Item number: A3631

Year: circa AD 300-600

Material: Copper

Size: 17.6 x 16.9 x 0.9 mm

Weight: 2.15 g

Manufactured by: Kess

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin was likely issued by an unidentified ruler of Kesh, a polity within the Sogdian region. Its denomination remains uncertain.

The obverse probably depicts a left-facing bust of either the ruler or a deity, characterised by long flowing hair and accompanied by Sogdian script on the left, the precise content of which is yet to be determined. The reverse appears to represent, on the left, a ruler or deity holding a short sword and engaging in combat with a rearing lion.

Kesh—known in Chinese historical records under various transcriptions such as Qieshi, Jieshi, Qishi, Jiansha, Qisha, Jiase, and Jieshuangna—corresponds phonetically to Kēš in Middle Persian and Sogdian. Its modern name is Shahrisabz, meaning “the Green City” (Shahr-i Sabz in Persian). The city lies between the Zeravshan Mountains and the northern foothills of the Hindu Kush, south of Samarkand. Its ruins are located in the present-day Qashqadaryo Region of southern Uzbekistan, approximately eighty kilometres south of Samarkand. In antiquity, Kesh was one of the major city-states in the southern part of ancient Sogdiana. Situated along the key routes of Transoxiana, it connected Samarkand in the north with Bactria in the south, forming a significant node on the southern branch of the Silk Road. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Kesh was listed among the Nine Sogdian Principalities (昭武九姓), alongside Samarkand (Kangguo), Bukhara (Anguo), and Kabudhan (Heguoguo). Due to its geographical position, various faiths such as Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Nestorian Christianity coexisted there, while its artistic style embodied a synthesis of Sogdian, Persian, and Hellenistic elements.

During the Daye era of the Sui dynasty, Kesh first sent envoys to the Chinese court and continued to maintain tributary contact until the Tianbao era of the Tang. In the mid-seventh century AD, following the Muslim victory over the Sasanian Empire, the armies of the Arab Caliphate crossed the Amu Darya and advanced into Transoxiana. The earliest expeditions, led by ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād around AD 673, reached Bukhara but achieved little. The true conquest took place under the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I (r. AD 705–715), commanded by the general Qutayba ibn Muslim. From AD 705 onwards, Qutayba subdued Tokharistan and Khwarazm, then marched north to campaign against the Sogdian city-states. Between AD 707 and 712, he successively captured Bukhara and Samarkand, compelling Kesh and its neighbouring polities to surrender. Under military pressure, the local rulers of Kesh submitted to the Arabs, who established garrisons and taxation systems, thereby integrating the region into the administrative and religious framework of Islam.

Nevertheless, Sogdiana did not immediately stabilise after the conquest. Local aristocrats and Sogdian merchants repeatedly revolted, often allying with Turkic forces against Arab domination. In AD 751, the Tang general Gao Xianzhi advanced into Talas in an attempt to reinforce Tang influence over Transoxiana but suffered a decisive defeat. In AD 755, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, severing the Silk Road and collapsing frontier control. The Tang empire consequently lost all effective influence in Central Asia, while the Karluk Khaganate emerged as a dominant regional power and the area gradually underwent Islamisation.

After the Arab conquest of Central Asia, Kesh became part of the Islamic world. In the fourteenth century AD, Tamerlane (Timur) was born in a village near Kesh and transformed his birthplace into the magnificent palace city of Shahrisabz, one of the principal capitals of the Timurid Empire. Today, Shahrisabz still preserves several monuments from the Timurid period, including the Ak-Sarai Palace, the Dorut Tilavat Mosque, and the royal mausolea of the Timurid family. The city is now inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

物件編號: A3631

年代: 約公元 300-600 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 17.6 x 16.9 x 0.9 mm

重量: 2.15 g

製造地: 渴石

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚應為粟特地區史國的不知名統治者所鑄的錢幣，幣值不明。

錢幣正面應為統治者或神祇的左側肖像，長髮披散，肖像左側有粟特文，具體待考。背面左側可能為統治者或神祇，持短劍正在與撲躍的獅子搏鬥。

史國，古名渴石、竭石、乞史、堅沙、奇沙、伽色尼、羯霜那，皆為「Kess」(中古波斯語與粟特語作Kēš)之近音，今名沙赫里薩布茲(Shahrisabz)，意為「綠之城」(波斯語Shahr-i Sabz)。史國地處撒馬爾罕以南的澤拉夫尚山與興都庫什北麓之間，其遺址位於今烏茲別克南部的卡什卡達里亞州(Qashqadaryo Region)，距薩馬爾罕約八十公里，是中亞古代「粟特地區(Sogdiana)」南部的重要城邦之一。自古為河中地區(Transoxiana)交通要道，北通撒馬爾罕、南連巴克特里亞，亦是絲綢之路支線的重要節點。至隋唐時史國被列入昭武九姓之一，與撒馬爾罕(康國)、布哈拉(安國)、卡布丁(何國)等同列。由於地理位置相鄰，祆教(瑣羅亞斯德教)、佛教、摩尼教及基督教聶斯脫里派於史國同時並存，藝術風格亦呈現出粟特—波斯—希臘化的多元特徵。

隋大業年間史國始遣使入隋，此後時時入朝，直至唐天寶年間。公元七世紀中葉，隨著阿拉伯哈里發國在波斯的勝利，其軍勢越過阿姆河(Amu Darya)，進入河中地區的。最早的遠征由阿拉伯將領烏拜杜拉·本·齊亞德（ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād)率領，約於公元673年左右攻入布哈拉，但成果有限。真正的征服則發生於倭馬亞哈里發哈里德(al-Walid I, 在位705–715年)時期，由名將屈底波·本·穆斯林(Qutayba ibn Muslim)主導。自公元705年起，屈底波接連征服吐火羅(Tokharistan)與花剌子模，並逐步北上，對粟特各國展開行動。在公元707年至712年間，他先後攻陷布哈拉與撒馬爾罕，並迫使史國(Kesh)與周邊城邦投降。史國的地方統治者在屈底波軍壓力下歸附，阿拉伯軍在當地設置駐軍與徵稅制度，伊斯蘭的宗教與行政體系由此進入粟特地區。

然而，征服後的粟特並未立即穩定。當地貴族與粟特商人多次反抗，並與突厥勢力聯合對抗阿拉伯統治。天寶十年(公元751年)，高仙芝進兵怛羅斯，欲鞏固唐軍對於河中地區的影響力，卻大敗而回。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。當地並逐漸伊斯蘭化。

阿拉伯征服中亞後，史國被納入伊斯蘭世界。十四世紀時，帖木兒(Tamerlane, Timur)誕生於史國附近的村落，並將其家鄉改建為宏偉的宮城沙赫里薩布茲(Shahrisabz)，成為帖木兒帝國的重要王都之一。今日該城仍保存帖木兒時期的建築群，如阿克薩賓宮(Ak-Sarai Palace)、道拉特巴德清真寺、帖木兒家族陵寢群等，並被列為聯合國世界文化遺產。