money and coinage: The Islamic World 741 marketplace by supply and demand This rate fluctuated from as low as to as high as 14 dirhams to the dinar Despite religious regulations, Muslims developed a number of financial instruments to facilitate international trade Concern about the ethics of financial transactions led to the development of the post of the muhtasib The muhtasib was a functionary of the state and was appointed by virtue of his high moral integrity and knowledge of Islamic law (sharia) His role was to make sure that in all areas of commerce the sharia was upheld Thus, he would check weights and measures, and even test for counterfeit coins He made sure that merchants did not charge interest and dealt severely with hoarding Coins were not the only means of payment Something similar to modern checks was also used The word check derives from the Arabic word saqq, which refers to a written vow to honor the payment for merchandise when the trade destination is reached Medieval Muslims used a “banking system” that allowed a merchant in Canton China to draw from his account in Baghdad The use of saqq was born out of the need to avoid having to transport large sums of coins, owing to the dangers and difficulties of long-distance travel Traders used saqq as bills of exchange, promissory notes, and letters of credit to facilitate commercial activity, making transcontinental trade possible On special occasions, such as the end of the Ramadan (the month of fasting), rulers might distribute coins among the people as largesse In Fatimid Egypt the caliph specially minted gold kharubas (tiny gold coins) for distribution to state servants on such occasions In Iran coinlike tokens were frequently distributed at weddings Coins were often pierced and sewn onto women’s clothing The range and amount would be an obvious status symbol for the woman’s family In the early 13th century the nature of the coinage changed substantially The most conspicuous change was the use of pictorial types and noncircular frames and borders (such as the six-pointed star of Aleppo and the square of Damascus) By the 13th century the Muslim lands had been carved into many dynasties, each producing its own coinage Initially, they acknowledged the nominal leadership of the caliph but later became completely independent The Fatimids were the first to depart from classical coinage Caliph al-Muizz (r 953–75) introduced coinage that carried a clear Shia message From then on Fatimid coins carried distinctly Shia proclamations Fatimid coins had three concentric circles and the words “Ali is the Friend of Allah,” a typical Shia proclamation During the apogee of the Fatimid Caliphate these coins became the most widely used trade coins of the Mediterranean world Due to a silver shortage in the East, the Seljuks issued large copper coins They also borrowed designs from ancient Greek and Roman, Sassanian, and Byzantine sources The Seljuks of Asia Minor (12th–13th centuries) had silver coins showing a horseman with a mace over his shoulders or a lion and sun Farther east the Ghaznavids (10th–12th centuries) struck coins with Sanskrit inscriptions The Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258 meant the effective end of the Abbasid Caliphate, but in 1261 Baybars (r 1260–77) installed one of the few surviving Abbasids as caliph in Cairo The move symbolically established the Mamluks as the leaders of Sunni Islam, though the caliph exercised no real power On the obverse of their coins was the full name and titles of Baybars over an image of a lion; a figural image included on the coin, and the name of the caliph was not mentioned The Almohads, who succeeded the Almoravids in the 12th century, introduced new coinage; notably, their dirham was square The Nasrids were the last to mint Muslim coins in al-Andalus These coins were carefully struck and bore long legends containing passages from the Koran and genealogies of the rulers The Nasrid coins did not show a date, but they are identifiable by the motto “None victorious save God.” Nasrid coins had a square within a circle (a common feature in coins from North Africa and Spain from the 12th through 15th centuries) In the 13th century the Mongols swept through Asia The khans of the Golden Horde issued an extensive series of small silver coins The Ilkhanids of Persia struck large coins In the 14th century Timur (1336–1405) revived the power of the Mongols and struck silver and copper coins Timurid coins on the obverse featured the profession of faith with the names of the first four caliphs in the margin The Safavids were Shiites, and this adherence facilitated their distinction from the Sunni Ottomans to the west and the Sunni Uzbeks and Mughals to the east On the obverse Safavid coins featured the profession of the faith followed by the Shia allegiance, “Ali is the Friend of God.” Around the margin were the names of the 12 imams On the reverse was a characteristic Safavid honorific, proclaiming the king as “the servant of the King of Holiness.” Original Ottoman coinage consisted of small silver coins A notable Ottoman innovation was the tughra, an elaborate monogram formed of the sultan’s name and titles, which occupied one side of the coin The Ottoman imperial tughra was also on all official documents See also art; 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