The coins from the mint of "Alāgīr" (ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ) is well known to the scholars since XIX century. For a long time this mint has been identifying by scholars with the town of Alagir in the Northern Ossetia. Later, the numismatists offered different readings of this mint, without giving its precise localization. However, the previous localization of the mint, to my mind, cannot be satisfied anymore if basing on the results of the comparison of historical data with the list of coins from "Alāgīr" and the last geographical researches conducted in this field. This article is an attempt to do an investigation of this kind.

History of localization

The first who read the mint-name ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ (el-Aker) on the Ilkhānid coins dated AH 741 and 744 was Bartholomaei [1] . The author pointed that the mint had been apparently located in the neighborhood of Yerevan. Later, this mint-name was read as ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ (Alāgīr) by Condrington [2] and as Al-Ākīr by Zambaur [3] . Both scholars located it in the Northern Caucasus and identified it with the town of Alagir in the Northern Ossetia.

Pakhomov, in his article about the coins of the Eastern Transcaucasia struck between AH 750-810, listed also some coins minted in Alāgīr by Sultan Hasan Khān in AH 757 as well as some anonymous coins dated AH 759. [4] Both Markov and Zambaur considered the coins of AH 757 as those struck by the Jalāyirid Shaykh Hasan Buzurg, however, Pakhomov disputed that opinion basing on the fact that Shaykh Hasan Buzurg had already died by that time [5] . At the same time during his life his name was never cited on coins [6] .

The anonymous coins were also struck during the invasion of the Muz'affarid Mubarīz al-dīn Muh'ammad into Azerbayjan and the Southern Caucasus in AH 759. These coins had the ordinary Muz'affarid expression "Help from Allah, victory will be soon" [7] .

Later, Gvaberidze [8] , who evidently did not pay an attention on Pakhomov's note on Muz'affarid coinage, also wrote about the mints of the Northern Ossetia, among of which he listed Alāgīr as well. Further the scholars began to use other readings for that mint. Seyfeddini was the first who offered to read that mint as Alākīr or Al-Kīr [9] . Being in sympathy with an opinion of Codrington, Seyfeddini also interpreted it as "fortress in Caucasus". Rajabli read that mint-name as Alagez [10] . However, none of them tried to localize that mint. In the private correspondence Dr. Album has suggested that the form Alagez should be more preferable as a name of a Persian-like spelling.

Coins minted in " Alāgīr"
All known to me "Alāgīr" coins are silver and struck according to different weight standards. (see Table 1 and Figure 1).

Table 1. Coins minted in "Alāgīr"

Search of the mint

All previous localizations were offered only by means of identification of the mint with hte self named town of Alagir in Ossetia without any certain historical arguments. At the same time the history shows that Alagir town of the Northern Caucasus was never under Ilkhānid, Jalāyirid and especially Muzaffarid rule. Thus, the town in the Northern Ossetia has apparently nothing to do with the mint which produced coins in the Mongol epoch.

While the coinage of the Ilkhānids and Jalāyirids was enough investigated an attention on the coinage of the Muzaffarids, Jujīds and Sultan Hasan Khān should be paid. All mints where the coins in the name of Sultan Hasan Khān were struck are localized in the Southern Caucasus. According to Sharāf-nāme [24] and Mujmāl-i Fasikhī [25] in AH 759 the ruler of Fārs Mubarīz al-dīn Muhammad undertook a campaign to the North. For a short period of time Armenia and the province of Arrān became the northernmost territories of his realm. The route of the Jujīd campaign to Persia of AH 758-759, according to Tā'rīkh-ī Guzide [26] (written by Zayn al-Dīn, the continuer of Hamdallāh Qazwīnī) and anonymous Tā'rīkh-ī Shaykh Uways [27] , began in Sarāy and through the river of Terek passed to Darband, Shirwān, Ałdam, Barzand, tuman Bishkīn and then through Ardabīl and Sarah to Tabrīz. The return route to Dasht-e Qipchāk was the same.

Basing on this data the mint ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ cannot be localized in the Northern Ossetia. Alagir of the Northern Ossetia was well to the North from the main historical arena. At the same time it must be noted that the small village lying near the silver mines and also called Alagir [28] was founded only in 1850. This gorge still has the Ossetian name Waellagir (Waellajyr) [29] and was known to European and Russian scholars of XVIII-XIX centuries as Valagir [30] , Olagir [31] or Uallagir [32] and to Georgian historian Vakhushti as Valagiri [33] . Only since 1850's onwards this place is known as Alagir. It can be admitted that medieval Arabic form of this name was ﻮﺍﻻﺠﻴﺮ or ﻮﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ.

As it is seen in coinage the coins were issued in "Alāgīr" between AH 739-759 i.e. during the reign of the last Ilkhānids Satī Beg, Sulaymān, Anūshirwān and then Sultan Hasan Khān, the Jujīds and Muz)affarids.

For correct localization of the mint a map showing an intersection of the territories which were controlled by those four dynasties was drawn. The coinage of Abū Sa'īd and the Jalāyirids were not pointed on this map while their coins are mentioned only once. Undoubtedly, as a result of a comparison the localization of the mint can be done only in the region where the realms of the Ilkhāns, Sultan Hasan Khān, Muz)affarids and Jujīds had a theoretical point of intersection (see Fig.2).

The question here is about the territories of the Southern K'axeti, Arrān, Siwnik' and the Northern and North-Western parts of the Iranian Adharbayjan (regions of Parskahayk, Vaspurakan and P'aytakaran of the Armenian Highland). In the mint of "Alāgīr" the all four dynasties struck their coins. This territory looks like a rhombus with vertexes in Qaraaghach in the North, Barda'a in the East, Nakhijawān in the West and Tabrīz in the South. Another mint which produced coins for all mentioned dynasties and which was also located in that rhombus is Ganja. The different way of writing of the mint-place (see Fig.1) can serve as an evidence proving that the mint was situated outside the Arabic-speaking or Arabic-writing areas.

In order to place "Alāgīr" on the territory that have been just chosen the works on the toponymy - regarding Azerbayjan [34] , Georgia [35] , Armenia and Iran [36] (especially, the most full and up-to-date Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories [37] ) were used. According to the sources there is no place with the same way of writing, derivated from ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ, except the one, which mentioned below. The Alagez [38] name has only several small and unsignificant villages, and there was no any place identified as Alāgīr name in South Caucasus and to the South from the River of Araxes [39] .

Localization of the mint

The most important town with the Arabic way of writing ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ was the fortress of Ełegis [40] (pre-medieval Ełegik' [41] , known in Persian and Turkish languages as ﺍﻻﮔﻴﺯ, Alagyoz [42] /Alagoz, Alagyaz [43] /Alagaz or Alayaz [44] ), in Vayocdzor marz (province) of the modern Republic of Armenia. Ełegis was a capital of nahang (district) Ełegnadzor ("the canyon of the river Ełegis") in Armenian historical ashkharh (land) Siwnik' [45] .

Near the present Alayaz village, ca. 3 km downstream by the River of Ełegis, there are still some ruins of the fortress called Smbataberd (or Cakhack'ar). This fortress became very important and significant from IX century. In the Middle Ages it was the residence of the Siwni princes and the capital of the province of Siwnik'. After the fall of the Siwnik' Kingdom in AD 1170 Ełegis became a capital of the powerful dynasty of the Orbelians, vassals of Zak'areans. Despite Armenia was in the political decline Ełegis was nevertheless flourished. From this time plenty of historical monuments from Siwnik' such as churches, khachk'ars (cross-stones), secular building and the cemetery of the Orbelians survived. [46]

Both Siwni and Orbelian princes realized the strategic significance of Ełegis and strengthened its fortress. A large garrison was always billeted there. The church of Sb. Zorac (built not earlier AD 1303, see Fig.3) has a unique and the only one in Armenia an open space in front of the altar for a of praying for a cavalry [48] . The construction of the church by the Orbelians in Mongol times might have been possible only in the event when the Armenian princes would reach the prosperity of their region. This was possible only by means of a close cooperation with the Mongols. Time to time they had to take part in the Mongols military campaigns as well as to supply Mongol army with reinforcements.

In 1251-56 prince Smbat Orbelian made arduous piligrimages to Karakorum persuading Mangu Khān, son of Genghis, to make Siwnik' a tax-exempt fiefdom under Mangu's direct patronage. But close cooperation with the Mongol rulers had its price. Several Orbelians died in the Khān's campaigns far from home [49] .

Coins from Ełegis in the hoards

It is very important to note that all known coins minted in Ełegis were found in the South-Caucasian region and only once found in the Northern of Caucasus [51] . If the mint is nevertheless identified with Alagir of the Northern Ossetia then these coins must have been found in the areas of Golden Horde i.e. in the steppe between the rivers of Volga and Don.

The number of Ełegis coins even in the South-caucasian hoards represent a very small percentage ~ 3.39%. The hoards with Ełegis coins are shown in the Table 2. There are two very important exceptions, i.e. the hoards from the nearest to Ełegis places, Hors and Sharur. Thus, 23.13% of coins from the hoard of Hors (15 km from Ełegis) were struck in Ełegis. In the hoard from Bash-Norashen (modern Sharur, located 50 km to the South from Ełegis) 85.05% of all coins was struck at Ełegis. The South-Caucasian hoards of XIV century demonstrate production of only local Ilkhānid mints. For instance, the hoard from Garni included the coins minted in Garni, Barda'a, Ełegis, Yerevan and Bakuya. There is no finds of Jujīd coins in the Southern Caucasus before the first half of XIV century either. At the same time the hoards with the coins of the Golden Horde do not contain the Ilkhānid ones [52] .

Table 2. Hoards of Ełegis coins

Conclusions

The following main results have been achieved during the preparation of this article -

a) construction the intersections of domains of Ilkhāns, Sultan Hasan Khān, Muz)affarids and Jujīds;

b) analysis of toponyms on the territory of this intersection;

c) reconstruction of the route of Janī Beg’s campaign;

d) topography of finds confirm authentication of "Alāgīr"ﺍﻻﻜﻴﺮ (ﺍﻻﮔﻴﺯ) mint with Ełegis fortress in Vayocdzor region of Armenia.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Lutz Ilisch (Tubingen) for his motivation expressed toward this study and excellent images of coins he kindly sent to me. I also thank Mr. Aram Vardanyan (Tubingen) for his friendly assistance which he was offering to me at any time I needed as well as to Dr. Pavel Petrov (Nizhniy Novgorod) for the materials he offered.

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