In the years from 1038 to 1077, the Seljuq Turks expanded from their remote homelands north of the Caspian and Aral Seas into the heart of the Islamic world, creating a vast empire rivalling that of the Umayyads or the Abbasids (but without northern Africa or Spain). By 1100, this empire had already started to crumble, due to the Seljuqs' practice of splitting the territory among family members and of placing sections under the control of "atabegs", guardians for underage members of the family. These guardians often failed to protect their young charges, but they were much more successful at turning the land entrusted to them to their own benefit and to that of their descendents.

The main line of the Great Seljuqs expired in 1157, but its branch in Turkey, the Seljuqs of Rum, continued in existance for another century and a half. A splinter of this group, known as the Seljuqs of Arzarum, had a separate line of rulers in a small region of eastern Turkey for a couple of decades in the early 1200's.

The Seljuq atabegs were numerous, but one stands out as far more important, historically, than any of the others. The Zangids took a prominent role in the Muslim counter-offensive against the Crusaders in the mid-1100's and, in the process, created for themselves a large state extending from northern Iraq and Syria down into Egypt. Vast numbers of coins were struck by another group, the Artuqids, who were based mainly in Mardin in eastern Turkey. The other atabegs or vassals of the Seljuqs include the Salduqids of Arzarum; the Begteginids of Irbil; the Begtimurids of Armenia; the Ildegizids of Azerbaijan; the Ahar Kings, vassals of the rulers of Azerbaijan; the Inalids of Diyarbakr in eastern Turkey; and the Nisanids, vassals of the Inalids.

Fatimid Egypt was conquered in 1169 in a Zangid expedition led by the brother of a Kurd named Ayyub. He died immediately after the victory, but his son, known to the Western world as Saladin (the combattant against Richard the Lion-Hearted of England), created an Ayyubid state in Egypt. He remained vassal to the Zangids until the death of his sponsor, Nur al-Din, but then he promptly took over much of the Zangid territory. Around the same time, the Abbasid Caliphate regained some degree of temporal power in the area around Baghdad.

In the early 1200's, a state known as the Khwarizmshahs was rapidly expanding from Afghanistan into Iran, when it was forced to bear the brunt of Genghis Khan's irresistable foray into the west (1220 AD). Other dynasties in the Afghan region at this time include the Ghorids and the Saffarids, who had struck coins three centuries earlier. In Yemen, the Rasulids took control away from a branch of the Ayyubids in 1229 AD.

Several Christian states placed Arabic inscriptions on their coins during this period. These include the Normans of Sicily, the Crusaders of the Levant, the Rupenids of Cicilian Armenia, the Bagratid Kings of Georgia, and the Kings of Hungary. Around 1222 AD, the Normans of Sicily experienced an uprising by the native population, the Sicilian Arabs, and these rebels struck a number of coins. Off to the west, the Spanish Christians were also copying the Arabic coinage (as mentioned earlier). And at a much later date, the Mongol influence caused Arabic or pseudo-Arabic inscriptions to appear on various coins struck by several Russian principalities including Moscow, Riazan, and Suzdal.

During this period, the nature of the coinage changed substantially. The most conspicuous change was the sudden use of pictorial types on large copper dirhams, particularly among the Seljuq atabegs. Also, non-circular frames and borders became popular. The six-pointed star of Aleppo and the square of Damascus (and elsewhere) were particularly important.

TO SUMMARIZE...


Seljuqs

Great Seljuqs
Seljuqs of Rum
Seljuqs of Arzarum

Seljuq Atabegs

Zangids
Artuqids
Salduqids
Begteginids
Begtimurids
Ildegizids
Ahar Kings
Inalids
Nisanids

The Ayyubids and the Revived Caliphate

Ayyubids
Abbasids (Restored)

Eastern States and Yemen

Khwarizmshahs
Ghorids
Saffarids (Later)
Rasulids of Yemen

Christian States using Arabic

Normans of Sicily
Sicilian Arabs
Crusaders
Rupenids
Georgia
Hungary
Moscow
Riazan
Suzdal