| Central Asia, Uzkand |
| Silver, Diam. 26 mm. |
Nasir al-Haqq, 1032 AD |
| Collection of the American Numismatic Society, 1959.165.55 W: 3.482 gr |
 |
 |
|
The Ilek Khans or Qarakhanids were descended from Turkish tribes of central Asia, and they came to rule much of the territory between Iran and Sinkiang in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. By the third decade of the eleventh century they had separated into a western and an eastern dynasty; the western branch for a time had its capital at Uzkand, where this coin was minted. Staunchly Sunni, the western Ilk Khans recognized the suzerainty of the 'Abbasid caliph in distant Baghdad, and their coins, inscribed in a very angular, tall, and often horizontally elongated Kufic, carry the shahada and standard statements of belief, such as one sees on Samanid coins, as well as the phrase
"Mawla Amir al Mu'minun,"
The Karakhanid leader, Nasir al-Haqq, took Bukhara in (999 AD) and played a major role in central Asian and eastern Iranian history for more than three decades. |
 |
|
|
