Item number: A3560

Year: AD 1890 (AH 1308)

Material: Silver

Size: 15.6 x 15.6 x 1.7 mm

Weight: 3.15 g

Manufactured by: Bukhara

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a silver tenga coin minted in AD 1888 or AD 1890 by the Emirate of Bukhara, a polity established in Central Asia. For most of the period, one gold tilla was equivalent to twenty-four to twenty-eight silver tenga, and one silver tenga was equal to ten fals or pul.

The inscriptions are in Persian, written in the Persian script. On the obverse, the lower inscription reads “حیدر مرحوم” (Haidar marhum), in which the initial “امیر” (Amir) may have been omitted; the sense is “the late Amir Haidar”, he is the grandfather of Muzaffar Khan. The central and upper-right inscriptions combine to form “عاقبت” (ʿāqibat), meaning “end” or “outcome.” The upper-left inscription “محمود” (mahmud) means “praiseworthy.” The whole phrase may be translated as “The late Amir Haidar, with a praiseworthy end.” Beneath the word “mahmud” is the numeral “١٣٠٨,” indicating the year of issue, Hijri 1308, corresponding to AD 1890.

On the reverse, the lower inscription reads “ضرب در بخار” (zarb dar Bukhara), meaning “struck in Bukhara.” The upper-left inscription “شریف” (sharif), meaning “noble,” yields the phrase “struck in noble Bukhara.” In the upper-right field appears the numeral “١٣٠۶,” which records the year of issue, Hijri 1306, corresponding to AD 1888.

The term “tenga” in Turkic languages often denotes a balance, a scale, or a unit of measurement or weight. Its etymology may derive from the Chinese and Mongolian “等” (deng), meaning “equal.” As currency, it may also originate from the small silver coin “tangka,” first introduced by the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century AD, which became familiar in Central Asia through the expansion of Muslim polities. Initially struck in copper and legally tied to silver or gold exchange ratios, it later shifted predominantly to silver amid political and military disorder. From the period of the Khanate of Bukhara, silver tenga had been the principal medium of exchange, supplemented by copper fals.

The Emirate of Bukhara was established in AD 1785 by Shah Murad, a powerful figure of the Turkic Manghit tribe, who deposed the Astrakhanid dynasty that claimed descent from Chinggis Khan and made Bukhara the capital. As he was not of the Mongol Golden Lineage, Shah Murad could not assume the title of khan and instead bore the title of emir. From this time, the Khanate of Bukhara was reconstituted as the Emirate of Bukhara.

Muzaffar Khan (Muzaffar bin Nasrullah), son of Nasrullah Khan, reigned from AD 1860 to 1885. Upon his accession, he dismissed the high officials appointed by his father, confiscated their property, and replaced them with loyal retainers. He also suppressed separatist movements in the region corresponding to modern-day Tajikistan. During his reign, the Emirate of Bukhara once supported a new khan in Kokand, seeking joint dominance over Central Asia. However, as Russian imperial forces advanced into Central Asia in the 1860s, the Bukharan army suffered repeated defeats, and in AD 1868 the Emirate became a Russian protectorate. Thereafter, Muzaffar maintained peaceful relations with Russia and, under diplomatic pressure, prohibited the slave trade in AD 1873, although his promise to abolish slavery was never effectively enforced. A patron of literature, in AD 1872 he presented a collection of poems by the celebrated Timurid-era poet Alisher Navoi to Queen Victoria of Britain.

From the 1890s onwards, the Russian Empire gradually abolished local currencies in the Governor-Generalship of Turkestan, replacing them with the Russian rouble, primarily in paper form. The circulation of Bukharan tenga contracted sharply. Furthermore, from the 1870s the adoption of the gold standard by major industrial nations led to a decline in silver prices. Together, these factors caused a financial crisis in Bukhara, enabling Russian intervention that prohibited the minting of silver tenga. During the First World War, monetary instability in the Russian Empire further disrupted the Bukharan currency system, reflected in fluctuating denominations, metals, and weights of the coinage. In AD 1917, during the turmoil of the Russian October Revolution, the Emirate of Bukhara briefly restored its independence. In AD 1920, however, confronted by the offensive of the Soviet Red Army, the last emir, Mohammed Alim Khan, fled to Afghanistan, marking the fall of the Emirate of Bukhara. The newly established Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic adopted Soviet banknotes as its principal currency, yet until 1925 metallic coins of various Central Asian polities continued to circulate widely in Bukhara and were even accepted for the payment of taxes.

物件編號: A3560

年代: 公元 1890 年 (回曆 1308 年)

材質: 銀

尺寸: 15.6 x 15.6 x 1.7 mm

重量: 3.15 g

製造地: 布哈拉

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚公元1888或1890年，立國於中亞的布哈拉酋長國鑄造之堅戈銀幣。在大多數時間，1金提拉(tilla)等於24至28銀堅戈(tenga)，1銀堅戈等於10法爾(falus)或普爾(pul)。

錢幣錢文為以波斯體書寫的波斯文。錢幣正面下方幣銘為「حیدر مرحوم」(Haidar marhum)，可能句首省略了「امیر」(Amir)，合意為「先君海達爾」，其為穆扎法爾汗之祖父。中間與右上幣銘合為「عاقبت」，意為結局或後裔。左上方幣銘「محمود」(mahmud)，意為稱頌。全句大約可以譯為「先君海達爾，光榮善終」。「稱頌」一詞下方有數字「١٣٠٨」，標示了發行年回曆1308年，即公元1890年。

錢幣背面下方幣銘為「ضرب در بخار」(zarb dar Bukhara)，意即「由布哈拉所造」。左上方幣銘為「شریف」(-yi sharif)，即「尊貴的」，合為「由尊貴的布哈拉所造」。右上方有數字「١٣٠۶」，標示了發行年回曆1306年，即公元1888年。

「堅戈」(tenga)於突厥語系中多表示天秤、平衡，或某種計量、計重單位。語源可能來自漢語、蒙語中的「等」(deng)，為相等之意。作為貨幣，亦可能源於流通於印度次大陸的小面額銀幣「唐卡」(tangka)，由德里蘇丹國於公元十三世紀時創用，經穆斯林的擴張而為中亞地區所熟悉。最初為銅質，以法律規定對銀或金的兌換比例，後隨著政治與軍事的混亂，逐漸改為以銀為主。在中亞地區，自布哈拉汗國時期，銀堅戈便是主要的流通貨幣，輔以銅法爾。

布哈拉酋長國是公元1785年，出身突厥部落的曼吉特部強人：沙阿·穆拉德罷黜血統能上溯至成吉思汗的阿斯特拉罕王朝後，以布哈拉為首都建國。由於並非出身於蒙古黃金家族，沙阿·穆拉德不得自稱為可汗，僅能擁有埃米爾的頭銜。自此布哈拉汗國改制為布哈拉酋長國。

穆扎法爾汗(Muzaffar bin Nasrullah)，納斯魯拉汗之子，公元1860年至1885年在位。他上任後撤換了父親所任命的高官，並將其財產沒收，改由親信掌權。同時也鎮壓了今塔吉克地區的獨立運動。在其治下，布哈拉酋長國一度扶持浩罕新任汗王，聯手控制中亞。但隨著俄羅斯帝國軍隊在公元1860年代進入中亞，布哈拉酋長國在多次兵敗後，於公元1868年，淪為沙俄的保護國。此後穆扎法爾與沙俄維持和平關係，並在外交壓力下於公元1873年禁止布哈拉奴隸貿易，雖然承諾廢除奴隸制卻未能落實。他雅好文學，曾於公元1872年將帖木兒帝國時期的著名詩人納瓦伊的詩集獻給英國女王維多利亞。

公元1890年代起，沙俄逐漸在突厥斯坦總督區廢止當地的貨幣，改行用以紙鈔為主的俄羅斯盧布。原本廣泛流通的布哈拉堅戈，流通範圍驟減。加以公元1870年代起，世界各主要工業國採行金本位制，白銀價格下跌。二者共同造成了布哈拉的貨幣金融危機，沙俄也借此干涉，禁止了布哈拉銀堅戈的製造。第一次世界大戰期間，俄羅斯帝國的金融混亂也因盧布的強勢影響而使布哈拉幣制動盪，反映到錢幣上便是面額大小、幣材與重量的波動與混亂。公元1917年，利用沙俄十月革命的混亂之際，布哈拉酋長國短暫恢復獨立。但在公元1920年，面對蘇聯紅軍的攻勢，末代埃米爾：穆罕默德·阿利姆汗流亡至鄰國阿富汗，宣告布哈拉酋長國的覆滅。新建的布哈拉人民蘇維埃國以蘇聯紙幣為主要流通貨幣，但截至1925年，中亞各國的金屬貨幣仍在布哈拉廣泛流通，甚至可用於納稅。