Study on the Social and Cultural Situation of Dābuyid Espahbods and Arab Rulers; based on Coins

Coins of Dābuyid Espahbods and Arab rulers are an effective factor in understanding the cultural and social situation of Tarbrestan in the first and second centuries of AH. With the fall of the Sasanians in 651 AD., Tabarestan became independent under the supervision of Dābūyā (d. 681-711 AD.). After Dābūyā, his son Farrokhān (712-731 AD.) and his grandsons, Dāt Brazmehr (731-741 AD.) and Khurshid (742-762 AD.), minted coin in this region, coins which, except in their weight and dimensions (half the weight of Sasanian coins) and the method of dating (based on the death anniversary of Yazdgerd III), were in Sasanian style and reflect the cultural and social situation of Tarbestan. With the capture of Tarbestan by Manur Abbāsid in 144 AH, Abbasid ruler maintained the previous style. This study attempts to answer the question that what is the significance of images and inscriptions of coins in the understanding the Tarbestan's social and cultural situation? The findings of this research which is based on numismatics and objective studies of coins in museums of Bank Sepah, Semnan, Astan Quds, Babol, Malek and National Museum of Iran, in a comparative-library study and descriptive-analysis method, show that the inscriptions with the benedictory themes, praying for welfare and religious message of the good domination over evil, the deliberate use of the Pahlavi script as a sign of affiliation with the Zoroastrian ritual, motifs and symbolic signs following the Sasanian traditions and Zoroastrian beliefs such as the crescent of the moon for Anahitā, stars for the Tishtar, fire for the light and Ahurā Mazdā were a reflection of the cultural and social situation in Tarbrestan society.