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Amirsoleimani, Soheila
« Paper and Metal: The Irony that Ensues. The Coinage of Mas‘ūd of Ghazna (421-31/1030-40) ». Iran, 40, 2002, pp. 163-72.
This article considers the numismatic evidence for Ghaznavid history and titulature during the reign of Mas‘ūd I (421-31/1030-40) against the textual evidence offered by Beyhaqī’s Tārīḫ-e Mas‘ūdī. It is focused on issues from the mints in Ḫorāsān (Balḫ, Herāt, Nīšāpūr), and Ġazna. Although not specified, the title presumably refers to discrepancies between the epigraphic content of the coins and the representation of contemporary events in textual histories (the retention of the name of al-Qāder, the ‘Abbasid caliph, even after his death for example). Reading between coins and texts, the author relates expression of victory (fatḥ and ẓafar) found on dinars struck in Mas‘ūd’s name at Herāt and Nīšāpūr to military engagements with the Seljuqs, which culminated in the defeat of the Ghaznavids at Dandānaqān and the effective end of Ghaznavid involvement in Ḫorāsān. She ends with an analysis of the numismatic evidence for the titles claimed by Mas‘ūd, relating shifts in the number and nature of these titles to the shifting fortunes of Mas‘ūd.

