AQ QOYUNLU Alwand bin Yusuf 1498-1504 1/3 silver tanka
$35.00
AQ QOYUNLU, Alwand bin Yusuf, 1498-1504, 1/3 tanka, date missing, mint missing, Obverse: kalima in ornamented octagon, Reverse: name in central circle, titles above and below, silver, 12-13mm, 1.81g, A2548, VF
1 in stock
Description
Alwand was one of three sultans who fought each other in the final years of the dynasty.
Aq Qoyunlu translates as “White Sheep.” They were a Turkish clan whose culture was heavily Persianized. They are mentioned as appearing in northwest Anatolia in the 1340s, when they were vassals of the Mongol Ilkhans of Persia. They were at war with their neighbors almost all the time. In 1402 they were granted land in Anatolia by Tamerlane. One of their rulers took Bagdad and parts of Iran. But they couldn’t stand against the Ottomans, and a diminished Aq Qoyunlu state proceed to several decades of civil war before the statelets that they had become were conquered by the Safavids.
The term “Islamic coins” refers to coins made by Muslim governments from the time of the first caliphs to an end point in time that varies with the particular country being considered, but is generally some time from the 17th to 19th century. There is a geographic exclusion: India and points east are generally considered separately. The main reference used here is “Checklist of Islamic Coins,” by Stephen Album.
