Abbasid Caliphate: 1st Period

Barqa, a town located close to today’s Benghazi, is an occasional, but very rarely encountered Islamic mint. In Umayyad times a few copper fulus are recorded from the mint, but this is the only known Abbasid issue known in any metal. This was followed by a small number of Fatimid gold dinars. Barqa was a fertile coastal oasis and offered a welcome stopping point for caravans and seaborne traffic between Egypt and Tunisia. It is clear from the legends on this dirham that Barqa was not at this time under the control of the Aghlabid ruler of nearby Ifriqiya, Ziyadat Allah I, because it lacks both his name and the Aghlabid motto ghalab (“conquest”). The name Tahir on the obverse is presumably that of an otherwise unknown governor or local satrap.