Item number: A3627

Year: circa AD 650-750

Material: Copper

Size: 16.9 x 15.6 x 0.4 mm

Weight: 1.05 g

Manufactured by: Tashkent

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin was most likely issued by King Hvanurk of the Shih Kingdom (Chach) in the Transoxiana region, although its denomination remains unknown.

The obverse depicts a two-thirds right-facing bust, representing either King Hvanurk himself or an unidentified deity, wearing a soft cap. The workmanship is coarse and the image indistinct. The reverse bears a tamgha (Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀), that is, a royal emblem—or possibly the civic or tribal emblem of the time—shaped like the upper portion of a trident, with a triangular base at the junction of the three prongs. Surrounding the emblem is the Sogdian legend “𐼶𐼴𐼷𐽀𐼸 𐼿𐼰𐼿𐼷𐼻𐼸 𐼶𐼴𐼱𐼴” (xwnyrk cʾcynk xwβw), which may be interpreted as “Hvanurk, Lord of Chach.”

The Chach Kingdom, corresponding to present-day Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, derived its name from linguistic fusion: tash in Turkic means “stone,” and kent in Persian denotes “city.” In Tang sources, it was called “Zheshi” or “Zhezhi,” both transcriptions of Chach; other variants such as “Tizhach” and “Zhezhe” also appear. It was one of the so-called “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu,” referring to a confederation of Sogdian city-states located in the region of modern Tashkent, roughly at the mouth of the Fergana Valley. The area served as a strategic corridor between Transoxiana and Semirechye, forming a vital hub on the northern route of the Silk Road.

Chinese historical sources first mention the Chach Kingdom in the Book of Wei (Wei shu), which refers to it as the “Stone City” or “Stone Settlement,” suggesting that the Chinese were already familiar with Turkic and Persian cultures and thus adopted a semantic translation. The History of the Northern Dynasties (Bei shi) records that the region abounded in mulberries, rice, grapes, and horses, and that its commerce was prosperous. The New History of the Tang (Xin Tang shu), in its chapter on the Western Regions, further notes that the Chach Kingdom was a Sogdian offshoot, rich in resources and flourishing in urban life, and that it maintained tributary relations with the Tang court over an extended period.

When the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (AD 602–664) journeyed westward in search of scriptures, he passed through this region, referring to it as the “Stone Kingdom” in his Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang (Da Tang Xiyu ji). In the second year of Xianqing (AD 657), following the Tang campaign that subdued the Western Turkic Khaganate, the empire brought the “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu,” including the Chach Kingdom, under the administration of the Anxi Protectorate, making it an important Tang outpost in Central Asia. Thereafter, contact between the Tang court and the Chach Kingdom became increasingly frequent.

In AD 712, Muslim forces advanced into the Fergana Valley, and the neighbouring Chach Kingdom could hardly have escaped their incursion. The king of Fergana was expelled by Qutayba ibn Muslim, governor of Khurasan under the Umayyad Caliphate, and replaced by another ruler. The deposed monarch fled to Kucha (Gaochang) and sought aid from the Tang court. In the third year of Kaiyuan (AD 715), Zhang Xiaosong, Protector-General of Beiting, defeated the Tibetan garrison and restored the Fergana monarchy. Later, the rise of the Turgesh Khaganate led to prolonged conflict with the Arabs. In the ninth year of Tianbao (AD 750), the Tang general Gao Xianzhi feigned peace with the Chach Kingdom and then launched a surprise attack, capturing the king of Chach, the Turgesh khagan surnamed Huang, a Tibetan chieftain, and the ruler of the Jieshi state. The king of Chach was taken to Chang’an and executed, provoking discontent among the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu. The prince of Chach subsequently sought the support of the “Black-robed Arabs,” that is, the Abbasid Caliphate, and led their forces into Transoxiana. In the tenth year of Tianbao (AD 751), Gao Xianzhi, learning of this alliance, struck first but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Talas. By the fourteenth year of Tianbao (AD 755), the An Lushan Rebellion had broken out; the Silk Road was severed, frontier defences collapsed, and the Tang Empire permanently lost its influence over the Western Regions. The power of the Karluk Khaganate rose thereafter. The Chach Kingdom, increasingly exposed to Abbasid expansion, gradually came under Islamic control.

Although regarded as one of the Sogdian polities of the “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu,” pre-Islamic Tashkent displayed a dual cultural structure: Turkic language and culture predominated among the elite, while Sogdian culture prevailed among the lower strata engaged in agriculture, trade, and handicrafts. With the decline of Tang authority and the eastward advance of Islam, the Chach Kingdom was ultimately incorporated into the Islamic world. By the Ming and Qing periods, Chinese sources referred to it as “Dashigan,” a transliteration of “Tashkent.”

物件編號: A3627

年代: 約公元 650-750 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 16.9 x 15.6 x 0.4 mm

重量: 1.05 g

製造地: 塔什干

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚應為河中地區石國的瓦努克(Hvanurk)王所鑄的錢幣，幣值不明。

錢幣正面應為瓦努克王或不知名神祇的三分之二右側肖像，頭帶軟帽。製作不精，幣圖漫漶。錢幣背面則為塔木加(古突厥語：𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga)，即王徽，或當時的城徽、族徽。形式為三叉戟的戟首部分，戟叉根部基座為三角形。徽記周圍應有粟特文「𐼶𐼴𐼷𐽀𐼸 𐼿𐼰𐼿𐼷𐼻𐼸 𐼶𐼴𐼱𐼴」(xwnyrk c’cynk xwβw)，可能意為「赭時君主瓦努克」。

石國(Tashkent)，即今塔什干，今烏茲別克首府。「tash」為突厥語中「石頭」之意，「kent」則為波斯語中「城」之意。唐人亦稱赭時、柘枝，多為「Chach」的音譯，另名提察赤、柘折等，為昭武九姓之一，約在今日烏茲別克塔什干一帶，大致位於費爾干納谷地的出口，此地位居河中地區與七河地區間的要道，也是陸上絲路北段的交通樞紐之一。中國史籍中最早見於《魏書·西域》，稱石國為石城或石邑，可見當時中原政權已對突厥、波斯文化有所了解，才會採用意譯。北史記載其地多桑樹、水稻、葡萄與馬匹，並且商業發達。唐代《新唐書·西域傳》則進一步描述，石國屬粟特支系，地廣物豐，城邑繁盛，並長期與唐朝保持朝貢往來。

唐玄奘(公元602–664年)西行求法時曾經過此地，在《大唐西域記》中稱其為「石國」。顯慶二年(公元657年)，唐朝因平定西突厥汗國，將其從屬昭武九姓，以及其中之一的石國納入安西都護府的管轄，成為唐在中亞經略的重要據點。此後，石國與唐朝的往來日益頻繁。公元712年，穆斯林進軍至費爾干那谷地，毗鄰的石國大約難以倖免，原統治費爾干納谷地的拔汗那王則被伍麥亞王朝呼羅珊總督屈底波驅逐，另立新君，拔汗那王則逃到庫車(高昌)避難，並向唐廷求援。開元三年(公元715年)，北庭都護張孝嵩則擊敗吐蕃駐軍助其復國。其後突騎施汗國崛起，與阿拉伯人展開拉鋸。天寶九年(公元750年)，高仙芝與石國偽和而偷襲，擒得石國王、黃姓突騎施可汗、吐蕃酋長、揭師王。石國王並獻俘長安處斬，引發昭武九姓不滿。石國王子聯絡黑衣大食(即阿拔斯王朝)，引兵入河中。天寶十年(公元751年)，高仙芝知此，決定先發制人，進兵怛羅斯，大敗而回。天寶十四年(公元755年)，安史之亂爆發，絲路隔斷，邊防崩潰，唐帝國徹底喪失對西域的影響力，葛邏祿汗國勢力漸起。此後石國與大食(阿拔斯王朝)勢力接觸頻繁，逐漸轉入其勢力範圍。

雖被認為是昭武九姓的粟特政權之一，但其實塔什干在伊斯蘭化前，上層以突厥文化及文字為主，下層商民才以粟特文化為主，從事農業、商業與手工業。隨著唐朝勢力衰退與伊斯蘭勢力東進，石國最終納入伊斯蘭世界的版圖。至明清時期，漢文典籍中多以「達失干」稱之。