THE COINAGE OF ARSLÂN ARĠÛ, THE SALJÛQ, AND THEIR POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE (485 - 490 AH. / 1092 -1096 AD.)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assist. Prof., Islamic Archeology dept., Faculty of Arts, Sohag Univ., Sohag, Egypt

Abstract

The present paper examines the coinage of King Arslân Arġû – brother to Sultan Malik Šhâh – the
Saljûq who ruled over Khorasan in (485 – 490 AH. / 1092 – 1096 AD.) and struck coins which
reflected the prevailing political conditions at the time. Arslân Arġû inscribed on his coins the name of
the Abbasid Caliph, Al Muqtadi, to win his favour and guarantee that his coinage would be considered
legitimate in circulation while some of his coins show that he omitted the name of Barkiyarq, Sultan
Malik Šhâh’s son and successor, to announce that he is the sole ruler of Khorasan and that he does not
consider Barkiyarq the legitimate ruler of the great Saljûq lands. However, on other coins Arslân Arġû
inscribed the name of Barkiyarq together with his own name to proclaim himself ruler of Khorasan
and, at the same time, to avoid annoying Barkiyarq or enraging him, especially because Barkiyarq was
able to defeat all his enemies and have independent rule over Saljûq lands. In this way, Arslân Arġû’s
coinage reflects the political conditions of the great Saljûq reign at the time when he was ruler of
Khorasan.

Keywords

Egyptian Journal of Archaeological and Restoration Studies
Volume 4, Issue 2
December 2014
Pages 129-139

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