An Arab-Sogdian Coin of AH 160: An Ikhshid in Ishtihan?

The article discusses a unique Arab-Sogdian copper coin issued in 160 AH in Ishtihan, sixty kilometres west of Samarqand. The Arabic date and mint name in combination with the tamgha on the Sogdian side suggest that the coin was issued by the Ikhshid of Soghd, whose court was in Ishtihan. The date coincides with the peak of the uprising led by al-Muqanna' who pushed the Arabs out of Samarqand and established control over most of the Zaravshan valley and Kesh. The absence of religious or political propaganda suggests the coin was meant to remind the Sogdians and Arabs about the Ikhshid's ancestral rights over Samarqand and Eastern Soghd. At this time the copper minted in the main centres of Mawarannahr corresponded in appearance with the standard format of Abbasid fulus, so this coin marks the final stage in the transition from pre-Islamic Sogdian coinage to the new Islamic monetary system.