Who needs to progress with collection goals when you can get sidetracked by cool coins like this
Khwarezm kingdom, Afrighid Dynasty
Sawashfan (Sawsafan, Sawrsafan, Shao She Fien)
Fl. 750's
AR Tetradrachm reduced to Dirhem standards (27mm, 3.17g)
Bust of king right in ornate crown, Sogdian SWSPRN before
King on horseback, raising whip, Chorasmian legend around MR'Y MLK S'YWRSPN (Sawashfan, King)
Rare
Khwarezm was historically situated around a fertile oasis to the south of the Aral Sea. They were friendly to the Greeks, although they were seen as kings of little but wasteland. Their history sadly is very poorly attested. They are believed to have an Iranian people, and practiced Zoroastriabism. They were self-governing, but usually tributary to the Bactrians, Parthians, Sassanians, Huns, Turks, and finally the Abbasids. Their coinage stems from imitations of Euthydemos, although they quickly adopted a very distinct artistic flair. The basic formula (King's bust in an ethnic crown / King on horseback) was established in the first century BC/AD as a tetradrachm of about 13 grams, but the weight was steadily reduced as the drachm came into better prominence under the Sassanians.
The original dynasty was toppled sometime in the 3rd to 5th century by Afrig, who established the Afrighid Dynasty that would rule until 995. The Abbasids attacked in the early 8th century during a time of internal political strife, but a complete takeover was avoided. Sawashfan succeeded his father Askajamuk II. Outside of his coins, he is only attesred by a single source - a letter sent to Tang China in 751, asking for aid and signed by a "Shao She Fien". He was succeeded by his son Torkasbatha. Torkasbatha was the last Zoroastrian king of Khwarezm; all subsequent rulers were Muslim and bore Muslim names until the collapse of the dynasty in 995.
There is a surviving king's list, but curiously few kings on that list have attributed coinage, and most names on the coins are not otherwise attested.
Despite prohibitions on depicting the human form, this design seems to have been retained until 995, and was accepted throughout the Muslim realm as a Dirhem, one specimen even finding it's way to a Viking hoard in Sweden!
Further reading and more types I could never hope to own:
http://www.sogdcoins.narod.ru/engli...m/coins.html
Posted 06/05/2018 3:42 pm
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