ILKHANID, ULJAYTU (703-716h) Presentation heavy dinar, Madinat al-Salam Baghdad 709h Obverse margin: Allahma salla ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘Ali wa Hasan wa Husayn wa ‘Ali wa Muhammad wa Ja‘far wa Musa wa ‘Ali wa Muhammad wa ‘Ali wa Hasan wa Muhammad Obverse field: la ilaha illa Allah│ Muhammad │ rasul Allah │ ‘Ali wali Allah Reverse margin: uljaytu sultan (in Uyghur) │lillah al-amra min qabl wa min ba‘d │ duriba bi- Madinat al-Salam Baghdad │ sanat tis‘a wa sab‘a mi’at Reverse field: duriba fi │ayyam dawla al-mawla │al-Sultan al-a‘azam malik riqab │ al-imam Uljaytu Sultan Ghiyath │ al-dunya wa’l-din Khudabanda Muhammad │ khallada Allah │ mulkahu Weight: 17.13g References: cf Diler 365; Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 19, ‘Classical Rarities of Islamic Coinage,’ 25 April 2012, lot 141, same dies. Carefully struck on a specially-prepared, thick flan, almost extremely fine and extremely rare. GHIYATH Al-DIN ULJAYTU succeeded his brother Ghazan Mahmud as the eighth Ilkhanid ruler in 703h. Like his mother, he was originally baptized a Christian and named ‘Nikola’ in honour of Pope Nicholas IV, but later converted to Buddhism and finally to Islam. Uljaytu nevertheless married the sister of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II and went to considerable lengths to maintain diplomatic relations with Christian Europe. His reign was marked by inconclusive campaigns into Gilan and also against Mamluk Egypt, where initial success was thwarted by supply problems and plague among his troops. Domestically, he faced continual discontent in Anatolia, where the brutality of Ilkhanid rule caused repeated insurrections, but he proved able to quell a revolt in Khurasan and restore peace there. He died at the age of 36, having fallen ill during a hunting expedition, and was succeeded in 716h by his son, Abu Sa‘id. After his conversion to Islam, Uljaytu initially espoused Sunni beliefs (first the Hanafi and later the Shafi’i school) before finally adopting Shi‘ism. Numismatically, these events are reflected in his coinage: Uljaytu introduced the names of the four rashidun as a regular feature of the legends, and after adopting Shi‘ism he also added the names of the Twelve Imams, as seen in the obverse margin here. This innovation was introduced in the year 709h, making this magnificent coin one of the first to bear Shi‘ite legends. The exceptional weight, beautiful calligraphy and careful striking of this coin suggest that it was made for presentation purposes rather than as a currency piece.

Estimate: GBP 30000 - 40000