Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Abdallah b. Harith (or b. ‘Ali). fl. late 60s / 680s. AR Drachm (31.9mm, 2.97 g, 3h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 66 (AD 685/6). VF, small portion of edge repaired.

Islamic Auction 5 - Session 1
Lot: 4.

Pre-Reform Issues, Silver

Estimate: $ 7 500

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Pre-reform issues, Arab-Sasanian. Abdallah b. Harith (or b. ‘Ali). fl. late 60s / 680s. AR Drachm (31.9mm, 2.97 g, 3h). SK (Sistan) mint. Dated AH 66 (AD 685/6). Obverse margin: — / bin ‘Ali ∵ / ∵ ✶ — / —. Malek, Arab-Sasanian p. 255; SCC 1752; cf. Weber, Arabo-Sasanidische Drachmen 195 (dated AH 65); SICA 1, —; Album 26N (as ‘Abdallah b. ‘Ariq). VF, small portion of edge repaired. Extremely rare.

The identity of the governor on this coin remains the subject of scholarly debate. His first name, ‘Abdallah, is unambiguous, but the Pahlawi form of his patronymic is ambiguous. It can be read either as ALYKAN or HLYKAN, which would equate to ‘son of ‘Ariq’ or ‘son of Harith’ respectively. Malek notes that an ‘Abdallah b. Harith was dismissed from his post as governor of Basra in AH 65, but found no evidence to connect this individual with the province of Sistan where these coins were issued (Malek, Arab Sasanian p. 255, s.vv. ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Ali and ‘Abd Allah b. Harith). However, this is not quite correct: the local history of Sistan records that ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr ‘gave Basra, Khurasan and Sistan to Harith b. ‘Abdallah (sic)...[who], in turn, dispatched ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amir to Sistan.’ That being so, it would be hardly surprising that drachms from Sistan struck in AH 65 and early 66 should have named ‘Abdallah b. al-Harith himself, with those struck from later AH 66 onwards issued in the name of his viceroy, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. ‘Abdallah b. ‘Amir.

But this does not explain the presence of the remarkable legend bin ‘Ali in the obverse margin, which was only read when a new and better-preserved example of this extremely rare coinage came to light. This coin (SCC 1752) led Shams-Eshragh to propose the alternative reading of the governor’s name as ‘Abdallah b. ‘Ali. While attractive, this requires a certain amount of special pleading to explain by the Pahlawi form of ‘Ali should be rendered as ALYKAN with an unexpected letter K. Weber’s suggestion that that this individual might have been an ‘Abdallah b. ‘Ali b. Husayn, a great-grandson of the fourth caliph ‘Ali, is tantalising but speculative.



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