115 / 166
Tyrants of the Tigris & euphrates
255
‘Abbasid Caliphate
Gold Dinar, AH 256
al-Muhtadi, ‘Abbasid Caliph, AH 255-256/AD 869-870
Bernardi 165Jh; Lavoix 993; A 237. Fine.
Madinat al-Salam mint. Kalima at center, double obverse marginal legends with Qur’an 30:4 in outer
margin, date formula in inner margin; Reverse, continuation of Kalima, “lillah” above, al-Muhtadi Bil-
lah cited below, Qur’an 9:33 in margin. Extremely rare.
Al-Muhtadi was born from a Greek Mother. His short reign of 11 months (AH 255-256/ AD 869-870)
was marked by extreme chaos, conspiracy and rebellion.
256
‘Abbasid Caliphate
Gold Dinar, AH 270
al-Mu’tamid, ‘Abbasid Caliph, AH 256-279/AD 870-892
Bernardi 177Qe; A 239.5. Extremely Fine.
Samarqand mint. Kalima at center, double obverse marginal legends with Qur’an 30:4 in outer margin,
date formula in inner margin, al-Muwaffaq Billah (heir apparent for the east) cited below; Reverse,
continuation of Kalima, “lillah” above, al-Mu’tamid ‘Ala Allah cited below, Qur’an 9:33 in margin.
Scarce mint for this reign.
During the reign of al-Mu’tamid (AH 256-279/ AD 870-892), much of the former empire of the ‘Ab-
basids had broken away with fully or semi-independent kingdoms and principalities. Egypt was ruled by
the Tulunid dynasty. The Tulunids were followed by the Fatimids who declared a rival Shi’ite caliphate.
The Saffarids controlled much of eastern and southern Iran while the ‘Alids, a Zaydi Shi’ite dynasty,
declared independence in Tabaristan, a northern Iranian province on the Caspian Sea.