UMAYYAD/ABBASID, TEMP. ‘ABD AL-RAHMAN B. HABIB AL-FIHRI Dirham, Ifriqiya 134h Reverse: of standard UMAYYAD type with the Surat al-Ikhlas in four lines Weight: 2.80g References: cf Lowick 267 [dated 133h]; cf Morton & Eden auction 89, 25 October 2017, lot 15. Cleaned, very fine to good very fine and extremely rare ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Habib al-Fihri seized power in North Africa in 126h, taking advantage of the chaos which followed the death of the caliph Hisham to expel the UMAYYAD governor. The new caliph, Marwan II, had little choice but to confirm ‘Abd al-Rahman as the officially appointed governor there, and he survived the overthrow of the UMAYYADs to remain in post under the new Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah. Over time, however, ‘Abd al-Rahman became more and more concerned by repeated Abbasid demands for him to submit to them, and he switched his allegiance to the UMAYYAD cause. At ‘Abd al-Rahman’s invitation the surviving members of the UMAYYAD family were able to take refuge in North Africa, where the caliph Hisham’s grandson, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Mu‘awiya b. Hisham, established the line of Spanish UMAYYADs in 138h. Abd al-Rahman b. Habib al-Fihri was murdered in 137h by his brother Ilyas, allegedly at the urging of his wife.

Estimate: GBP 3000 - 4000