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Through ages

Coins serve as contemporary historical documents as they provide evidence to affiliations of the rulers who struck them
Letha Jose

In the vaults of the Currency Museum unfolds a story – one articulated by hundreds of coins, and stretched over centuries, offering a peek into that period when there is little written record, when history is more folklore than concrete facts. From that hazy mist, where it is difficult to flesh out facts from fantasy, emerge these coins enabling us to piece together the history of a nation and its people, and those they were in touch with. They speak the story of a civilisation that existed once upon a time and of the ties it had with others.

Oman has long enjoyed an important commercial role due to its strategic geographic position. Its seafarers knew all the trade routes along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, India and the Far East and through its ports moved the luxury goods coveted by rulers and people of both east and west. So it is no surprise that archaeologists have found coins from as far back as sixth century BC from Oman. The earliest is a gold daric that does not mention the name of the ruler, but is attributed to Darayavahush (Darius the Great). It carries no mint name but was probably struck in Sardin in western Asia Minor in 522-486 BC. From various parts of Oman, coins from Athens, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Macedonia, Southern Arabian Gulf, Kingdom of Charax and from the Arsacid and Parthian kings of Iran – all from the BC era – have been unearthed, pointing to a flourishing trade in those times. It can be safely assumed that most of these coinages were brought to Oman by traders to purchase frankincense from Dhofar, a much sought after commodity.

By the second century AD comes a twist in the story. Apart from the Persian, Greek and Arabian ties, Oman seems to have developed links with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The gold stater from the Kashan kings of Afghanistan and Pakistan, minted in 120 AD and the gold stater from the Gupta kings of north India min-ted from 376-415 AD point to trade with those areas, probably through a land route.

At the beginning of the Islamic era, Oman, as with the rest of Arabian Peninsula, was most familiar with the silver drachms of Sasanian rulers of Iraq and Persia and the gold solidi of the Byzantine emperors. Occasional finds of Sasanian silver coins from the Batinah coast point to the extensive use of these coins. So it was convenient for the Umayyad Caliph, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, and his governor in the east, Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf, to blend both the coinage traditions into an Islamic currency system. By eighth century AD, Islamic coins were also widely used and accepted from Spain to the coasts of India and China. These coinages serve as valuable contemporary historical documents as they chronicle the names of the rulers who struck them and provide evidence to their political and religious affiliations. That Oman was an integral part of this coinage system is evident from the different coins that bear the mint name Oman, transcribed from the coins as ‘Uman’.

Oman has the distinction of possessing the oldest Islamic mint in the Arabian Peninsula. The earliest coin struck here, a silver dirham from the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, bears the name of Oman, and the Hijra year 81, corresponding to 700 AD. However, absence of any purely Umayyad hoards from Oman makes one assume that the monetary stock of this time was very small.

The clearest glimpse of currency circulating in Oman in early ninth century is provided by the Sinaw hoard found near Al Mudaybi in September 1979. While 75 per cent of the coins were from Iraqi and Iranian mints, there were two small silver coins without mint names and dates which were widely perceived to have been struck in Oman by the Ibadi Imamate here.

The Mongol invasion of the 13th century was a major dividing point in the history of the Islamic world. Rivalries between the western and eastern world and emergence of several strong empires marked the transition. Oman was not immune to these changes. Harbours of Muscat and Hormuz were occupied by the Portuguese during most of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century. While the interior remained undisturbed, the coasts witnessed clashes between various states, all of whom brought their coins with them. Coins became diverse in both designs and symbolism.

By the 19th century, Oman had no coins of its own. Its own past coinage disappeared from circulation. As much of Oman’s trade was with India and the east coast of Africa, maritime Oman came to rely on the coinage of the East India Company and British India for its daily needs while in the interiors the Maria Theresa Thaler was popular. When the rulers from Al Busaid dynasty introduced coins of their own, they adopted features of both coinage systems. Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Muscat and Oman first struck the copper baiza valued at a quarter anna and the copper ghazi valued at half anna in 1893. In 1940, Sultan Said bin Taimur ordered a cupro nickel baiza coinage from Bombay Mint to serve the needs of Dhofar and in 1948 he added a silver half rial saidi.

As far as paper currency was concerned, from 1908 to 1936 seven denominations of bank notes issued by the Zanzibar government were in circulation. The Indian rupee was also widely used. From 1957, special bank notes of Reserve Bank of India were in circulation following the introduction of foreign exchange controls in India. The notes, called the Gulf rupee, were similar to the Indian currency but had distinctive colours to distinguish these from those circulating in India and had serial numbers that bore the same prefix Z.

This was gradually replaced by individual national currencies during the ‘60s. Oman was the last Gulf state to withdraw these and domesticise its currency. The government replaced the Gulf rupee with Oman’s first national currency, the Saidi Rial, on May 7, 1970. And, much as we hate cliches, we can’t but say that the rest is
history, a glorious one at that.