Caucasus (Pre-Seljuq). Shaddadid. Manuchihr ibn Shawur I, AH 464-512 / AD 1072-1118. Dirham (Bronze, 23 mm, 2.65 g, 2 h), citing Manūchihr ibn Shāwur I and the Seljuq overlord Malik Shāh, without mint (struck at Ani in Western Armenia), undated. Margin: [… shujāʿ (?) al-dawla] al-amīr (‘… the valiant of the state, the amir’ in Arabic). Central field, within dotted border: Manū / chihr. Rev. Margin: [al-sulṭān al-muʿaẓẓam] … (‘The exalted sultan …’ in Arabic). Central field, within dotted border: Malik / Sh[āh]. Album 1492R. Stephen Album 34 (2019), 708. Extremely rare with clear and legible inscriptions. Struck somewhat off center, otherwise, very fine.


The Shaddadids were a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin who ruled in Arrān and Armenia from the mid-10th to the 12th century. After the Seljuq conquest of Ani in 1064, the city was granted to Manūchihr ibn Shāwur I, establishing a Shaddadid branch in western Armenia under Seljuq suzerainty. This bronze dirham reflects that political arrangement, naming Malik Shāh as supreme ruler while preserving Manūchihr’s local authority. Examples of this type are of the highest rarity, with very few specimens recorded, most of which are much cruder than this well struck example.