Item number: A3506

Year: AD 1124-1218

Material: Iron

Size: 33.1 x 34.1 mm

Weight: 19.0 g

Manufactured by: Beshbalik Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is an iron coin excavated from the vicinity of the ruins of Beiting (also known as Beshbalik), here provisionally referred to as the “Large Iron Coin of Beiting.”

The coin follows the traditional design of a round coin with a square hole, characteristic of the Sinosphere, and is approximately the same size as a five-cash coin (zhewu) of the Song dynasty. The inscription is indistinct; it may be in Kufic Arabic script, or possibly Tocharian or Khitan script. Stylistically, it resembles the early square-holed coins of the Qarakhanid dynasty from the Ili and Seven Rivers region. It is purported to be from the Western Liao, but it may also originate from the early Qarakhanid period or from the Tang dynasty’s Beiting Protectorate. The reverse is blank, and the workmanship is crude, with indistinct characters and unfinished outer and inner rims that have not been ground or filed.

During the Tang dynasty’s expansion into the Western Regions, the court established the Anxi Protectorate in AD 640 and the Beiting Protectorate in AD 702, headquartered in Kucha (ancient Qiuci) and Tingzhou (present-day Jimsar, at Beshbalik), respectively. These protectorates served as administrative and military hubs for controlling both sides of the Tianshan Mountains and maintaining communication between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Beiting, situated between the Junggar and Turpan basins, became a critical strategic site in the Tang dynasty’s later frontier defence and western governance. However, following the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang central military capacity weakened, and governance of the Western Regions gradually collapsed. By the mid-9th century, the area had fallen into the hands of regional powers such as the Tibetan Empire and the Uyghurs.

In AD 840, the Orkhon Uyghur Khaganate (also known as the Huihe) was destroyed by the southward-moving Kyrgyz Khaganate. The migrating Uyghur groups subsequently established successor states in the Tarim Basin and the Seven Rivers region (present-day southeastern Kazakhstan and eastern Kyrgyzstan). The most prominent of these were the Kingdom of Qocho (Gaochang Uyghur Khaganate) and the Qarakhanid Khanate. Both emerged from the Uyghur ethnic milieu. The former adopted Buddhism as the state religion and established its capital at Xizhou (present-day Turpan, at the ruins of Gaochang), continuing Tang-style bureaucratic and document systems, and later maintained tributary relations with the Song dynasty. The latter, centred on Kashgar and Balasaghun, converted to Islam in the 10th century under Satuq Bughra Khan and became the first Turkic Muslim polity in Central Asia. The two powers came into military conflict in the mid-10th century, during which Qocho became a temporary vassal of the Qarakhanids, only regaining autonomy after the Qarakhanid split into eastern and western branches.

While the Qarakhanid and Gaochang Uyghur states coexisted, the Liao dynasty also began to intervene in the Western Regions. In AD 924, the Khitan emperor Yelü Abaoji dispatched forces westward, reaching the Beiting area and briefly occupying the former Tang protectorate, indicating Liao ambitions in the region. This incursion laid the groundwork for future Khitan expansion following the fall of the Liao dynasty. In AD 1124, the Liao imperial clansman Yelü Dashi led Khitan remnants westward and established the Western Liao dynasty in Central Asia. The initial capital was Balasaghun, later moved to Khotan (Heshui’er), governing a vast territory including Gaochang, Karashahr, the Seven Rivers region, and the northern Tarim Basin. The Western Liao pursued a policy of cultural pluralism, supporting Buddhism and Confucianism and preserving the religious and institutional autonomy of the Gaochang Uyghurs, thereby forming a Khitan-led, multi-ethnic federated regime. In AD 1209, the Gaochang Uyghurs submitted to Genghis Khan. In AD 1218, the remnants of the Western Liao were destroyed by Mongol generals such as Jebe, marking the dynasty’s end.

物件編號: A3506

年代: 公元 1124-1218 年

材質: 鐵

尺寸: 33.1 x 34.1 mm

重量: 19.0 g

製造地: 別失八里鑄幣廠

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚於以北庭故城(亦稱別失八里)為中心而發掘出土的鐵錢，暫稱「北庭大鐵錢」。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢，大小近似宋代折五錢。錢文不明，可能為庫法體(kufi)阿拉伯文，也可能是吐火羅文(Tocharian)或契丹文。風格近似七河地區的早期喀喇汗王朝方孔圓錢。據稱來自西遼，亦有可能來自早期喀喇汗王朝(Qarakhanid)或唐代北庭都護府。錢背光素無文。工藝粗糙，錢文漫漶，外輪內擴未經磨鑢。

在唐代對西域的經略中，朝廷於公元640年設立安西都護府，702年另設北庭都護府，分別治於龜茲(今庫車)與庭州(今吉木薩爾別失八里)，作為掌控天山南北、連通中原與西域的軍政樞紐。北庭故城地處準噶爾盆地與吐魯番盆地間的咽喉要地，是唐朝後期北方防禦與西域統治的重心。然而安史之亂後，中央軍力削弱，西域經略逐步瓦解，至9世紀中葉被吐蕃與回鶻等勢力瓜分。

公元840年，鄂爾渾回鶻汗國(即回紇)為南下的黠戛斯汗國所滅後，西遷的回鶻部眾分別在塔里木盆地與七河流域(今哈薩克東南、吉爾吉斯東部)建立政權，最具代表者為高昌回鶻汗國與喀喇汗王朝。兩者皆源自回鶻族群，前者以佛教為國教、定都西州(今吐魯番高昌故城)，繼承唐制文書與官僚制度，後並與宋朝維持朝貢關係；後者則以喀什噶爾與巴拉沙昆為中心，10世紀由薩圖克·布格拉汗皈依伊斯蘭教，建立中亞首個突厥穆斯林政權。雙方在10世紀中葉爆發軍事衝突，高昌回鶻一度成為喀喇汗附庸，至王朝內部分裂後方恢復自主地位。

在喀喇汗與高昌回鶻並立的同時，遼朝亦開始介入西域。公元924年，契丹太祖耶律阿保機曾派軍西征，遠至北庭地區，短暫控制原唐北庭故地，顯示遼朝對西域的早期戰略意圖。此舉亦為遼朝滅亡後，契丹貴族西遷建立西遼奠定前提。公元1124年，遼朝宗室耶律大石率遼人西遷至中亞，建立西遼政權，初都巴拉沙昆，後遷赫色爾，領有包括高昌、焉耆、七河與塔里木盆地北部在內的廣闊區域。西遼奉行多元文化政策，保護佛教與儒學，維持高昌回鶻的宗教與制度自主，形成契丹人統領、多族群自治的格局。公元1209，高昌回鶻轉附成吉思汗。公元1218年，西遼餘脈被蒙古國將領哲別等攻滅，西遼亡。