2019-11-05 Tue

Mahmud Ghazan, the most prominent Ilkhan who ruled the Ilkhanid dynasty from 1295 to 1304 was born today on 5th November 1271. He is best known for making a political conversion to Islam when he took the throne, marking a turning point by made Islam the official religion of the dynasty.

A man of high culture, Ghazan had many hobbies, including linguistics, agro-techniques, painting, and chemistry. He reformed many elements of the Ilkhanate, especially in the matter of standardizing currency and fiscal policy.

Instead of following the tradition of his predecessors in minting coins in the names of Mongol rulers, Ghazan Khan commanded to mint coins bearing the Two Testimonies (Kalma). The above shown double silver Dirham issued during the reign of Ghazan from Tabriz mint.

The obverse of a coin depicts the Arabic script “La ilaha illa llaha Mu?ammadun rasulu llahi ?alla llahu ?alayhi wa-sallam / ?uriba Tabriz / fi sanati sab’in” (There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is His Prophet, Peace be upon him/ Minted in Tabriz in the year ...7). The reverse of a coin engraved Mongolian script ‘Tengri-yin Kuchundur. Ghazan Mahmud. Ghasanu Deledkegulugsen’ (By the strength of the Heaven/ Ghazan Mahmud/ Coin struck for Ghazan).

Image Source: wikipedia.org