409, Lot: 783. Estimate $50. Sold for $380. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLAMIC, 'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. AR Dirham (25mm, 2.95 g, 1h). Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) mint. Dated AH 182 (AD 798/9). Central Kufic legend: la ilah illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharika lahu (There is no diety except | God alone | He has no equal); marginal Kufic legend: bism Allah duriba hadha al-dirhem bi-Madinat al-Salam sanat ithnatain wa themanin wa mi'at (In the name of God. This dirham was struck in Madinat al-Salam in the year two and eighty and one hundred) / Central Kufic legend: Muhammad rasuluallah | mimma amr bi amir al-Amin | Muhammad ibn amir al-muminin | Ja'far (Muhammad is the messenger of God | From what was ordered by the prince al-Amin | Muhammad, son of the Commander of the Faithful | Ja'far); marginal Kufic legend: Muhammad rasuluallah. arsala rasulahu bi'l-huda wa-din al-haqq li-yuzhirahu 'ala ad-din kollihi walau kariha al-mushrikun (Muhammad is the messenger of God. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it). Lowick 833; Album 219.9; ICV 384. VF, toned.

From the BRN Collection. Ex Album FPL 217 (September 2006), no. 51815.

Harun was the son of the the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and his wife Al-Khayzuran. During his father's rule, Harun led an army against the Byzantines, and fought to the gates of the imperial city, Constantinople. Recognizing the futility of continued warfare, the Byzantine Empress Irene negotiated a settlement of yearly tribute in exchange for peace. It was for this great success that Harun received the honorific title al-Rashid ("rightly-guided"). Harun's elder brother, al-Hadi, succeeded his father in AD 785, but died of natural causes after only about a year's rule. al-Rashid then succeded to the caliphate, and reigned during the zenith of Abbasid power. His method of rule was such that most of the day to day administration of the caliphate was handled by his vizier and ministers, while his primary duties were to be a final court of appeal (thus above the base politics of the various factions), lead Friday prayers, and command the army in wartime. Initially, he, like his brother before him, had to put down a number of rebellions challenging his rule. These he quite easily overcame, but he soon faced a greater threat from the Abbasid's traditional enemy, the Byzantines. In AD 802, Irene was overthrown by Nicephoros I, who refused to continue the tribute payments, and demanded the Abbasids pay him instead. al-Rashid responded by invading the Byzantine territory, capturing a number of cities, and defeating the army sent against him. Nicephoros was forced to reinstate the tribute, and also to pay a further tribute for his transgression.

Beyond being a capable military leader, al-Rashid was highly cultured, and strongly supported the arts and sciences, resulting in Baghdad and other major cities becoming great centers of learning. Soon, the Abbasid empire had a flourishing culture that rivaled the great societies of the western world. It is thought that his reign was the model for the famous Middle Eastern epic, The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. His rule was so illustrious that he communicated amicably with Charlemagne, who presided over the powerful Holy Roman Empire in the west, and received an embassy from the Carolingian emperor AD 798. After remaining for a few years, the embassy returned to the west with gifts from al-Rashid, including an elephant. Around the same time, al-Rashid recognized that the Barmakid family, whose members comprised most of his ministers and viziers, had become too powerful, and were a threat to the Abbasid royal house. He had his vizier executed, and the family was ousted from their positions in the government. While certainly a necessary action, one result was the weakening of Abbasid control in peripheral areas of their empire. In the aftermath, over the last decade of his rule, a number of rebellions broke out, and ultimately portions of North Africa and Transoxiana were lost. At the same time, the Abbasid economy also began to weaken. These problems emboldened the Byzantine Emperor Nicephoros to again refuse to pay tribute, forcing al-Rashid to once again marched west with his army, but he died en-route.

This particular coin was struck in the year al-Rashid received Charlemagne's embassy, and was minted at the capital, Baghdad.