Dr. Busso Peus Nachf.
Auction 424 15-17 May 2019
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Fatimid Revolution
Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î, missionary for the Mahdi in Ifrîqiya 296-297H/909-911 AD Dinar 296 H, al-Qayrawân, with the phrase al-hamdu lillâh / rabbu l-'âlamîn (praise to Allah, the lord of the worlds), above and below the reverse field. Nicol 2. 4.17 g.; Extremely rare Very fine
In its initial phase the Fatimid caliphate followed a model which was widespread in the 'Alid family and its preparations to return to power in a terminal state of God. The takeover of a previous state would be organized by a "missionary" (dâ'î) while the expected Mahdî could remain in a well protected position in secret. Abû-Muslim's preparation of the Abbasid takeover in 132 H./750 AD was a successful case for the Abbasids, although the theological disagreements between the dâ'î and the caliph soon led to the dâ'î being murdered. During the second century H. a group of Muslims who regarded the member of the 'Alid family Muhammad ibn Ismâ'îl ibn Ja'far as-Sâdiq as their imam began to understand the Qur'ân in terms of an inner meaning, instead of a superficial understanding. They formed a mission centred in Salamiya and sent out missionaries to develop centres in 'Askar Mukram/Khuzistan and in Taliqan/Daylam, to which a further mission in the Yaman and in Sind followed. Ibn Haushab, the great dâ'î of the Yaman sent in 279 H./893 AD Abû 'Abd-allâ ash-Shî'î to Mecca, where this man was able to win the confidence of a group of Berber pilgrims from the tribe of Kutama in the area of Qusantina (Constantine/Algeria). Ash-Shî'î followed the tribesmen to their homeland and as a dâ'î he gained followers and influence there among the rural Berber population. In 289 H./902 AD a first occupation of a town Mîla, brought him into an open conflict with the Aghlabid government. In the same year the identity of 'Abd-allâh al-Mahdî in Salamîya/Syria had become public and the Mahdi fled first to ar-Ramla and then to Egypt and the Maghrib, while his bedouin supporters took much of Central Syria and even struck the first dirhams for the Mahdi in Hims before their rebellion was ended by the Abbasid government. al-Mahdi was brought safely to Sijilmâsa, where he arrived in 292 H./905 AD. In the meantime Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î had won over the support of the majority within the Kutâma tribe. Using a situation of internal strife in the Aghlabid domination after the death of 'Abd-allâh IIin 290 H, ash-Shî'î could take over larger centres in the West like Tubna (the former al-'Abbâsîya) and he managed to be accepted by the civic population implementing a more friendly taxation practice than the Aghlabid one. The counter attack of the new Aghlabid Ziyâdat-allâh failed and instead in 294 H. Bâghâyâ, the stronghold in the Aures was handed over to ash-Shî'î. The Aghlabid tried to buy new militias and to fortify Kairouan, but when it came to confrontations the towns could not be defended as the defenders handed their towns over to the Kutama berbers. Finally in 295 and 296 H. (908/909 AD) while the Aghlabid government had expected an attack from the North, the dâ'î progressed in the South. Towards the end of the winter 908/9 ash-Shî'î could bring together about 200.000 fighters and marched eastwards and on 20 Jumâdâ II 296 H./18 March 909 the Aghlabid prince Ibrâhîm engaged the Berbers of ash-Shî'î in a major battle near al-Aribus, but was ultimately beaten and the auxiliaries of the Aghlabids deserted to their homelands, while the prince retired to Kairouan his father and parts of the court had already chosen flight to Egypt as soon as they heard of the result of the battle. When Ibrahim arrived the notables of Kairouan rejected his pleas to continue the fight. Instead they sent a delegation to offer submission to ash-Sî'î, meeting him on 25 March/1 Rajab 296 H. and escorting him on the same day into the former residence of the Aghlabids, ar-Raqqâda. He took his residence there and began cautiously to consolidate the rule of the dâ'îs, without provocations against the old ruling class of Mâlikite orthodox muslims, but trying to let them think about the role of the family of the prophet to win acceptance and familiarize with the new kind of Islam. For months the Mahdî himself remained in Sijilmâsa in permanent correspondance with Abû 'Abd-allh ash-Shî'i. He was not yet mentioned in public prayers and consequently not in the coinage. This policy is also reflected by the first of the two types of coinage which were issued during the nine months under the rule of ash-Shî'î. This first type which is characterized by the phrase al-hamdu lillâ, rabbu l-'alamîn (praise to Allâh, the lord of the worlds) could not possibly meet any resistance of any muslim, while during the second phase this phrase was replaced by balaghat hujjatu llâh, tufarriqa a'dâ' allâh (the guaranty of god has arrived and the enemies of Allâh were scattered). Later on these anonymous coins became known by the name of "sayyidî". The period of striking these coins was short as envoys of the deposed Aghlabid amir were able to inform the Midrarid lord of Sijilmâsa about the identity of the Mahdi, who seemed to be so far a politically neutral merchant from the East, who lived under a second name in friendship with the amir. The situation became critical so that ash-Shî'î left his brother in Kairouan and moved himself with the Kutama army to the West to bring the Mahdi and his son al-Qâ'im eastwards to Ifrîqiya. When the army swore allegiance to the Mahdi in Sijilmâsa on 24 Dhû l-qa'da 296 H./25th August 909 the government of ash-Shî'îs brother in Kairouan had no notice of the new caliphate for months. The change of minting to the name of the new ruler took place in Kairouan only on Friday 17 Rabî II 297 H./5 January 910 as al-Mahdi himself entered ar-Raqqâda. However soon after the triumphal inauguration suspicions were discussed that the Mahdi did not totally conform with the expectations of a person of a uniquely pure character and supernatural abilities as predicted by Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î and a severe crisis arose between the Mahdî and his Kutâma supporters with ash-Shî'î, which was solved by the Mahdî with simple force by having the disappointed killed in summer 910 H/end of 297 H. Nevertheless ash-Shî'î was bemourned by the Mahdi and memorized with high esteem throughout the Fatimid caliphate. The coins of Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î are remarkably rare today, although they were noted already by such late medieval Arabic historians interested in monetary history like al-Maqrîzî. Norman D. Nicol was able to list no less than eight mint-date-denomination units, of which six could be traced only in a single specimen, although for some of the silver coin types second specimens have appeared since publication. Only the dinars from al-Qairawân (Kairouan) of 296 H. of the first type with three specimens and of 297 H. of the second type with six specimens are somewhat more "common". If our information after a brief survey is correct the last time a 296 H. dinar was offered in sale was with Hirsch of Munich in 1958, while a 297 H. dinar appeared in a Spink, Zurich sale in 1987. There may exist one or the other further specimen, one according to hearsay knowledge in a German private collection and one might expect one at least in the East of the Arabian peninsula, but none positively known to the present cataloguer. In any event the rarity, especially of the first type dinars, needs no comment.
Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î, missionary for the Mahdi in Ifrîqiya 296-297H/909-911 AD Dinar 296 H, al-Qayrawân, with the phrase al-hamdu lillâh / rabbu l-'âlamîn (praise to Allah, the lord of the worlds), above and below the reverse field. Nicol 2. 4.17 g.; Extremely rare Very fine
In its initial phase the Fatimid caliphate followed a model which was widespread in the 'Alid family and its preparations to return to power in a terminal state of God. The takeover of a previous state would be organized by a "missionary" (dâ'î) while the expected Mahdî could remain in a well protected position in secret. Abû-Muslim's preparation of the Abbasid takeover in 132 H./750 AD was a successful case for the Abbasids, although the theological disagreements between the dâ'î and the caliph soon led to the dâ'î being murdered. During the second century H. a group of Muslims who regarded the member of the 'Alid family Muhammad ibn Ismâ'îl ibn Ja'far as-Sâdiq as their imam began to understand the Qur'ân in terms of an inner meaning, instead of a superficial understanding. They formed a mission centred in Salamiya and sent out missionaries to develop centres in 'Askar Mukram/Khuzistan and in Taliqan/Daylam, to which a further mission in the Yaman and in Sind followed. Ibn Haushab, the great dâ'î of the Yaman sent in 279 H./893 AD Abû 'Abd-allâ ash-Shî'î to Mecca, where this man was able to win the confidence of a group of Berber pilgrims from the tribe of Kutama in the area of Qusantina (Constantine/Algeria). Ash-Shî'î followed the tribesmen to their homeland and as a dâ'î he gained followers and influence there among the rural Berber population. In 289 H./902 AD a first occupation of a town Mîla, brought him into an open conflict with the Aghlabid government. In the same year the identity of 'Abd-allâh al-Mahdî in Salamîya/Syria had become public and the Mahdi fled first to ar-Ramla and then to Egypt and the Maghrib, while his bedouin supporters took much of Central Syria and even struck the first dirhams for the Mahdi in Hims before their rebellion was ended by the Abbasid government. al-Mahdi was brought safely to Sijilmâsa, where he arrived in 292 H./905 AD. In the meantime Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î had won over the support of the majority within the Kutâma tribe. Using a situation of internal strife in the Aghlabid domination after the death of 'Abd-allâh IIin 290 H, ash-Shî'î could take over larger centres in the West like Tubna (the former al-'Abbâsîya) and he managed to be accepted by the civic population implementing a more friendly taxation practice than the Aghlabid one. The counter attack of the new Aghlabid Ziyâdat-allâh failed and instead in 294 H. Bâghâyâ, the stronghold in the Aures was handed over to ash-Shî'î. The Aghlabid tried to buy new militias and to fortify Kairouan, but when it came to confrontations the towns could not be defended as the defenders handed their towns over to the Kutama berbers. Finally in 295 and 296 H. (908/909 AD) while the Aghlabid government had expected an attack from the North, the dâ'î progressed in the South. Towards the end of the winter 908/9 ash-Shî'î could bring together about 200.000 fighters and marched eastwards and on 20 Jumâdâ II 296 H./18 March 909 the Aghlabid prince Ibrâhîm engaged the Berbers of ash-Shî'î in a major battle near al-Aribus, but was ultimately beaten and the auxiliaries of the Aghlabids deserted to their homelands, while the prince retired to Kairouan his father and parts of the court had already chosen flight to Egypt as soon as they heard of the result of the battle. When Ibrahim arrived the notables of Kairouan rejected his pleas to continue the fight. Instead they sent a delegation to offer submission to ash-Sî'î, meeting him on 25 March/1 Rajab 296 H. and escorting him on the same day into the former residence of the Aghlabids, ar-Raqqâda. He took his residence there and began cautiously to consolidate the rule of the dâ'îs, without provocations against the old ruling class of Mâlikite orthodox muslims, but trying to let them think about the role of the family of the prophet to win acceptance and familiarize with the new kind of Islam. For months the Mahdî himself remained in Sijilmâsa in permanent correspondance with Abû 'Abd-allh ash-Shî'i. He was not yet mentioned in public prayers and consequently not in the coinage. This policy is also reflected by the first of the two types of coinage which were issued during the nine months under the rule of ash-Shî'î. This first type which is characterized by the phrase al-hamdu lillâ, rabbu l-'alamîn (praise to Allâh, the lord of the worlds) could not possibly meet any resistance of any muslim, while during the second phase this phrase was replaced by balaghat hujjatu llâh, tufarriqa a'dâ' allâh (the guaranty of god has arrived and the enemies of Allâh were scattered). Later on these anonymous coins became known by the name of "sayyidî". The period of striking these coins was short as envoys of the deposed Aghlabid amir were able to inform the Midrarid lord of Sijilmâsa about the identity of the Mahdi, who seemed to be so far a politically neutral merchant from the East, who lived under a second name in friendship with the amir. The situation became critical so that ash-Shî'î left his brother in Kairouan and moved himself with the Kutama army to the West to bring the Mahdi and his son al-Qâ'im eastwards to Ifrîqiya. When the army swore allegiance to the Mahdi in Sijilmâsa on 24 Dhû l-qa'da 296 H./25th August 909 the government of ash-Shî'îs brother in Kairouan had no notice of the new caliphate for months. The change of minting to the name of the new ruler took place in Kairouan only on Friday 17 Rabî II 297 H./5 January 910 as al-Mahdi himself entered ar-Raqqâda. However soon after the triumphal inauguration suspicions were discussed that the Mahdi did not totally conform with the expectations of a person of a uniquely pure character and supernatural abilities as predicted by Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î and a severe crisis arose between the Mahdî and his Kutâma supporters with ash-Shî'î, which was solved by the Mahdî with simple force by having the disappointed killed in summer 910 H/end of 297 H. Nevertheless ash-Shî'î was bemourned by the Mahdi and memorized with high esteem throughout the Fatimid caliphate. The coins of Abû 'Abd-allâh ash-Shî'î are remarkably rare today, although they were noted already by such late medieval Arabic historians interested in monetary history like al-Maqrîzî. Norman D. Nicol was able to list no less than eight mint-date-denomination units, of which six could be traced only in a single specimen, although for some of the silver coin types second specimens have appeared since publication. Only the dinars from al-Qairawân (Kairouan) of 296 H. of the first type with three specimens and of 297 H. of the second type with six specimens are somewhat more "common". If our information after a brief survey is correct the last time a 296 H. dinar was offered in sale was with Hirsch of Munich in 1958, while a 297 H. dinar appeared in a Spink, Zurich sale in 1987. There may exist one or the other further specimen, one according to hearsay knowledge in a German private collection and one might expect one at least in the East of the Arabian peninsula, but none positively known to the present cataloguer. In any event the rarity, especially of the first type dinars, needs no comment.