Arab-Sasanian (Umayyad Caliphate). Darabgard mint. AR drachm. Ziyad ibn Abi Sufjan (665-674 CE/45-55 AH), dated 43 AH (frozen date). Obverse: Sassanian-Style bust copying Khusro II, name before; in margin "Bism Allah" ("in the name of God"). Reverse: Copy of Sasanian reverse with fire-altar and two attendants, to right mintmark DA, to left date 43. Album 8. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 44, lot 253 (December 18, 2023). Ziyad ibn Abi Sufjan was born in a small town near Mecca in 622 CE (1 AH). He was born illegitimate, to an unknown father (indeed, his name "Ziyad ibn Abi" means "Ziyad, son of his father"). Despite this disadvantage, his talents were recognized early, and shortly after arriving in the newly founded city of Basra in southern Iraq, began working as a scribe for the city's governor. He continued at Basra, gaining responsibility, until he was appointed by the Caliph Ali as governor of Fars Province in Persia in 658. When Ali was assassinated in 661 by Mu'awiya (founder of the Umayyad Caliphate), Ziyad officially maintained his loyalty to Ali for over a year before finally acknowledging Mu'awiya's rule. (Despite this, Ziyad would go on to distinguish himself in his zeal for fighting against the adherents of Ali, and was even accused of cruelty against them.) Mu'awiya would grant Ziyad the governorship of an expanded province of Basra, which would include the entire eastern half of the Caliphate. Ziyad proved a very able administrator and soldier, and helped establish firmer central control over the eastern regions of the Caliphate. He was noted for the quality of his speeches, which managed to be both eloquent and direct. His administration of justice is generally considered fair (though partisans of Ali would disagree). Ziyad died in 673. Five of his sons would go on to hold governorships. Overall, he is considered one of the most important of the early governors of the Umayyad Caliphate. His coins are fairly common within the Arab-Sasanian series, this is the first example in my collection. Please post whatever related coins you have.
@Parthicus Thanks for the write-up. Very interesting historical background to this drachm. Nice detail in the headdress and in the margin legend! I do not have an Ummayad example naming Ziyad ibn Abi, but I do have an Ummayad Caliphate coin from under the reign of the ruler you named, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. Instead of imitating the Sasanian style as does your posted coin, my coin shown below imitates the Byzantine style. (As you know, as the Islamic Caliphate advanced into new areas to take control, they tended to produce types that were in close imitation of the newly acquired land's coinage.)
I don't have any related coins, but I find a relation to modern times in Palestine, where the leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization used to have code names "Father of....", like Abu Amar (Yasser Arafat) or Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). Thank you for the interesting coin and write-up as always.
What a wonderful coin, @Parthicus ! Michael Bates suggested that Ziyad was the son of a prostitute and never knew who his father was. How he acquired his name was the scandal of the seventh century. The Caliph, most probably at Ziyad’s behest, found witnesses to swear that, at the time when Ziyad was conceived, Abi Sufyan was the only client of Ziyad’s mother and therefore must have been Ziyad’s father! I never did find a good example of Ziyad but here is one of his sons': 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. Basra, AH 59 (AD 678), AR drachm, 32mm ex Wayne Sayles, April 2015
