Persia (Pre-Seljuq). Qarakhanids (United). Muhammad ibn Ali, circa AH 393-415 / AD 1003-1024. Dirham (Silver, 24 mm, 3.46 g, 3 h), citing Sanāʾ al-Dawla Tegin and the Abbasid caliph al-Qādir bi-llāh, Taraz, AH 400 = AD 1009/10. Central field, in four lines: Tegin / lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū (‘Tegin / There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate’ in Arabic and Turko-Persian). Margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi-Ṭarāz sana arbaʿ-miʾa (‘In the name of God, this dirham was struck at Taraz in the year four hundred’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in five lines: li-llāh / Muḥammad rasūl / Allāh al-Qādir bi- / llāh Muḥammad / ibn ʿAlī (‘For God / Muhammad is the Messenger / of God, al-Qādir bi- / llāh, Muḥammad / ibn ʿAlī’ in Arabic). Margin: mimmā amara bihi al-amīr al-jalīl al-mumakkan al-manṣūr Sanāʾ al-Dawla ◦ Tegin (‘From what was ordered by the noble amir, the empowered, the victorious, Sanāʾ al-Dawla Tegin’ in Arabic and Turko-Persian). Album 3307. Kochnev 251. Rare, with a bold and unusually well-preserved strike for the type. The usual flan faults, otherwise, very fine.


This coin names several layers of authority. The reverse field cites the Abbasid caliph al-Qādir bi-llāh, whose name provided caliphal legitimacy, together with Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, the Qarakhanid ruler.

The quality of the present coin is better than is usual for comparable Qarakhanid dirhams of this period, which are often weakly struck. The bold strike and legibility of the principal inscriptions make it especially useful for reading the hierarchy of names and titles.