Coins struck at Samarqand
1 catalogued coin and note attributed to Samarqand, with weights, legends, dates and Wikimedia-sourced images across Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic.
In short
Samarqand was a Samanid, Qarakhanid and Timurid mint at the heart of Transoxiana — the city Timur made his imperial capital and filled with the architecture his coinage financed. Samarqand is a mint of the Iranian world represented in the Persian Treasury catalogue by 1 coin and note struck between 415 CE – 1034 CE. Its output here covers Billon in the Dirham denominations, issued under Qadir Khan Yusuf.
- Catalogued
- 1
- Eras
- 1
- Metals
- 1
- Denominations
- 1
Key facts
| Catalogued pieces | 1 |
|---|---|
| Date range | 415 CE – 1034 CE |
| Eras represented | Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic |
| Metals | Billon |
| Denominations | Dirham |
| Issuers | Qadir Khan Yusuf |
| Region | Transoxiana, modern Uzbekistan |
| Timurid role | Imperial capital from 1370 |
| Principal coin | Silver tanka |
| Legitimacy convention | Puppet Chaghatayid khan named on coinage |
From Samanid dirhams to Timurid tankas
Samanid silver from Samarqand belongs to the same northern trade system as Bukhara's. Under the Timurids the city becomes an imperial capital, and its silver tankas circulate across a domain reaching from Anatolia to the Indus.
Timurid coinage often names a puppet Chaghatayid khan alongside the real ruler, a legitimacy convention that makes attribution counter-intuitive: the most prominent name on the coin is frequently not the man in power.
Ulugh Beg and after
Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg ruled from Samarqand as astronomer and administrator, building the observatory whose star catalogue remained authoritative for two centuries. His coinage reflects a period of monetary standardisation in Transoxiana.
Uzbek Shaybanid issues follow in the sixteenth century, by which time the trade axis was shifting and Samarqand's mint output was falling with it.
Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic · 651 – 1258 CE
Era overview →Frequently asked about Samarqand
- Why do Timurid coins name a Chaghatayid khan?
- Timur was not a descendant of Genghis Khan and could not claim the title of khan, so he ruled through nominal Chaghatayid figureheads whose names appear on the coinage.
- What is a tanka?
- The standard silver denomination of Timurid and related Central Asian coinages, the ancestor of the later Indian and Central Asian silver units.
- What coins were struck at Samarqand?
- Samarqand is a mint of the Iranian world represented in the Persian Treasury catalogue by 1 coin and note struck between 415 CE – 1034 CE. Its output here covers Billon in the Dirham denominations, issued under Qadir Khan Yusuf.
- How many Samarqand pieces are catalogued on Persian Treasury?
- 1 item, dated 415 CE – 1034 CE, spread across 1 era: Arab-Sasanian & Early Islamic.
- Which metals were used for Samarqand coinage?
- Billon. Each entry records the metal, the approximate weight where known, and a cited reference.
- Which denominations are associated with Samarqand?
- Dirham. Every denomination has its own reference page with dated examples.