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Lot 154
Sa'dian Sharifs. Ahmad ibn Abi Mahalli, rebel in Sijilmasa. Circa 1021 / AD 1612-1613. AV Dinar (27.6mm, 4.49 g, 11h). Marrakush mint. Dated AH 1021 (AD 1612/13). Good VF.
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Live Auction
Islamic Auction 9
Live bidding begins Apr 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM BST
(17d 15h 6m left for internet bidding)
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Description
Sa'dian Sharifs. Ahmad ibn Abi Mahalli, rebel in Sijilmasa. Circa 1021 / AD 1612-1613. AV Dinar (27.6mm, 4.49 g, 11h). Marrakush mint. Dated AH 1021 (AD 1612/13). Ruler cited as Abu‘l-‘Abbas al-Mahdi / Khalifat Allah in third and fourth lines of obverse. Album K573. Pierced, minor edge marks. Good VF. Very rare.
From the Collection of an Alexandrine Numismatist, formed before 1955.
Ibn Abi Mahalli was born into a family of religious scholars. A man of great devoutness, he received his own religious training in Fez before settling in Sijilmasa in the early 1000s/1590s. He became increasingly critical of the rule of the Sa‘dian Sharifs, whom he regarded as insufficiently dedicated to the defence and maintenance of Islam.
When the town of Larache fell to the Spanish in AH 1019, this was the final straw for Ibn Abi Mahalli. Proclaiming himself the Mahdi at Sijilmasa, he waged holy war to end the rule of the Sa‘adian Sharifs. From modest beginnings, his revolt swiftly grew until he was able to occupy the Sa‘dian capital, Marrakesh. Ibn Abi Mahalli’s religious fervour did not prevent him installing himself in the Imperial Palace, marrying a Sa‘dian princess, and striking coins in his own name which proclaimed him not merely as the Mahdi but also as God’s Caliph. But when the Sa‘dians returned to Marrakesh with reinforcements, Ibn Abi Mahalli’s followers had their faith in his invincibility abruptly disproven when he was killed by a single shot at the start of the battle. Thus Marrakesh returned to Sa‘adian rule, and Ibn Abi Mahalli’s severed head was hung from the city walls, where it remained - an increasingly grisly memorial of the revolt - for twelve years.
The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 9 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 24-25 April 2025.
Islamic Auction 9 – Session One – Lots 1–255 will be held Thursday afternoon, 24 April 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM GMT.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
From the Collection of an Alexandrine Numismatist, formed before 1955.
Ibn Abi Mahalli was born into a family of religious scholars. A man of great devoutness, he received his own religious training in Fez before settling in Sijilmasa in the early 1000s/1590s. He became increasingly critical of the rule of the Sa‘dian Sharifs, whom he regarded as insufficiently dedicated to the defence and maintenance of Islam.
When the town of Larache fell to the Spanish in AH 1019, this was the final straw for Ibn Abi Mahalli. Proclaiming himself the Mahdi at Sijilmasa, he waged holy war to end the rule of the Sa‘adian Sharifs. From modest beginnings, his revolt swiftly grew until he was able to occupy the Sa‘dian capital, Marrakesh. Ibn Abi Mahalli’s religious fervour did not prevent him installing himself in the Imperial Palace, marrying a Sa‘dian princess, and striking coins in his own name which proclaimed him not merely as the Mahdi but also as God’s Caliph. But when the Sa‘dians returned to Marrakesh with reinforcements, Ibn Abi Mahalli’s followers had their faith in his invincibility abruptly disproven when he was killed by a single shot at the start of the battle. Thus Marrakesh returned to Sa‘adian rule, and Ibn Abi Mahalli’s severed head was hung from the city walls, where it remained - an increasingly grisly memorial of the revolt - for twelve years.
The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 9 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 24-25 April 2025.
Islamic Auction 9 – Session One – Lots 1–255 will be held Thursday afternoon, 24 April 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM GMT.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
