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Bukhara Vardanzi 7th century

Started by Figleaf, March 17, 2022, 02:33:13 PM

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Figleaf

Seller's identification is "Bukhara Vardanzi 7th century". Obverse shows a big cat in a pearl circle, reverse a Nestorian/Maltese cross in a pearl circle. 0.85 gram, max. 17 mm. I would appreciate a catalogue id.

Peter

Vardanzi.jpg
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Tirant

I think it's this one:

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces197524.html

It says "anonymous" and "unknown", but at least we know that it's from the city of Vardanzi, currently in Uzbekistan, and from the VII century.

Figleaf

#2
Mmm. A remarkable overlap with the info here. My problem is that Vardana was Buddhist at this time. Zeno speculates that the Nestorian cross could indicate there were some christian rulers in Vardana in the 7th century. Nice story but pretty unlikely. Why would there have been a christian enclave powerful enough to issue its own coins in Vardana and AFAIK nowhere else in Buddhist territory? That's why I asked for a catalogue id to set my mind at rest.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

THCoins

#3
I saw this coin before. Didn't Pellinore have one of these ?
This is a nice site on christianity along the silk road which has some pointers at literature on the subject also:
https://kimon.hosting.nyu.edu/sogdians/exhibits/show/leslie-s-sweet-dealio/christianity-and-the-silk-road

Tirant

Quote from: Figleaf on March 17, 2022, 05:51:14 PMMmm. A remarkable overlap with the info here. My problem is that Vardana was Buddhist at this time. Zeno speculates that the Nestorian cross could indicate there were some christian rulers in Vardana in the 7th century. Nice story but pretty unlikely. Why would there have been a christian enclave powerful enough to issue its own coins in Vardana and AFAIK nowhere else in Buddhist territory? That's why I asked for a catalogue id to set my mind at rest.

Peter

This might explain something:

QuotePrior to the Arab invasion, Bukhara was a stronghold for followers of two persecuted religious movements within the Sasanian Empire: Manicheanism and Nestorian Christianity. In and around Bukhara many coins have been discovered with Christian symbols such as crosses, dating from around the late seventh or early eighth centuries. Scholars have suggested that due to the large amount of coins Christianity may have been the official religion of the ruling caste. More coins with crosses have been found around Bukhara than anywhere else in Central Asia.[11]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bukhara

According to this other link, this coin is not included on the Smirnova Sogdian coins catalogue.

Figleaf

That's the missing link! Bukhara was economically important but politically at the Northern edge of the empire. Trading (still) means being tolerant and little political intervention helps. If religious minorities were persecuted, it would be logical for them to congregate in the Bukhara area.

That said, I think that the claim the christianity was the "official" religion in Bukhara is taking that thought too far. I have a coin from this era issued in Bukhara (see the Bukhara tamgha left of the head) with the portrait of the Hephtalite ruler Gothfar that does not have any christian symbol. Zeno 183397

Bukhara, zeno 183397.jpeg

The fun thing about this coin is that it is the same approximate size and weight and even has the same patina as the Vardana coin. In other words, the pair suggests that christian Bukharians could find relief for their religious needs in nearby Vardana.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Tirant

Since my knowledges in asian middle ages go from "almost nothing" to "absolutely nothing", i can "nothing" but expose my theories based in absolutely-non-related facts. The only thing that comes to my mind are those episcopal coins struck by bishops, abbots and such in many european places. Coins authorized by the rulers and issued paralelly to their coinages, with the same size and quantity of silver. I said, it has nothing to do but it's the only thing i can think about, that maybe those coins were struck by the christian communities to work along the ones issued by the rulers.

Figleaf

I think that comes very close, tirant, though the motivation may be slightly different, as your "bishops, abbots and such" lived in a safe christian environment. Abbeys had thick walls with small openings and a sturdy door, guarded day and night by a porter. That made them excellent stores of valuables. In turn, that enabled them to become proto-bankers. From there, it was only one step (obtaining minting rights) away from issuing coins. You see similar developments in Asia, in complexes of mainstream religions. One example is the Gadhaiya paisas, believed to have been struck in the Omkareshwar Monastery (search those terms on WoC if you want more detail).

Adherents of a threatened, minority religion must tread more carefully. Still, I can imagine the official mint of Bukhara accepting an order from christian merchants/religious leaders for coins to be circulated in Vardana that look like Bukhara coins using different, but lookalike dies and similar flans.

Peter

* City of silver by Annamaria Alfieri (ISBN 031238386X) describes a 17th century abbey that is used by the wealthy of Potosí to stash their excess silver. After the mint master and essayer of the mint are garrotted (historical fact), their stash is used to support the poor of Potosí (fiction).
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Tirant

That makes so much sense. Seems that the answer has been finally found ;D