2020-10-01 Thu

Abbas I (the Great), was the 5th Shah of Safavid Empire from 1588 to 1629 AD. He was a son of Muhammad Khodabandeh and considered as the strongest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. During his reign, the trade with Europe expanded.

Under his leadership, Iran developed the ghilman system where thousands of Circassian, Georgian, and Armenian slave-soldiers joined the civil administration and the military. Abbas was a great builder and moved his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, making the city the pinnacle of Safavid architecture. It was during his reign gold and silver coins with denomination ‘Abbasi’ were first issued. The other denominations were Shahi, Ashrafi, Mithqal, Mahmudi, Dirham, and Bisti. These coins were struck at various mints such as Ardabil, Astarabad, Baghdad, Farahabad, Isfahan, Hamadan, Mashhad, Qazvin, and Tabriz, etc.

Depicted here is a silver coin which was issued during his reign from Sushtar mint. It depicts the Persian inscription “Banda Shah Wilayat Abbas Zarb Shushtar Khald Allah Taala Mulkahu”.

Image Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org