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Dirham - Hasan al-Din Gowa
| Issuer | Sultanate of Gowa (Indonesian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1653-1669 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.02 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the royal Arabic legend arranged in three lines, struck in relief on a roughly textured flan characteristic of hammered coinage. The inscription reads 'al-Sultan Hasan al-Din' in bold, somewhat cursive Arabic script, filling the available field to its margins. Letter strokes are broad and confident, typical of Southeast Asian Islamic hammered silver production of the mid-seventeenth century. The irregular flan edge is visible around the circumference, with no decorative border or additional devices present. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Sultanate of Gowa, centered on the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi, was among the most powerful maritime states in the eastern archipelago before the VOC systematically dismantled it. The 1667 Treaty of Bongaya effectively ended Gowa's independence, forcing Sultan Hasanuddin — whose reign this dirham spans — to cede trading monopolies and expel his Makassan allies. Dutch accounts from the siege of Fort Somba Opu describe a state still capable of fielding a substantial navy.
Islamic coinage from Sulawesi remains poorly documented compared to Javanese or Sumatran issues, and attribution of individual specimens continues to rely heavily on weight standards cross-referenced against VOC administrative records.