A Study on Some Indicative Coins of Nasr Ibn Ahmad Samani (Minted in Samarghand, 913/4) Along with a New Reading of the Political History of that Period

The year 301 AH (913/4 AD) should be considered a dangerous year for the Samanids. Because, after Ahmad-ibn Ismail (295-301 AH) was murdered, a conflict and subsequently a battle happened between his eight-years-old  son, Nasr-ibn Ahmad and his uncle Ishāq -ibn Ahmad who was, at that time, the doyen of Samanids, to take the throne which finally led to the victory of the little Nasr. Due to the dispersion and variety of the content of historical books, numismatics seem to be able to provide the researchers with valuable information. Therefore, the numismatic data especially what has gotten of two indicative coins of Nasr II, minted in 301 AH in Samarkand, is the main source of the present study. In addition to introducing the mentioned coins, it has been tried in present paper to analyze the causes of some of the events of this period using numismatic data and information has gathered out of historical texts. The attempts have been made to clarify some unknown matters such as the purposes were behind the minting of the coins, the one who had the coins being minted and the opinion of the Abbasid Caliphate on power claimers, and to make it clear that the coinage purpose was to indicate the consolidation of Nasr's power over the territory of the Samanids, particularly Samarkand. The results show that the coins had been likely minted by Hamooyat-ibn Ali (the conqueror of Samarkand), or by Omar-ibn Nasr-ibn Muhammad-ibn Ismail or even by one of ’Amr-ibn Nasr-ibn Ahmad’s son (the new governor of Samarkand), and finally the Caliph preferred initially Isaac to Nasr and confirmed his government.