6 - From Kartid Sultanate to Tamerlane

Summary

The Ephemeral Sultanate at Herat

Muʿizz al-Dīn’s subsequent political choices, fueled by hubris, belied the strength and prudence reflected by the above episode, and precipitated his temporary deposition from office and social-political upheaval within and without Herat.

Muʿizz al-Dīn’s woes stemmed from his violation of Chinggisid diplomatic protocols. The political arrangement under which the Kartids had ruled until the death of Abū Saʿīd Bahādur Khān in 736/1335 was as banda of the īlkhān; and the Il-Khan had the Grand Qaʾan as his liege-lord. (The Qaʾan’s status in the later years of the Mongol Empire with respect to the Il-Khan was nearer to nominal than actual.) Hence the installation of Ṭaghā-Temür, who acknowledged submission to the Grand Qaʾan, Toghan-Temür (r. 1332–70). Protocols were publicly respected. Coinage (sikka), and the announcement of the ruler’s name in the Friday sermon (khuṭba), are two symbols of legitimacy. The Sarbadars found it expedient to publicly express fealty to Ṭaghā-Temür by striking coins in his name.

Independence by Sikka

Not so Muʿizz al-Dīn Kart. He reached for the mantle of sulṭān, and adapted for his circumstances the symbolic language found in Islamic and Ilkhanid coins. He portrayed himself as the leader of (Sunni) Muslims, and “the Strengthener of the [True] Faith” (muʿizz al-dīn). He minted coins, probably as early as 749/1348f., one year before his independence proclamation, in which he identified himself as sultan. Two coins from the independence period are available, both minted at Herat.

Figure 6.1 shows no date, but the inscription indicates that the coin, a “half-tanga,” was “minted in the times (ayyām) of the government of the exalted sulṭān, the watchful king (mālik riqāb) of the peoples (al-umam), [and] the Strengthener (muʿizz) of the Truth and the Faith (al-ḥaqq wa al-dīn). May God perpetuate his kingdom!”

Figure 6.2, a dīnār, bears the same inscription, but has a date, partially effaced, of “74x.” Muʿizz al-Dīn’s choice of inscription followed Ilkhanid patterns (namely, al-sulṭān al-aʿẓam and khallad Allāh mulkahu), especially Abū Saʿīd’s inscriptions. The obverse has the Muslim profession of faith (kalima), a common feature.