Yu’tazz / Billah / ‘Isa wa bihi / yantasir ("Strengthened by God, ‘Isa with God and through him victorious”) // Muhammad / rasul / Allah / 'Isa ("Muhammad is the messenger of God, 'Isa"). 10mm, 0.47 grams. Fishman/Todd (2018) #HS38

Rare.

A ruler ‘Isa (Jesus) appears out of nowhere in Sindh at around the time of ‘Umar II, judging by the style of his rare coins. He is not mentioned on any other coins. The coins of ‘Isa (Type HS38) were previously assumed to be of the “Billah yathiqu” type, but with the discovery of clear specimens it is easy to see they are unique: the word “yathiqu” is always absent from the inscription. There is a word engraved above “Billah” - the tiny letters are difficult to read and they were originally interpreted by us as الاحد “al-Ahad”, meaning “the One” or “Indivisible”, which is one of the 99 names of Allah [Fishman and Todd 2017]. However, Steve Album has suggested that the more likely reading is یعتز “yu’tazz”, meaning “strengthened by God”.

This 'Isa might be the Makrani Amir from the Ma’danid dynasty named ‘Isa ibn Ma’dan, who ruled in nearby Makran under the overlordship of the Saffarids. In 907/8 CE ‘Isa bin Ma’dan was invaded by the Saffarids because of a lapse in tribute payments – thus, his rule can be dated to precisely the same period as the ‘Isa who minted the dammas under review here. It is possible that the ‘Isa named on the dammas is the Makrani ‘Isa ibn Ma’dan.