561

ASSASSINS AT ALAMUT (BATINID): al-Hasan b. 'Ali b. Sabbâh, 1090-1124, AR dirham (2.46g), Jabal Karim

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Islamic Coins - Atabegs & Contemporaries Start Price:12,000.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
ASSASSINS AT ALAMUT (BATINID): al-Hasan b. 'Ali b. Sabbâh, 1090-1124, AR dirham (2.46g), Jabal Karim
CURRENT BID
0.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
ENTER YOUR MAXIMUM ABSENTEE BID[?]
You must bid at least
12,000.00USD
USD
12,000.00 x 1 unit = 12,000.00USDApplicable fees & taxes are added at checkout.
[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Jan 22 @ 09:00 (UTC-08:00 : PST/AKDT)
IMPORTANT NOTE - The Buyer's Premium is now $20 per lot or 20% of the hammer price, whichever amount is greater. However, we have also reduced opening bids on lower value items to adjust for the new Buyer's Premium structure, so all-in costs are still very close to what they were in the past. This change in fee structure will allow us to continue to offer coins valued at less than $100 in addition to our higher value offerings. Contact us with any questions.
ASSASSINS AT ALAMUT (BATINID): al-Hasan b. 'Ali b. Sabbâh, 1090-1124, AR dirham (2.46g), Jabal Karim, AH492, A-H1918, cf. Zeno-20235, citing the defeated and executed Fatimid rebel prince Nizar ibn al-Mustansir by his regnal name al-mustafâ li-din Allah at the top of obverse, the Shi'ite kalima in center, with mint/date formula in the margin // Qur'an Sura 112 in the center, qul huwa at the top, verse 9:33 in the margin, some peripheral weakness and fine scratches, one of only two examples known of this type, of great historical and religious significance! VF, RRRR. Issued during the rule of Hasan al-Sabbah (Hasan-i Sabbah in Persian), this coin bears witness to the earliest years of the Nizari branch of Isma'ili Shia Islam. This sect is named after Nizar ibn al-Mustansir, the oldest son of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir. In the Nizari view, Nizar was denied his rightful place on the throne when his younger brother Ahmad became Caliph al-Musta'li through the machinations of the vizier al-Afdal. In response, Nizar rose in revolt in Alexandria in AH488 (1095 AD) and proclaimed his own caliphate under the name al-Mustafa li-din Allah; but he was defeated within a few months and executed in Cairo by immurement. His death sparked the bitter and permanent schism between the Nizari and the Musta'li sects, who maintain separate lineages of spiritual leaders to this day. It is in this turbulent milieu that we encounter the Nizari religious and military leader, Hasan al-Sabbah. A native of Qom, he converted to Isma'ilism in his youth and became a da'i (missionary) at a time when Persia was under the rule of the Sunni Seljuq Empire. In AH483 (1090 AD), he surreptitiously entered and captured the fortress known as Alamut ("eagle's nest"), a remote castle built at 2,000m atop a steep mountain north of Qazwin. This marked the beginning of the Batinid dynasty, whose territories consisted solely of a series of isolated mountain strongholds. From Alamut, Hasan continued to support the Nizari cause for the rest of his life. His strongholds became the base for Nizari missionary activities and, more famously, an order of highly trained assassins. They claimed the lives of hundreds of prominent targets across the Middle East, including Abbasid and Fatimid caliphs, Seljuq viziers, and Crusader lords. This tactic struck fear into the hearts of rulers across the Middle East and ensured the survival of Hasan and his successors (known to European travelers as the Old Man of the Mountain) in a sea of numerically superior enemies. The Batinid dynasty finally met its end in AH654 (1256 AD) when Alamut was conquered by the Mongols under the command of Hulagu. The castle was partially dismantled and abandoned, where a substantial ruin remains to this day as a popular tourist site. The only other example of this type was sold in Gorny & Mosch Auction 139, lot 3135 (2005), where the century word was off flan and therefore the date misinterpreted as 591 rather than 491. Both examples bear the cryptic mintname Jabal Karim ("noble mountain"), whose actual location is unclear.