2021-01-27 Wed

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. Isfahan became the capital under him.

Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Iran's military, political and economic power, he came to the throne during a troubled time for the Safavid Empire. Under his leadership, Iran developed the Gilman system where thousands of Circassian, Georgian, and Armenian slave-soldiers joined the civil administration and the military.

It was during his reign gold and silver coins with denomination ‘Abbasi’ were first issued. These coins depict the inscription “Az Bahre Khayr in Sekke ra Kalbe Ali Abbas Zad” on the obverse face while the reverse depicts Shia Kalima. 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.

Image Source: https://www.vcoins.com/