Item number: A3646

Year: circa AD 840-940

Material: Bronze

Size: 20.5 x 20.8 x 1.2 mm

Weight: 2.65 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This coin was first minted by the Karluk (Qarluq) Khanate in the region of the Seven Rivers and is also known as the Arslan coin, named after the royal title Arslan Khan.

The coin adopts the traditional form of a round coin with a square central hole, characteristic of the Chinese cultural sphere. The obverse bears a Sogdian inscription: “𐼱𐼲𐼷 𐼰𐽀𐼼𐽄𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼷𐽄𐼸 𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼻𐼷” (βγy ‘rsl’n pylk γ’γ’n pny). The term “𐼱𐼲𐼷” (βγу) signifies “heaven” or “sacred.” “𐼰𐽀𐼼𐽄𐼰𐼻” (‘rsl’n) corresponds to Arslan, the royal epithet of the Karluk ruler. “𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻” (γ’γ’n) means “khan” or “khaqan,” while “𐼾𐼻𐼷” (pny) denotes “coin.” The inscription as a whole may be rendered as “coin of the sacred Arslan Bilgä Khan” or “coin of Arslan, the heavenly Bilgä Khan.” The structure of the legend is identical to that of earlier Türgesh issues. The title Bilgä Khan was formerly borne by Ashina Mojilian, the qaghan of the Second Turkic Khanate in the eighth century, though its precise meaning remains uncertain.

On the reverse, to the right of the central perforation appears what is believed to be the Old Turkic letter “𐰯” in an Orkhon variant, resembling the letter “M” with a downward extension at its centre. In the lower right field is the tamga (tribal emblem) of the Qarluq, shaped like “∋.” The upper and left fields contain Sogdian inscriptions, the meanings of which remain uncertain.

On the reverse, tamgas (tribal emblems) of the Karluk tribe are placed symmetrically around the square hole at the top, bottom, left, and right, each resembling the sign “∋”. Some scholars suggest that these symbols may be derived from variant forms of the Chinese characters “川” (river), “用” (use), “州” (prefecture), or “卅” (thirty). Most of these designs are rendered in intaglio.

At the beginning of the 7th century, the Karluks were a subordinate tribe within the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, inhabiting the upper Yenisei basin and the steppe east of Lake Balkhash. When the Second Turkic Khaganate was re-established in AD 682, the Karluks again became its vassals, but by the mid-8th century they had risen to independence amid internal struggles within the Khaganate and the westward expansion of the Abbasid Caliphate. In AD 739, the Tang dynasty accepted the Karluks as tributary allies in an effort to counterbalance Turkic power. In AD 744, the Karluks allied with the Uighurs and the Basmils to overthrow the Second Turkic Khaganate. In AD 766, they defeated the remnants of the Turgesh Khaganate in the Seven Rivers region, thereby establishing their supremacy there. Subsequently, they controlled key urban centres such as Suyab and Talas, acting as intermediaries along the major trans-Asian trade routes. The Karluk polity was loosely organised, blending Turkic and Iranian cultural elements, and by the late 8th century they had embraced Islam. Their descendants later founded the Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 9th century, partly inheriting and perpetuating the Turkic political and cultural traditions of Central Asia.

物件編號: A3645

年代: 約公元 840-940 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 20.5 x 20.8 x 1.2 mm

重量: 2.65 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚葛邏祿汗國於七河地區始鑄之錢幣，因王號為阿爾斯蘭汗，故亦稱阿爾斯蘭尼幣。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢。正面為粟特文「𐼱𐼲𐼷 𐼰𐽀𐼼𐽄𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼷𐽄𐼸 𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻 𐼾𐼻𐼷」(βγy ‘rsl’n pylk γ’γ’n pny)。「𐼱𐼲𐼷」(βγу )意為「天」或「神聖」。「𐼰𐽀𐼼𐽄𐼰𐼻」(‘rsl’n)即為「阿爾斯蘭」(Arslan)，為葛邏祿王號。「𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻」(γ’γ’n)即為「可汗」或「汗王」，「𐼾𐼻𐼷」(pny)則為「錢」。錢文合意為「神聖的阿爾斯蘭·毗伽可汗之錢」或「天可汗阿爾斯蘭·毗伽之錢」。錢文結構與此前突騎施錢相同。毗伽可汗為八世紀時，後突厥汗國阿史那·默棘連曾使用之王號，具體涵義不明。

背面錢穿上下左右四方各有一為葛邏祿部族族徽(tamga)，形似「∋」。亦有論者認為是漢字「川」、「用」、「州」、「卅」等字的變體。多為陰刻。

公元7世紀初，葛邏祿(Karluks)即為東突厥汗國的附屬部族之一，居於葉尼塞河上游及巴爾喀什湖東方草原。當第二突厥汗國於公元682年復興後，葛邏祿一度臣屬於其統治，但在8世紀中期，隨著汗國內部權力衝突與阿拔斯勢力的西進，他們逐漸崛起為獨立力量。公元739年，唐朝納葛邏祿為藩屬，嘗試以此制衡突厥。公元744年，葛邏祿聯合回鶻與拔悉蜜推翻後突厥汗國。公元766年，葛邏祿擊敗七河地區的突騎施汗國餘部，奠定其在當地的主導地位。此後，他們控制碎葉(Suyab)、怛邏斯(Talas)等要地，成為中亞商路的重要仲介者。葛邏祿社會結構鬆散，融合突厥與伊朗文化元素，並在8世紀後期接受了伊斯蘭教。其後裔於9世紀建立喀喇汗王朝，部分繼承並延續了突厥化的中亞政治與文化傳統。