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The Legitimation of al-Hakam b. al-ᶜAs: Umayyad Government in Seventh-Century Kirman

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Stuart D. Sears
Stuart D. Sears*
Affiliation:
American University in Cairo
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Extract

The umayyads faced many challenges in consolidating their authority in the years after the first fitna (35–41 H. /656–61 C.E.). Among these were frequent revolts by Kharijites. While the Umayyads suppressed most of the revolts with little trouble until the second fitna (60–72/680–92), the ideological foundations of Kharijite resistance and the wide sympathy it enjoyed had serious consequences. It undermined the informal traditions upon which the caliphate was based. This was not simply a problem for the caliph in Damascus but more critically for governors exercising authority in distant provinces where caliphal influence proved weak and opposition movements propagated with relative ease.

While little is known of Kirman's history during this period, one of its governors, al-Hakam b. al-ᶜAs, addressed these challenges in the fifties/mid 670s by appealing to an inchoate absolutism. He promulgated legends on his coins linking himself and his government to God.

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Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , March 2003 , pp. 5 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Iranian Studies 2003

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Footnotes

*

I would like to acknowledge the generous assistance of Joe Cribb and Venetia Porter of The British Museum and François Thierry de Crussol of the Bibliothèque Nationale. In addition, I would like to thank Stephen Album, Muhammad Jazzar, Mehdi Malek, the late Samir Shamma and the late William B. Warden, all of whom provided me access to the very important coin collections in their possession or under their care. Any errors in the reading or interpretation of these coins are mine alone. A draft of this article was presented at "The Heritage of Sasanian Iran: Dinars, Dirhams and Coppers of the Late Sasanian and Early Muslim Periods" held at Columbia University on June 8th-9th, 2002 and sponsored by The American Numismatic Society, The Center for Iranian Studies and the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and The Middle East Medievalists.

References

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20. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 112, no. I.46; 122-23Google Scholar, no. M.53. Although Qatari's name does not appear in the name legend, the inscription identifies the issue with this ruler.

21. Ibid., 112-13, passim; 123, no. T.18. For the mint ZR for Zaranj should be read YZ for Yazd. Although Qatarī's name does not appear in the name legend of no. T.18, the marginal legend and the Pahlavi inscription appearing in place of the name legend identify it with this ruler.

22. Shams-Eshragh, A. A Study of the Earliest Coinage of the Islam Empire (Isfahan, 1990), 98Google Scholar, no. 149.

23. Weber, E. “Die Arabisch-Sasanidische Mūnzen Kirmans aus dem Jahre AH 77 (A.D. 696),” Münsterische Numismatische Zeitung (Holger Dombrowski Münzenhandlung Lagerkatalog 65/66, November, 1975), 10-12Google Scholar, Pl. II; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France, Unpublished acquisitions (henceforth BN) no. 1971.134.

24. Walker, citing al-Tabari, and al-Athir, Ibn Arab-Sassanian Coins, lx-lxiGoogle Scholar. His citation of Ibn al-Athir, however, is imprecise and gives an incorrect page number.

25. Ibid., 111-12; Weber, “Münzen Kirmans,” 10-12Google Scholar; Mochiri, M. I. “Garmkirmān: a Sasanian and Early Islamic Mint in Kirmān Province,” The Numismatic Chronicle 145 (1985): 109-22Google Scholar, nos. 22, 25, 27, 28, 30; Shams-Eshragh, Islam Empire, 91, no. 122; Mochiri, M. I. “Kirman, Terre de Turbulence,” Iran 38 (2000): 33-48CrossRefGoogle Scholar, no. 27, 28, 30, 32, 35, 37.

26. Bishop, Dale L. “Problems in Arab-Sasanian Numismatics,” Iranica Antiqua 11 (1975): 178-93Google Scholar, see 178–80.

27. ᶜAli b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Athir al-Shaybani al-Kāmil fi'l-taᶜrīkh, ed. C. J. Tornberg (Leiden, 1869; Reprint, Beirut, 1965), 3: 452.

28. Bishop, “Problems,” 178; al-Athir, Ibn al-Kāmil, 3: 199Google Scholar.

29. During the early fifties/early 670s, ᶜAbd al-Rahman struck coins at a half-dozen mints. They include Narmashir (NAR, Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 43, nos. 63, 64, I.17; 85, no. 153), Bardashir (BR?, ibid., 84, no. 151, Dam. 5), Bamm (GRM, ibid., 85, no. 152) and Jiruft (GY, ex-Warden-Album collection). Two other mints are uncertainly identified. They are HRČN? (ibid., 85, no. Dam.6) and ANAT? (Mochiri, Civil War Coinage, 33Google Scholar, no. 9 (fig. 39)). The latter is most likely a variant of ANNAT? (cf. BN, no. 1972.199; ex-Warden-Album collection; private collection). All of the mints closed with ᶜAbd al-Rahman's departure to Khurasan in 54 (673–74).

30. NAW-GY, for example, is appended to KRMAN on pl. 14. For other examples, see Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins 30-32Google Scholar, 35, 65–66, 101, 103–104, 111-12, 115, 186, 194, 197.

31. For examples, see pl. 14 and ibid., 103–04, 111-12, passim.

32. al-Muqaddasi, Aḥsan al-taqālīm, 460, 464-65Google Scholar; Ahmad b. Abi Ya'qub b. Wadih al-Yaᶜqubi Kitāb al-buldān, ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, 1891), 286.

33. LeStrange, 299–300; al-Istakhri, al-Masālik 97-98Google Scholar.

34. al-Istakhri, al-Masālik 97Google Scholar; al-Muqaddasi, Aḥsan al-taqālīm, 459-73Google Scholar.

35. al-Istakhri, al-Masālik, 97Google Scholar.

36. Jazzar collection, Amman, Jordan. For attribution of mint legend, see Sears, S. D. For God, King and Caliph. The Organization of Mints and Minting in the Near East, ca. CE 450 to 750Google Scholar, forthcoming.

37. Ex-Warden-Album collection.

38. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 86Google Scholar, no. Dam.7.

39. Ibid., 86, nos. ETN.17, J.4.

40. Mochiri (1985): 109–22, no. 11. For reading and attribution of mint legend, see Sears, For God, King and Caliph.

41. In addition to the main reference works on Sasanian and Muslin drahms, see Miles, G. C. “Some New Light on the History of Kirmān in the First Century of the Hijrah,” in The World of Islam, Studies in Honour of Philip K. Hitti, ed. Kritzeck, J. (New York, 1959), 85-98Google Scholar; Bishop (1975): 178-83; Mochiri (1985): 109–22; and Mochiri (2000): 33-48. For ANNAT?, see specimens in BN, no. 1972.199; and ex-Warden-Album collection. For HRČN?, see Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 87Google Scholar, no. B.27.

42. Mordtmann, A D. read PYR for Firuzabad in Fars (“Zur Pehlevi-Mūnzkunde,” Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 33 (1879): 82-142Google Scholar, see 100-101, no. 79); Walker read PYL (PIL) for the site of the Reformed mint Fīl. This he attributed to Khuzistan or Fars to which Mordtmann and he attributed other mints of al-Hakam b. al-'As (civ, cxxv–cxxvi, no. 47); Paruck, F. D. H. doubted the reading PYL since no place-name could be found to account for it. He preferred reading PYR for the name element PYRWČ (PIROJ), Pīrūz, “victorious,” but had no suggestions for its attribution (see his “Mint-marks on Sāsānian and Arab-Sāsānian Coins,” Journal of the Numismatic Society of India 6 (1944): 79-151Google Scholar, especially 118, no. 153). Mochiri, considered PYR and PR variants of the same legend and attributed it to Piruz-Shapur (Pushang) in the province of Herat (Études de numismatique iranienne sous les Sassanides. [Tehran, 1972], 1: 55-58Google Scholar); Gaube read PYR and attributed it to Kirman recognizing by this time that the name of al-Hakam b. al-ᶜAs could only belong to this province. He discounted any association between PYR and PR (Arabosasanidische Numismatik, 94-95, no. 4.2.19); Bishop, unaware of Gaube's work, revived Mordtmann's suggestion of an attribution to Jur/Firuzabad (“Problems”, 178–80). On the basis of undocumented hoard evidence, Mochiri, again connected PYR with PR and located it in northwestern Iran, specifically with Burujird (Études numismatique iranienne sous les Sassanides et Arabe-Sassanides [Tehran, 1977; Revised and corrected, Leiden, 1983], 404-16Google Scholar); Gyselen, R. read PYR for Pêrôz-Shāpūr-…? (Pêrôz-Šābuhr-…?) but was uncertain where to locate it (“Ateliers monétaires et cachets officiels sasanides,” Studia Iranica (1979): 189-212Google Scholar, 210); Mochiri, “Garmkirman” 109-22 later accepted the attribution of PYR to Kirman generally.

43. This was suggested by Paruck, “Mint-marks” 118, no. 153 and Bishop, “Problems,” 181-82.

44. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 87Google Scholar. nos. ETN.18. ETN.19 & Ties. 2: Naqshbandi, N. The Islamic Dirham of Sassanian Type. The Islamic Dirham (Baghdad, 1969), 1: 95Google Scholar, no. 51.

45. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 87Google Scholar, no. M.46; Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, Table 5, no. 52Google Scholar.

46. The British Museum, unpublished acquisitions (henceforth BM), no. 1960-2-8-1; and ex-Warden-Album collection. Published specimens for other years have been misread. Mochiri read 52 H. where ŠPNČH was indicated for 56 H. (Études II, 416, fig. 1547a); So far, no credible readings are known for Sasanian coins. Paruck records the year 30 of Khusraw II (Sāsānian Coins (Bombay, 1924; Reprint, New Delhi, 1976), 170, no. 152). This, however, is probably incorrect as are many of his readings; F. Gurnet read PYL for what is better read as PA. It differs considerably from the epigraphy of Muslim issues (“Monnaies sassanides inédites de Yazdgird III (632–51),” Cercle d'Études Numismatiques de Belgique 25:3-4 (1988): 49–56, 76–85, see 53, fig. 1.2).

47. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 65Google Scholar, no. Do.3; British Museum, no. 1949-8-3-200 (ex-Burn collection).

48. Mochiri, Arab-Sasanian Civil War Coinage, trans., Avril, J. L. and Graves, F. (Paris, 1986), 41Google Scholar, 50, no. 63 (fig. 41). Though this issue is otherwise unpublished, it is somewhat common. Three specimens are in the BN, nos. 1965.534, 1965.535 and 1972.197; four cimens were in the Warden-Album collection.

49. In addition to PYR, there are HRČN? (BN, no. 1969.890), BR? (Jazzar collection, Amman, Jordan), HPYČ (ex-Warden-Album collection), GRM, (Album, S. “An Arab-Sasanian Dirham Hoard from the Year 72 Hijri,” Studia Iranica 21: 2 (1992): 161-95CrossRefGoogle Scholar, see 184–85, no. 94), NAR (Shamma collection), NAW GY (ex-Warden-Album collection), and ANNAT? (ex-Warden-Album collection).

50. For 64 Naqshbandi, H. The Islamic Dirham, 110Google Scholar, no. 63, Pl. 4; Mochiri, Civil War Coinage, 69Google Scholar, no. 118, fig. 23. For 65 H., Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 101, nos. 202-03Google Scholar; Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, Table 9, no. 101Google Scholar. For 66 H., Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 31Google Scholar, no. B.6; Guillou, A. Les Monnayages_Pehlevi-Arabes (Paris, 1953)Google Scholar, no. 27. For 67 Shams–Eshragh, H. Islam Empire, 88Google Scholar, no. 109. For 69 H., Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins 103Google Scholar, no. Th.12. For 70 H., ibid., 103, no. M.49; Shams-Eshragh, Islam Empire, 91Google Scholar, no. 122. For 71 H., ex-Warden-Album collection. For 72 H., Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 104Google Scholar, no. T.17. For 73 H., BN 1968.864; ex-Warden-Album collection. For 74 H., Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 111Google Scholar, no. Th.15. For 75 H.: ibid., 112, no. 218; Walker, however, misread KRMAN-GY for KRMAN in one instance (ibid., 32, no. Th.5). For 76 H., Spink Auctions (London, March 1987)Google Scholar, lot no. 401. For 79 H., Sears, S. D. “A New Ruler on Early Muslim Sasanian Style Coinage,” Yarmouk Numismatics 8 (1996): 19-24Google Scholar.

51. Miles, “Kirmān,” 86-88; Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, 96-98Google Scholar.

52. LeStrange, 316.

53. This mint site, in fact, was probably the main provincial capital following the Muslim conquests. It is far more prolific than any other site while the legends KR and KRMAN for Shirajan are barely known on coins.

54. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 3Google Scholar. Mint legends, however, are either misread or unattributed. BJ(?) may be read as BR? for Bardashir while NHR for Nahr-Tira should be read as NAR for Narmashir.

55. Ibid., 8, no. Sch.1. The mint legend is, as above, misread. It is NAR for Narmashir; Mochiri “Garmkirman,” 109–22, no. 6; Idem, “Kirman, Terre de Turbulence,” 42, no. 1.

56. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 48Google Scholar, no. 72; 49, no. ETN.10.; 50, no. Th.8; 51, nos. Dam.2, Dam.3. As above, mint legends should be read as BR? for Bardashir and NAR for Narmashir.

57. Ibid., 43, nos. 63, 64, I.17. Mint legend should be read as NAR for Narmashir.

58. Ibid., 84–85.

59. In 56 H, Mu'awiya appointed him and his brother ᶜAbd Allah as governors of Khurasan (Bosworth, 42–43; al-Tabari, Ta˒rīkh 5: 295-96). ‘Ubayd Allah, however, appointed him governor of Khurasan once again in 58/677-78 or 59/678-79 (Bosworth, Sīstān under the Arabs, 43Google Scholar; al-Tabari, Ta˒rīkh 5: 315-16)Google Scholar.

60. al-Tabari, Ta˒rīkh 5: 316Google Scholar.

61. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 36Google Scholar, no. 50; 72, no. STA.2; 74, no. O.7.

62. Ibid., 36–46, passim.

63. Ibid., 3–24, passim.

64. The legend is relatively common but is not mentioned in Walker. This is due to his misreading of the legend as the Pahlavi AP and attribution of the coins on which it appears to the Sasanians (See 18, no. T.5). For examples, see Mochiri, Civil War Coinage, 28Google Scholar, 33, 42, 54, nos. 23, 45, 46, 80-82, 84-88, figs. 49–51, 56-61, 63, 64; Shams-Eshragh, Islam Empire, 80Google Scholar, no. 74.

65. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 112–13Google Scholar.

66. Ibid., 111-12.

67. The mint at Shirajan actually struck significant quantities of coins with the new legends in 58 (677–78) but only one is so far published. Mochiri, Civil War Coinage, 41Google Scholar, 50, no. 63 (fig. 41).

68. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 52-74Google Scholar, passim.

69. Ibid., 74–84, passim. Note that the mint in Zarang (SK) employed an immobilized date 56 H. There are also a number of posthumous issues.

70. For al-Basra (BČRA), Mochiri, “Kirman, Terre de Turbulence,” 46, no. 25. For Dasht-Maysan (DŠT), Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, Table 5, no. 54Google Scholar. For unidentified mint in lower Iraq SYWK(W), Guillou, Les Monnayages, no. 87Google Scholar.

71. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 97Google Scholar, no. Sch.5.

72. At al-Basra (BČRA) for 66/685–86. Ibid., 102, no. I.42.

73. At Dasht-Maysan (DŠ and DŠT) for 67/686–87 and possibly 68/687–88. Ibid., 103-04, nos. M.48, 1.43; Naqshbandi, The Islamic Dirham, 111Google Scholar, no. 64; Mochiri, Études 2: 159Google Scholar, fig. 421.

74. Ibid., 103–104, nos. 206, Th.12, M.49 and 207.

75. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 29-36Google Scholar.

76. Ibid., 98–102.

77. Ibid., 95–96; Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, Table 7, no. 79Google Scholar.

78. Shams–Eshragh, Islam Empire, 86Google Scholar, no. 99; Mochiri, Études 2: 423Google Scholar, fig. 1554.

79. Walker, Arab-Sassanian Coins, 96–97; Gaube, Arabosasanidische Numismatik, Table 3, no. 34Google Scholar.

80. Mochiri, “A Pahlavi Forerunner of the Umayyad Reformed Coinage,” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1981): 169–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

81. Gold, The Tārikh–e Sistān, 82–83Google Scholar; Bosworth, Sīstān under the Arabs, 45, 50–51Google Scholar.

82. It is doubtful that this is Malik b. Aws al–Azdi mentioned in Gold, The Tārikh–e Sistān, 81. The patronymic resembles APWS?; it does not seem to be Arabic suggesting a Persian or Turkish origin.

83. Ibid., 84–85; Bosworth, 46, 51.

84. Miles, in “Mihrab and ‘Anaza: A Study of Early Islamic Iconography,” Archaeologia in Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld (Locust Valley, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin, 1952), 156–71Google Scholar; Bates, M. L. “History, Geography, and Numismatics in the First Century of Islamic Coinage,” Revue Suisse de Numismatique 65 (1986): 231–62Google Scholar., see 249–51.

85. Walker, 1956: 84, 104. This verse is found in the Qur’an in three places: IX: 33, XLVIII: 28 and LXI: 9.