Dirham
The dirham is an important historical coin and unit of weight in the Islamic world, whose origins date back to late antiquity. In numismatic terms, the dirham refers to a silver coin that played a central role in the monetary system of many Islamic empires from the early Islamic period, around the 7th century CE. The term ‘dirham’ is derived from the Greek ‘drachma’ and was adopted into the Arabic world via the Sassanid Empire. With the spread of Islam, the dirham also spread as a currency unit from Spain in the west to Central Asia and India in the east.
The earliest Islamic dirhams were still strongly based on the Sassanid models, both in weight and appearance. However, reforms were introduced under Caliph Abd al-Malik in the 7th century, which led to a clear Islamic character: images disappeared and were replaced by calligraphy with religious inscriptions, in particular the Shahada, as well as information on
the place and year of minting. Over the centuries, this design became the standard for silver coins in the Islamic world.
Dirhams are extremely interesting from a numismatic point of view, as they convey not only monetary but also cultural and political information. The indication of the year of minting and the mint allow trade routes, political power relations and economic networks to be reconstructed. The great variety of dirhams is particularly exciting for collectors and historians, as they were minted under numerous dynasties such as the Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Fatimids, Mamluks and many more.
The dirham also played an important role in cross-cultural trade in the Middle Ages – for example, on the Volga route, where Arab dirhams found their way into Scandinavia and often appear in treasure troves. Some were used as currency and silver standard for centuries. The dirham also retained its function as a unit of weight for a long time and continued to influence the coinage and weight systems in Islamic regions until the Ottoman and modern periods.
In today’s numismatic discourse, the dirham is a central object of Islamic numismatics. Its multitude of coinages, its historical significance and its role in global trade make it an exciting field of research for numismatists worldwide. Whether as a collector’s item, research object or cultural-historical testimony, the dirham embodies the connection between religion, politics, economics and art in the Islamic world like no other coin.