2020-04-01 Wed

Abaqa Khan was the second Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate reigning from 1265 to 1282. He was born in 1234 in Mongolia to Ilkhanate founder Hulagu khan and Yesuncin Khatun. Although this part of the Empire was mostly Muslim, Abaqa Khan was a Buddhist and his mother was known to have been a devout and influential Nestorian Christian.

Much of Abaqa's reign was consumed with civil wars in the Mongol Empire. He was also engaged in unsuccessful attempts at the military invasion of Syria, including the Second Battle of Homs. Abaqa’s coins are often bilingual, with a religious inscription in Arabic on one side and the ruler’s name and titles in Uighur (a Turkic language with its own alphabet) on the other.

Some of the coins from Abaqa's era display the Christian cross and bear in Arabic the Christian inscription "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, only one God" is quoted from the Gospel of Matthew. Depicted here is a Gold Dinar of Abaqa Khan from the Isfahan Mint. The obverse of a coin illustrates the Arabic inscription “Al-Mulku Lillah, La Ilaha Illa Lah Muhammad Rasul - lallah Sallallahu Alayhi vasallam”. The Reverse of a coin engraved “Qa an Shah A'lam Ilkhan Al-A'azam Abaqa Khalada Mulk Allah”.

Abaqa died at Hamadan on 1 April 1282, probably in a state of delirium tremens and was succeeded by his brother Ahmed Tekuder.

Image Source: wikipedia.org