Coin Anonymous under Abaqa - Silver Dirham - 1272 / 1277 Tabriz

This silver dirham was struck during the reign of Abaqa Khan, the second ruler of the Ilkhanate, between 1272 and 1277, at the mint of Tabriz. The coinage is described as anonymous, meaning that the name of the ruler does not appear explicitly on the coin.

Abaqa Khan (1234?1282), son of Hulagu Khan and grandson of Genghis Khan, ruled the Ilkhanate from 1265 to 1282. His reign was marked by a policy of rapprochement with several Christian powers in the West, with the aim of forming an alliance against the Mamluk Sultanate. Although these diplomatic projects never resulted in a lasting military coalition, they represent one of the best-known episodes in the relations between the Mongols and Europeans in the 13th century.

On the military front, Abaqa had to contend with several threats on his empire's borders, particularly rivalries with other states that had emerged from the Mongol Empire. He notably won an important victory against the forces of the Chagatai Khanate in the Khorasan region in the early 1270s, helping to secure the eastern borders of the Ilkhanate.

Under his reign, Tabriz established itself as one of the leading political, commercial and cultural centres of the Near East. Located at the crossroads of the great caravan routes linking the Mediterranean, Iran, Central Asia and China, the city benefited fully from the relative stability provided by the Pax Mongolica. This prosperity encouraged the development of trade and justified a significant monetary output intended to support the economic and administrative activity of the empire.