TIMURID - A PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED PRESENTATION GOLD COIN OF HUSAYN BAYQARA. Husayn Bayqara, AH 873-911 (1469-1506). Double Ashrafi de présentation AH 895 (1489-90), Hérat. Inscription sur trois lignes entourée de quatre inscriptions dans des cartouches / Inscription autour d'un cartouche polylobé central. 9,42g. A -.

Unique et d'une importance exceptionnelle. Très bel exemplaire.

Notes
Unpublished and of the highest rarity. Although the Timurids struck an abundant silver coinage, with both Sunni and Shi’a religious legends, examples of their gold coinage are excessively rare. Presumably this coin and the following one, with their outstandingly graceful calligraphy, were struck for ceremonial occasions. Husayn Bayqara chose to encourage and preside over a brilliant cultural and political life in Harat, whose “beh bud” (”prosperity”) motto is proclaimed on the reverse of these coins. He became famous for the artistic excellence of his surviving buildings, and as a patron of the arts, who encouraged the intellectual and artistic life of Harat, and wrote his own poetry in both Persian and Turkish. Despite the words “Allah ta‘aala” (“God the most high”) on the obverse of these coins Husayn Bayqara was not a religious zealot. He issued Sunni coins in Sunni areas and Shi’a coins in Twelver Shi’a areas, and offended the pious with his neglect of the prescribed prayers, refusal to fast and enjoyment of wine. By AH 906 (1501) the style of rule made the fall of the Timurids inevitable. The Uzbek Sunni ruler Muhammad Shaybani conquered Samarkand, while the Shi‘ite Shah Isma‘il I laid the foundations of the great Safawid empire. One year after his death, the Shaybanis entered Herat and Husayn Bayqara’s sons fled the city.