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Drachm - Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf Fasa, Governor`s name in Pahlavi
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 703 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm (661-750) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic, Psalter Pahlavi |
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| Reverse description | Zoroastrian fire altar at centre flanked by two standing attendants, each holding a staff or lance, rendered in the traditional Sasanian manner directly derived from late Sasanian drachm prototypes. The altar flame rises prominently above the altar table. The entire central device is enclosed within two concentric beaded circles. Crescent-and-star symbols appear in the lateral margins at the three and nine o'clock positions, and a floral or vegetal ornament appears at the top and bottom of the outer margin. Pahlavi legends in the field indicate the mint signature DAP (Fasa) and the regnal year. |
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| Additional information |
Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi governed Iraq and the eastern provinces for al-Malik and then al-Walid from 694 until his death in 714 — one of the most capable and feared administrators the Umayyad state produced. During his tenure, the caliphate undertook its landmark monetary reform of 696–698, replacing Byzantine and Sasanian-derived coinage with purely Arabic Islamic types. These transitional Arab-Sasanian pieces, retaining Pahlavi script and the mint city name alongside the governor's identification, predate the full reform's reach into the eastern mints and document exactly the moment the new order was being imposed region by region.
Fasa, in Fars province, had been a productive Sasanian mint. The retention of Pahlavi here was practical, not sentimental — local die-cutters and money-changers knew no other script.