ISLAMIC, Ayyubids. Yemen. al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah, AH 569-577 / AD 1173-1181. Dinar (Gold, 24 mm, 2.30 g, 12 h), 'Adan, AH 573 = AD 1177/8. Album A1087. Balog, Ayyubids, 927. Extemely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Crack in flan near the edge, otherwise, extremely fine.


Al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah was the older brother of Al-Nasir I Salah al-Din Yusuf, or Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and scourge of the Crusaders. In AH 569 (AD 1174), Saladin sent his brother on a campaign to Yemen to bring down a heretical leader, in the course of which Turan Shah conquered Zabid, 'Adan and San'a. He left Yemen in AH 571 (AD 1176) to become his brother's governor of Syria and was replaced as Emir of Yemen, albeit only a few years later, by another brother of the Sultan, Tughtegin.