Persia (Post-Seljuk). Salghurids. Abish Khatun, AH 662-681 / AD 1263-1282. Dirham (Silver, 22 mm, 2.84 g, 12 h), citing the Ilkhan Mongol ruler Abaqa as overlord, without mint and date. In three lines: lā ilāha illā Allāh / Muḥammad rasūl Allāh / Ābish bint Saʿd (‘There is no deity but God / Muḥammad is the Messenger of God / Ābish daughter of Saʿd’ in Arabic). Rev. In three lines: qāʾān al-aʿẓam / Abaqā / īlkhān al-muʿaẓẓam (‘The Great Qaʾan / Abaqa / the exalted Ilkhan’ in Arabic). Album 1929.1A. Very rare. Minor deposits and marks, otherwise, very fine.


Ābish Khātūn, daughter of the Salghurid ruler Saʿd II, was one of the few female Islamic rulers to appear prominently on medieval coinage. Following the Mongol domination of Fārs, she ruled under Ilkhanid suzerainty and eventually married the Ilkhan Abaqa, becoming both a regional dynast and a member of the Mongol imperial household.

The present issue is particularly remarkable for explicitly naming Ābish herself in the obverse legend while simultaneously acknowledging Abaqa as overlord on the reverse through the titles qāʾān al-aʿẓam and īlkhān al-muʿaẓẓam. This dual political formulation reflects the complex balance between local Salghurid authority and Mongol imperial supremacy during the early Ilkhanid period.

Silver dirhams of Ābish Khātūn are among the most historically significant female-issued coinages of medieval Islamic Iran and remain highly desirable within both Islamic and Mongol numismatic series.