Miri: coin of Timurid Empire (14th-15th centuries); 1/4 tanka

MIRI: COIN OF TIMURID EMPIRE

Miri, 1396: Timurid Empire

Miri, 1396: Timurid Empire (Timur with Mahmud)

Ruler: Timur / Tamerlane (a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty; amir of the Timurid Empire) with Chaghatayid Mahmud Khan.

Date on coin: AH 798 (AH: Latin "Anno Hegirae" — "the year of the Hijra"; Islamic calendar) = 1396 (Gregorian calendar).

Names and titles of both rulers in combination with religious slogans ("There is no deity except God" & "Muhammad is the messenger of God") and a mention of the place of issue of the coin (Samarkand — the capital of the Timurid Empire).

Samarqand (nowadays a city in Uzbekistan) mint.

  • Silver: 17 mm - 1.39 g
  • Reference price: 18.3$

COIN MIRI — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
  1. TIMURID EMPIRE (14th-15th centuries): miri = 1/4 tanka
  2. CENTRAL ASIA (EMIRATE OF BUKHARA, KHANATE OF KHIVA, KHANATE OF KOKAND; 19th century): miri = 1/4 tenga (very little information about the actual existence of this type of coin; it may have been just a conditional unit of account)

The history of the origin of the name of the coin miri is unknown, but there is evidence that the coin was introduced by Amir Timur in honor of Soyurghatmïsh Khan and his son Sultan Mahmud (Chagatai Khanate; was annexed by the Timurid Empire). But why used the term "miri" is a mystery...