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Dynasty: Abbasids
Ruler: al-Ma'mun, ("the preserved")
Reigned: 199-218 AH (AD 809-813)
Denomination: AR Dirhem
Mint: Medinat al Salam (Bagdad)
Date of Issue: AH 205 (AD 820)
Obverse: Central legend:
"There is no diety except / (the one) God alone / He has no equal"

Margin: To God is the will before and after and on that day the believers shall rejoice in God's victory

Margin:
"In The Name of God. This dirham was struck in Madinat al-Salam in the year six and five and two hundred." (205)

Reverse: Central legend:
"God/ Muhammad/ The Messenger of God"

Margin:
"Muhammad is the messenger of God. He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it"

Reference: Shams Eshragh 1181
Weight: 2.94 gms
Diameter: 26 mm

ABBASID DYNASTY - al-Amin and al-Mamun

Al-Amin (meaning ‘the trusty’) and al-Mamun (meaning ‘preserved’) were sons of Harun al-Rashid. When Rashid died, civil war broke out between the sons, who were governors of the eastern and western halves of the Caliphate, which al-Mamun eventually won.

Al-Mamun, realising the difficulty of holding together the huge Caliphate, made arrangements with the military governors of Khurasan and Ifriqiyah to be responsible for peace in their areas in return for hereditary governorship. These dynasties were the Tahirid and Aghlabid dynasties. Ultimately, this destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate as a political power.

Al-Mamun rebuilt and extended Bagdad after the civil war and encouraged men of learning to study medicine and science and translate them into Arabic. His power rested with the army, which was increasingly composed of Turkish mercenaries.

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