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Lot 347
Governors of Oman. 'Abd al-Wahhab b. Ahmad. AH 354 (AD 965). AR Dirham (24.9mm, 2.75 g, 10h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 354 (AD 965). Good VF, toned.
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$25,000
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5
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Live Auction
Islamic Auction 9
Live bidding begins Apr 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM BST
(15d 11h 50m left for internet bidding)
Category
Description
Governors of Oman. 'Abd al-Wahhab b. Ahmad. AH 354 (AD 965). AR Dirham (24.9mm, 2.75 g, 10h). ‘Uman mint. Dated AH 354 (AD 965). Obverse field: ✸ / la ilaha illa / Allah wahdahu / la sharik lahu / ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad / Reverse field: lillah / Muhammad / rasul / Allah / al-Muti‘ lillah / al-Sadat. Unpublished. Good VF, toned. Of the highest rarity, believed unique.
For the historical background to this remarkable coin, one can do no better than resume Miskawayh’s account:
‘Our narrative of the affairs of Oman reached the point whereat the Qarmatians entered by the choice of the inhabitants. With the Qarmatians there was a clerk name ‘Ali b. Ahmad, who administered the country and the army. The qadi of the place was a man of family and power, who after the banishment of Nafi‘ thought in common with the notables that they should install as prince on Ibn Tughan, an inferior officer, indeed of the lowest rank. Fearing that the superior officers would oust him, he arrested eighty of them, of whom he slew some and drowned others. There came to the place two sister’s sons of one of the drowned men; making enquiries about their uncle, they learned that he had been drowned. For a time they lay low; presently on a reception day they entered the presence of Ibn Tughan among others who came to greet him, and when the assembly broke up assaulted him and put him to death.
The people now agreed to give the principate to ‘Abd al-Wahhad b. Ahmad b. Marwan, a relative of the qadi. When they sent to solicit his appearance, he went into hiding; they then compelled the qadi to produce him and force his acceptance of the office. The qadi complied, and sent a message to him, in consequence of which he showed himself, undertook the office, and received homage. He appointed as his secretary that ‘Ali b. Ahmad the Clerk who had arrived with the men from Hajar; he agreed with the army that eight months’ pay should be given them as a gratuity, in consequence whereof the money was produced, and ‘Ali b. Ahmad began handing out to the men the eight months’ pay. When he came to the Zanj, men of strengh and courage of whom there were six thousand, he said to them: Our prince ‘Abd al-Wahhab has ordered me to bestow on you only four months’ pay. This produced a disturbance among them, and he bade them go and speak to the prince. They started; but when they had got a little way he recalled them to his chamber, and said: If you go to him, he will decline to admit you, and will certainly not give you more than the four months’ pay. But what say you to entering my service, in which case I shall give you the eight months’ pay, and the principate shall be mine? They consented. he handed them the eight months’ pay. The white troops were disturbed on account of this, and a brawl arose between them and the Zanj, in which a number of the former were killed. The white troops then auiesced, made common cause with the Zanj, and swore allegiance to ‘Ali b. Ahmad. They then sent a message to ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. Ahmad b. Marwan, informing him that they had appointed someone else to rule over them, adn that he must leave the country. The departed, and ‘Ali b. Ahmad became prince.
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 Two – Lots 256–529 will be held Thursday afternoon, 25 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.
For the historical background to this remarkable coin, one can do no better than resume Miskawayh’s account:
‘Our narrative of the affairs of Oman reached the point whereat the Qarmatians entered by the choice of the inhabitants. With the Qarmatians there was a clerk name ‘Ali b. Ahmad, who administered the country and the army. The qadi of the place was a man of family and power, who after the banishment of Nafi‘ thought in common with the notables that they should install as prince on Ibn Tughan, an inferior officer, indeed of the lowest rank. Fearing that the superior officers would oust him, he arrested eighty of them, of whom he slew some and drowned others. There came to the place two sister’s sons of one of the drowned men; making enquiries about their uncle, they learned that he had been drowned. For a time they lay low; presently on a reception day they entered the presence of Ibn Tughan among others who came to greet him, and when the assembly broke up assaulted him and put him to death.
The people now agreed to give the principate to ‘Abd al-Wahhad b. Ahmad b. Marwan, a relative of the qadi. When they sent to solicit his appearance, he went into hiding; they then compelled the qadi to produce him and force his acceptance of the office. The qadi complied, and sent a message to him, in consequence of which he showed himself, undertook the office, and received homage. He appointed as his secretary that ‘Ali b. Ahmad the Clerk who had arrived with the men from Hajar; he agreed with the army that eight months’ pay should be given them as a gratuity, in consequence whereof the money was produced, and ‘Ali b. Ahmad began handing out to the men the eight months’ pay. When he came to the Zanj, men of strengh and courage of whom there were six thousand, he said to them: Our prince ‘Abd al-Wahhab has ordered me to bestow on you only four months’ pay. This produced a disturbance among them, and he bade them go and speak to the prince. They started; but when they had got a little way he recalled them to his chamber, and said: If you go to him, he will decline to admit you, and will certainly not give you more than the four months’ pay. But what say you to entering my service, in which case I shall give you the eight months’ pay, and the principate shall be mine? They consented. he handed them the eight months’ pay. The white troops were disturbed on account of this, and a brawl arose between them and the Zanj, in which a number of the former were killed. The white troops then auiesced, made common cause with the Zanj, and swore allegiance to ‘Ali b. Ahmad. They then sent a message to ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. Ahmad b. Marwan, informing him that they had appointed someone else to rule over them, adn that he must leave the country. The departed, and ‘Ali b. Ahmad became prince.
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 Two – Lots 256–529 will be held Thursday afternoon, 25 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.
