Item number: A3602

Year: AD 1264-1265 (AH 663)

Material: Copper

Size: 40.7 x 39.9 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 7.15 g

Manufactured by: Bukhara Mint

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a copper dirham possibly struck in Bukhara in the name of Qubilay.

The inscriptions are in Persian. The obverse bears in the centre the legend “سكه بخارا” (sekke Bukhara), meaning “minted in Bukhara.” It is enclosed within a circular border, surrounded by two continuous curved lines forming a six-petalled floral design. Three of the petals contain bud-like ornaments, while the remaining three bear inscriptions. The upper petal reads “الملك” (al-mulk), with “لله” (li-llāh) in the lower left, forming the phrase “al-mulk li-llāh” – “Sovereignty belongs to God.” The right lower petal appears to contain the letters “…لا,” but the remainder is unclear. Some numismatists have proposed that the three inscribed petals each repeat “الملك” (al-mulk). Beyond the six-petal design, the flan is framed by a double ring with a beaded border between the circles.

The reverse bears the Chinese character 課 (ke) in the centre, possibly indicating that the coin was struck for fiscal purposes or in connection with taxation. The character is enclosed by two curved oval lines forming a four-petal design, itself within a circular border. Around the margin runs a Persian legend, identified from comparable specimens as: “بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم ببلده الفاخر سنة ثلاث و ستين و ستمائة” (bi-smi-llāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham bi’l-baldat al-fākhirah sanat thalāth wa sittīn wa sittamiʾah), meaning “In the name of God, this dirham was struck in the Glorious City in the year 663 AH.” On the present specimen only “dirham” on the left and the date “663” on the upper right are legible. “The Glorious City” (al-baldah al-fākhirah) was an honorific epithet of Bukhara.

Around AD 1251, Bukhara was divided into three appanages: those of the Great Qa’an Möngke, Batu, and the empress dowager Soyurkuktani Begi. After the death of Soyurkuktani Begi, her appanage passed to her younger son Arïgh Buqa, while Batu’s territories were successively inherited by Sartaq, Ulaghchi, and Berke. Following Möngke’s death in AD 1259, a civil war broke out between Qubilay and Arïgh Buqa for the imperial throne, turning Central Asia into a theatre of political fragmentation.

During this conflict, Qubilay sought to consolidate control over Central Asia by relying on local Chaghatayid elites. In AD 1260 he appointed Abishha, a grandson of Chaghatay, as ruler of the Chaghatay Khanate, but Abishha was captured and killed by Arïgh Buqa’s followers. Arïgh Buqa then installed Alghu as Chaghatay Khan, but in AD 1261–1262 (AH 660) Alghu shifted allegiance to Qubilay. It was during this brief realignment that Qubilay regained authority over Bukhara, including its fiscal administration. This political transition appears to coincide with the introduction of the so-called “tax coins” (sekke-ye māliyyah), distinguished by their Chinese characters 不花 (bu-hua) and 課 (ke).

These copper dirhams were not meant for general circulation but were struck specifically for taxation purposes. The Chinese characters carried a symbolic and administrative function: they were not intended for local Muslim users but served as a clear identifying mark to distinguish tax money from ordinary coinage.

Administratively, the practice of tax farming was reintroduced under Mongol rule. Similar systems had existed in Northern Song China and seventh-century Central Asia, where revenue collection was contracted to wealthy merchants. Under the Mongols, many Central Asian Muslim traders acted as tax farmers in China. One such merchant, Abdurrahman, was appointed under Ögedei Qa’an as the chief fiscal supervisor for Northern China, overseeing all regional tax bureaus. The same institution later extended into Central Asia, merging with the appanage system, allowing regional rulers to collect taxes from their assigned lands through subcontracted fiscal agents.

The historian Wassaf corroborates Qubilay’s fiscal reforms in Bukhara. In AH 662 (AD 1264) a census recorded 16,000 inhabitants, of whom 5,000 households belonged to Batu’s ulus, 3,000 to Qutuy Begi (mother of Hulagu), and the remainder were designated ulugh qul (“the Great Centre”), referring to the direct domain of the reigning Great Qa’an. Following this census, Qubilay issued new tax regulations, which likely prompted the second issue of tax coins bearing the Chinese character 課.

Chronologically, the sequence of issues can be defined with precision: coins inscribed with 不花 were struck between AH 660–663 (AD 1261–1265), marking the early phase of Qubilay’s restored fiscal control over Bukhara; those with 課 belong to AH 663–664 (AD 1265–1266), possibly authorised by the new governor Masʿud Beg after the death of Alghu.

This short-lived fiscal coinage system ended with renewed political upheaval. After Alghu’s death, Orqïna Khatun elevated her son Mubarak Shah to the Chaghatayid throne, provoking Qubilay’s displeasure, as such appointments were reserved for the Great Qa’an. In AD 1266 Qubilay appointed Baraq as co-ruler of the Chaghatay ulus, ostensibly until Mubarak Shah came of age, but Baraq soon proclaimed himself an independent sovereign, dismissing Qubilay’s officials. From that moment, the Chaghatay Khanate became fully autonomous, and Qubilay’s fiscal authority over Central Asia — and consequently the minting of these distinctive Chinese-inscribed tax dirhams — came to an end.

物件編號: A3602

年代: 公元 1264-1265 年 (回曆 663 年)

材質: 銅

尺寸: 40.7 x 39.9 x 0.6 mm

重量: 7.15 g

製造地: 布哈拉造

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能為以忽必烈之名於布哈拉造的銅迪拉姆。

錢幣銘文為波斯文。正面中央為「سكه بخارا 」(sekke Bukhara)，即「造於布哈拉」。以環圍繞，外側以兩道連續曲線圍成類似六瓣花的形狀，其中三瓣有芽狀紋飾，另外三瓣有幣銘。上方應為「الملك」(al-mulk)加上左下的「لله 」(li-llāh)，組成短語「王權唯屬真主」，右下方看似「…الا」，其餘辨識不清。亦有論者稱三半幣銘重複了三次「الملك」(al-mulk)。六瓣花之外，幣緣再以雙層環圍繞，環間有一圈珠點。

背面中央為漢字「課」，可能提示了該錢幣因稅務需求而製造的性質。漢字周圍以兩道近似橢圓的曲線圍成四瓣花狀，其外再以環包圍。環外幣緣另環列幣銘，應為「بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم ببلده الفاخر سنة ثلاث و ستين و ستمائة」，意即「奉真主之名，此迪拉姆鑄於尊貴之城，回曆663年」，本錢幣中僅有左側「迪拉姆」與右上的「663」可見。「尊貴之城」為布哈拉之外號。

布哈拉在公元1251年前後被劃分為三個采邑：分別隸屬於大汗蒙哥(Möngke)、拔都(Batu)與皇太后唆魯禾帖尼·貝吉(Soyurkuktani Begi)。皇太后去世後，其采邑由幼子阿里不哥(Arïgh Buqa)繼承，而拔都的領地則傳給薩爾塔克(Sartaq)、烏拉格奇(Ulaghchi)與別兒哥(Berke)。隨著蒙哥於公元1259年去世，忽必烈(Qubilay)與阿里不哥之間爆發爭奪大汗之位的內戰。這一爭鬥導致中亞成為權力分裂的戰場。

在這場內戰中，忽必烈為確立對中亞的控制，依賴察合台系統的地方勢力。公元1260年，他任命察合台之孫阿畢沙(Abishha)為察合台汗，但阿畢沙途中被阿里不哥派系殺害。隨後，阿里不哥立阿勒庫(Alghu)為察合台汗，而阿勒庫於公元1261–1262年(回曆660年)歸附忽必烈。正是在這段時期，忽必烈重新取得對布哈拉的控制與徵稅權。根據推測，這一政治轉折標誌了布哈拉「稅幣」的出現——即帶有漢字「不花」(bu-hua)與「課」(ke)的銅幣。

這些銅幣並非日常流通貨幣，而是專為稅收目的鑄造。漢字的用途極具象徵性：它們並非面向當地穆斯林民眾，而是作為明顯的識別標誌，方便稅務官員將「稅幣」與其他流通貨幣區分。

從行政背景看，包稅制(tax farming)在蒙古政權下重新啟用。早在北宋及七世紀的中亞地區就已有類似制度，即將稅收承包給富商。蒙古時期，許多中亞穆斯林商人擔任中國地區的包稅人，其中一位名為阿卜杜勒拉赫曼(Abdurrahman)的商人曾於窩闊台汗統治時期被任命為全北中國的稅務監督，負責管理各地課稅事務。這一制度後來擴展至中亞，並與采邑制度結合，使地方統治者能以包稅方式向屬民徵稅。

瓦薩夫(Wassaf)的記載進一步佐證了忽必烈在布哈拉的稅制改革。回曆662年(公元1264年)布哈拉進行人口普查，共計16,000人，其中5,000戶屬拔都汗烏魯思，3,000戶屬旭烈兀之母忽都亦貝吉，其餘則為「烏魯格·庫勒」(ulugh qul，即大汗直轄地)。這次普查之後，忽必烈頒布新稅制，可能正是促成第二批帶有漢字「課」稅幣鑄造的契機。

這批錢幣的時間層次可明確劃分：帶「不花」字樣者約鑄於回曆660–663年(西元1261–1265年)，反映忽必烈重新掌控布哈拉稅收初期；而「課」字型則出現在663–664年(1265–1266年)，可能由阿勒庫去世後的新總督馬思烏德·貝格(Masʿud Beg)在撒馬爾罕與布哈拉推動發行。

然而，這一短暫的稅幣制度隨政治局勢再度轉變而終止。阿勒庫死後，斡兒沁那·哈敦(Orqïna Khatun)立其子穆巴拉克沙(Mubarak Shah)為汗，引起忽必烈不滿。1266年，忽必烈任命巴剌克(Baraq)為察合台共治汗，但巴剌克隨即自稱獨立，罷黜忽必烈任命的官員。自此，察合台汗國完全脫離忽必烈的掌控，中亞的稅收權再度中斷。