2020-01-13 Mon

Al-Hakam II was the second Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba in Al-Andalus ruled from 961 to 976. He was a son of Abd-ar-Rahman III and Murjan.

Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father. He secured peace with the Catholic kingdoms of northern Iberia and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economic development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets.

Hakam himself was very well versed in numerous sciences. During his reign, a massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated from Latin and Greek into Arabic. His status as a patron of knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world.

Depicted here is silver Dirham issued under his reign from Medina Azahara mint. The obverse "There is no God except Allah alone. He has no partner" in the central field, "In the name of Allah this dirhem was struck at Medinat al-Zahra in the year three hundred and fifty-eight" in the margins, all within a quadruple border with five annulets. On the other hand, the reverse of a coin engraved "Allah is One, Allah is eternal. He begets not neither is he begotten" in the central field, "Mohamed is the prophet of Allah whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth ", all within a border with five annulets.

Image Source: wikipedia.org