinar (24.9mm, 3.62 g, 11h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 487 (AD 1094). EF, lustrous fields.

Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1
Lot: 173. Estimated: $ 2 500

Pre-Mongol Iran, Gold

Sold For $ 4 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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Seljuqs, Great Seljuq. Tutush. AH 486-488 / AD 1093-1094. AV Dinar (24.9mm, 3.62 g, 11h). Madinat al-Salam mint. Dated AH 487 (AD 1094). Reverse field: Taj al-dawla / al-Qahira / Tutush in fourth, fifth and sixth lines. Jafar, Seljuq S.MS.487B (same dies as illustration); Album 775A. EF, lustrous fields. Excessively rare.

After the death of the Great Seljuq Malikshah in AH 485, the late Malikshah’s wife, Turkhan Khatun, petitioned the ‘Abbasid caliph, al-Muqtadi, to keep her husband’s death a secret for the time being. This was to give her time to make plans whereby her son, Mahmud, would inherit the Seljuq Sultanate. But while al-Muqtadi agreed to Turkhan Khatun’s request, continuing to strike coins in the dead Sultan’s name for some months, he could not prevent the news eventually being public knowledge, and a three-way struggle for the Sultanate began in AH 486. Opposed to Mahmud were his half-brother Barkiyaruq and Mahmud’s uncle, Tutush.

Tutush, who had been the Seljuq ruler in Syria for a number of years before these events, led an army eastwards and initially enjoyed some success against Barkiyaruq’s forces. This emboldened him to approach al-Muqtadi and ask to be formally recognised as Sultan. Al-Muqtadi demurred, and Tutush was obliged to retreat to Syria, having been betrayed by his main allies. But when Barkiyaruq was struck down by smallpox in AH 487, al-Muqtadi did turn to Tutush and formally nominate him as his choice for the Seljuq Sultanate. This dinar preserves the kunya which al-Muqtadi bestowed on Tutush: Taj al-dawla, ‘Crown of the State’.

Tutush’s reign, however, was to last for no more than four months. Barkiyaruq survived his illness, recovering to lead the army which defeated Tutush near Rayy on 7 Safar AH 488. With both Mahmud and his mother Turkhan Khatun having died in the previous year, it was thus Barkiyaruq who emerged as the undisputed Seljuq Sultan.



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