The oldest means of monetary circulation in our region is considered to be, as in other Eastern countries, livestock, tools of production and labor. Archaeological studies of the earliest monuments of Central Asia, including Tian Shan, also show that cowrie shells - a type of marine gastropod mollusk - were used as money. These shells are oval in shape, resembling white porcelain, and were often used as ornaments. Due to their shape, they were also referred to as "snake heads" or "serpents." These shells are found in the Indian Ocean and the southern seas washing China. It is there that they first appeared as a form of money equivalent. The significance of cowries as one of the pre-monetary forms of money is eloquently illustrated by the Chinese character "bèi," which was adopted to denote them in China.
From a small area of the Maldives and Lakshadweep Islands, cowries spread as money to almost the entire Northern Hemisphere. They were known in India and Ceylon, Siam and Africa. They are found in ruins far from their homeland, in Slavic burial mounds, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in ancient burial sites in Germany and England, Sweden and France. For millennia, this unremarkable shell reigned in the markets of many countries around the world...
By the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, bronze was known in China. It was then that the replacement of stone, bone, and clay items used as measures of value in the market began with coins made of more durable materials. Ancient Chinese money is known in the form of plates, bells, spades, hoes, and knives.
In Kyrgyzstan, near the station of Pishpek, a treasure of Chinese knife coins was accidentally discovered in 1972, which were in circulation in China from the 7th to the 3rd centuries BC. Unfortunately, they all spread into private hands, and only one knife coin was found by the collector G.I. Velichko. The ring-shaped top and the adjoining part of the handle are lost; only part of the handle and the blade remain, the edge of which is slightly curved inward. On one side of the blade, three characters are placed - the inscription, according to B.D. Kochnev, is very close to that published by the sinologist M.V. Vorobyov, - "standard coin of the state of Qi." Such coins were issued from the early 5th century BC until 221 AD, when the Qin dynasty unified the country and reformed the monetary system of China.
Another type of ancient Chinese coin, first recorded as money, is known as "wu-shu" in the Fergana region of Kyrgyzstan. Archaeologists find these coins in burials along with Chinese fabrics, mirrors, beads, and glassware - items of Chinese import. These items reached the cities and villages of Fergana via the Great Silk Road, which is believed to have been established after the well-known diplomatic mission of the Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian to the Western regions in the 2nd century BC.
However, the trade route existed earlier. This is evidenced, in particular, by the finds of wu-shu, which were issued during the reign of the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Currently, more than 300 coins from burial mounds are known. They were found by G.A. Brykina in Northwestern Fergana, in the Batken and Laylak regions, in the burial sites of Tashravat, and are dated to 118 BC and the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Some researchers believe that wu-shu reached Fergana no earlier than the 2nd century and were only used as ornaments. However, this conclusion seems debatable.
Chinese coins (both early types like wu-shu and later ones) are circular with a square hole in the middle. The inscriptions indicate the place of their minting or weight (value), and sometimes both. They were strung on a string and hung from the waist. Wu-shu were quite often depicted in Chinese miniatures or Central Asian pictorial panels in early medieval dwellings - Turks in traditional clothing with belts to which various weapons and household items, including money, were attached. It is worth noting that the Han coin also circulated in the Turkic Khaganate.
The largest number of finds of early type Chinese coins has been made in Western Fergana. This is not surprising, as the trade route passed through Pamir, Alai, and Western Fergana, through the passes: Terek-Davan leading to Gulcha and Osh, Tengiz-bay leading to Isfaram-say, and Karaz-Kazyk leading to Shahimardan-say. Historically, this is the northern route described by the Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian: through Zungling (Pamir) to the kingdom of Dawan (Fergana), then to the kingdoms of Kangju (lower and middle Syr Darya) and Yancai (Prearal and lower Volga, tribes of Sarmatians and Alans). Through Dawan, the route led to Anxi (the Parthian kingdom) and further west. The diplomat noted that in Fergana - Dawan there were more than 70 large and small cities with a population of several hundred thousand people. "In Dawan, wine is made from grapes. The rich keep it for up to 100 dan. The inhabitants love wine as their horses love the grass of musu. The envoys brought seeds, and the Son of Heaven ordered both musu and grapes to be planted in the fertile lands... Dawan, Dakhya, and Anxi are great states with many rare things! Regarding the occupations of the population, Zhang Dan wrote: "The people of Dawan are skilled in trade and compete for profit..." And he noted that Fergana "...does not know silk and cannot mint coins. Receiving gold and silver from China, the people of Dawan used it for products, not for coins."
Established trade relations between the East and the West passed through Fergana and Tian Shan, so the finds of coins along various branches of the Silk Road are not coincidental. In addition to Chinese coins (the earliest and most widespread), there were also coins of Western origin, which M.E. Masson wrote about in his time. In particular, he mentions the silver denarii and drachmas of the Arsacid and Roman periods (1st-2nd centuries) that served as currency in international trade. Trade between China and Rome, Byzantium, and Parthia did not overlook those countries through which the intercontinental route passed. However, these coins did not take root in the Saka-Usun environment, which did not know such statehood and centralized power as in Rome, Parthia, Greco-Bactria, or China. Only with the establishment of ancient Turkic statehood in Tian Shan did a local currency unit appear.
On the shores of Issyk-Kul, in the area of Karakol, a drachma of Mithridates IV (129-147 AD) was found even before the revolution. As on all Parthian coins, the obverse depicts a bearded king, and on the reverse - King Arsaces, the founder of the Parthian state, with a bow in his hands. In Osh, a copper coin of Parthian King Mithridates III (57-55 BC) was found, which is kept in the collection of A.I. Kamyshev. This small change copper coin was intended mainly for circulation in the domestic market but was also in demand internationally. On one side of the copper disc is depicted a king, and on the other - an elephant.
On the shores of Issyk-Kul, Roman denarii of emperors Vespasian (69-79 AD) and Hadrian (118-138 AD) were found at different times, as well as a coin minted in Egyptian Alexandria, which was a port and for some time a stronghold of the Kushan kingdom during the reign of Diocletian (284-305 AD). On this territory, they likely appeared in connection with the activation of trade and diplomatic relations between the Kushan kingdom and the Usun tribal union. The borders of this powerful state reached the limits of Tian Shan, and part of Fergana was even included in its territory. The glass bowl of Roman production found by A.K. Abetkov during excavations of the burial mounds of early nomads in the Jalbak-Debe area (1968) suggests that interstate connections were maintained until the 3rd-4th centuries.
Coins of Kushan minting were also found in Kyrgyzstan, as well as products made by artisans and masters of Kushan Bactria. This kingdom existed within Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern India, and part of Eastern Turkestan since the time when nomads came to the land of ancient Bactrians and established a new state union in the 2nd century BC. The flourishing of the kingdom falls on the 1st-3rd centuries AD - a time referred to by historians as the era of the Great Kushans. During this period, under the influence of the renowned school of Gandhara masters, Buddhism spread widely in Central Asia, along with Buddhist art products. It is with this that separate finds of Kushan-Buddhist culture items on the territory of Kyrgyzstan are associated.
Over the past twenty years, a whole direction has formed in Central Asian numismatics - Kushan, encompassing pre-Islamic money of Bactria and Sogdiana. In Tajikistan, Kushan coins are successfully studied by E.V. Zeymal and E.A. Davidovich, in Uzbekistan - G.A. Pugachenkova, E.V. Rtveladze, Sh.R. Pidaev, and other graduates of Tashkent State University specializing in archaeology. The finds representing the works of ancient artisans have been classified into groups, and their iconography and paleography have been studied.
Kyrgyz collectors have Kushan coins: a silver tetradrachm of the ruler Sanaba "Gerai," a copper coin "Soter Megas," and a gold coin of King Khuvishka. Each of these finds is a well-studied and widespread type of coin, although the identity of King Gerai, who likely belonged to the hierarchy of Kushan kings founded by Kujula Kadphises, has not yet been clarified.
These coins are characterized by a three or four-pronged fork-shaped tamga with a changing lower part of the design. On the obverse of the coin is a bust of the ruler in a diadem, a headband on the forehead over the hair. On the reverse, a horseman is depicted, followed by the soaring goddess Nike with a wreath. Above and below the image is the text: "The ruling Gerai (Sanaba) of the Kushans." In addition to the tetradrachm, the Kushans issued silver obols, copper or gold dinars (not to be confused with Roman denarii).
On the copper obol "Soter Megas," the ruler is depicted with hair tied with a diadem. In his raised right hand is a scepter, a halo shines around his head, and behind him is a tamga, a symbol of power with three prongs and a round "handle." On the reverse, the same ruler sits on a horse wearing a conical headdress. The inscription reads: "King of Kings, Great Savior." Who he is, we do not yet know.
The coin of Khuvishka was found in Daraut-Kurgan in Alai. It was only covered with gold, which probably led numismatists to classify it as a fake. However, like all other fakes, it has its historical value, as it provides insight into the most viable monetary signs of its time. By type, these gold fakes correspond to the iconography of Khuvishka's copper coins, where the king is depicted sitting cross-legged, the king on a throne, and the king on an elephant, and on the reverse - a deity in full growth - Mah, Mihr, or something close to ancient images.
Ancient Sogdian coins were also found on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Sogd, or Sogdiana, lay north of Bactria - Tokharistan, as it began to be called from the 5th-6th centuries, the region of Kushan Bactria. It included Central, or Samarkand Sogd, Bukhara Sogd, Southern Sogd (the valley of Kashka-Darya), and Sogdian colonies on the periphery of the Sogdian principalities, where part of Northern Pre-Tian Shan (Chu-Talas interfluve) was included before the formation of the Turkic Khaganates.
Ancient Sogdian masters did not shy away from imitating their predecessors, who produced coins that had previously circulated in Sogdiana, in neighboring countries, thus having demand in the international market. These imitations of the tetradrachms of the Seleucid king Antiochus or the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus had wide circulation in the world. They also reached Tian Shan. They are now referred to as "barbaric imitations," as they somewhat corresponded to the original but were made at a lower technical and artistic level. These coins circulated from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD and are now stored in the collection of numismatist G.P. Velichko.
Medieval Sogdian coins had wide circulation in the territory of Fergana, where the Sogdians settled earlier than in the northern part of present-day Kyrgyzstan. Since ancient times, neighbors traded with each other, and since Fergana did not mint its own coins and preferred barter, Sogdian coins were widely used in trade centers along the routes of the Great Silk Road, alongside Chinese coins. Currency from other states also circulated. First of all, these were high-grade silver drachmas of Sasanian Iran, which arose in place of Parthia and part of Kushan Bactria (224-651 AD). Each new ruler minted his coins, built a fire temple, and changed the tamga. History confirms that 120 mints served the rulers of Iran, providing silver drachmas for the entire Middle and Near East. Especially lively and profitable was trade in silk not only from China, Kashgar, but from Sogdiana - to Byzantium, which paid with golden suns found in the south and north of Kyrgyzstan.
Sasanian coins of Hormizd II (302-309 AD) were found by a teacher from the village of Kirov M.F. Tur. The drachma of Hormizd IV (579-590 AD), kept in the collection of G.I. Velichko, was discovered in Jalal-Abad. In 1933, geologist I. Anboev picked up a golden solidus of Heraclius - the ruler of Byzantium (610-641 AD) on the shores of Issyk-Kul, and A.N. Bernshtam saw two bracteates during the construction of the BChK at the Sokuluk settlement, which were imitations of Byzantine coins. M.E. Masson reports that the Russian population of Semirechye was well acquainted with "medallion-icons," which they took for Byzantine coins. In this regard, the scholar concludes about fairly regular cultural and economic ties of Central Asia, particularly the Turkic Khaganates, with other states.
The Turks, establishing political dominance, from the 6th century until the beginning of the 7th century used monetary signs that were already in circulation along the routes of the Great Silk Road, but the seal-tamga of Turkic rulers began to appear more frequently on coins. Initially, the new money repeated the ancient motifs of Parthian and Byzantine coins, then their appearance and shape began to change, and from the 7th century, the Sogdians and Turks took the bronze Chinese coin with a square hole as a model.
The Western Turkic Khaganate, whose capital was located at the site of the ruins of Ak-Beshim, included the Tashkent oasis (the historical region of Chach-Tash). When in 586-588 AD the First Turkic Khaganate split into Eastern and Western, copper silvered coins of the so-called Bukhara type circulated in local markets. These were coins initially made in Bukhara, and later in Samarkand and Chach, featuring a bust of the king in a stepped crown and a Sogdian inscription "Bukhara khudat" ("Lord of Bukhara"). On the reverse, similar to Sasanian coins, are depicted an altar and two guards. Such a coin was found by V.P. Mokrynin during excavations of the Belyvodsky necropolis in 1987.
The types of Chach and Sogdian coins were different: for example, with the image of an unbridled horse and tamga, a lion and tamga, or a fantastic animal. For instance, at Ak-Beshim, S.O. Schneider raised such a coin, cast in Chach, with a fork-shaped tamga. During excavations of the Kairagach estate, G.A. Brykina found individual coins of Chach minting.
However, all this represents very rare finds. To this day, there is still no complete understanding of the development of commodity-money relations in the Western Turkic Khaganate. Historical sources, including coins, provide scant information on the development of trade, commodity exchange, and the nature of monetary relations, and the finds of coins have not been generalized. The geographical isolation of certain areas of the republic and historical regions of the Middle Ages is felt. The Fergana Valley, in cultural-historical terms, was more often connected with the sedentary cultures of antiquity, economically - with the rest of agricultural Central Asia, and commodity-money relations here developed within the framework of ancient sedentary agricultural traditions. In the northern part of Kyrgyzstan (Semirechye or Pre-Tian Shan), these traditions are traced much weaker and generally formed later, with a predominance of transit forms of trade and exchange. In such mountainous areas as Pre-Issyk-Kul, Talas, and Central Tian Shan, they are not clearly traced until late feudalism.
The development of commodity-money relations in Semirechye is associated with the formation of trading factories and caravanserais along the Silk Road, which later grew into cities with their own monetary economy, the foundation of which was laid by settlers - Sogdians, Chachis, and Tokharistanis. The material culture, urban planning, and architecture in the 7th-8th centuries had a distinctly Sogdian-Tokharistan character, and only over time, in the process of Turkicization of the population, did the cities acquire a specific Turkic-Sogdian appearance.
Almost in the same way, financial affairs developed. On the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Sogdian coins in the form of Chinese coins with Sogdian inscriptions-legends and Turkic tamgas circulated. They are referred to in numismatics as "Turkic-Sogdian."
Then the Turgish rulers began to issue their own money (711-706 AD). Initially, these were cast bronze discs similar to Sogdian ones but larger in size, and the Sogdian inscription contained not the name of the Sogdian king but the title of the Turgish khagan.
These coins are often found at the settlements of Northern Kyrgyzstan, much less frequently in Fergana, and even less so outside of present-day Kyrgyzstan, which indicates the internal and external circulation of these coins.
The collection of found Turgish coins, containing several types and classified by A.N. Bernshtam, has been significantly supplemented as a result of subsequent archaeological research, mainly due to excavations of the Ak-Beshim settlements (the capital of the khanates - Suab) and the Krasnorechenskoye settlement (the city of Sogdians in Semirechye, one of the temporary capitals of the khans - Navekat), as well as Taraz (now the city of Jambyl).
A.N. Bernshtam classified these coins into six types based on the nature of the texts on them, which he could not read correctly. Sogdianists provided their classification. On the obverse of these coins, minted on behalf of the khan, the Turgish placed their tamga, and on the reverse was stamped the same inscription "The money of the Turkic heavenly khagan" (according to O.I. Smirnova) or "Lord (Divine) Turgish khagan. Money" (according to V.A. Lifshitz). This is a cast bronze coin with a square hole, its diameter is 24-25 mm, and its weight is around or slightly more than 5 grams. There are Turgish coins of medium and small sizes. Among them stands out a large group of so-called Tukhus or Tukhum coins. O.I. Smirnova believes that these coins were made by the Turks of the Tukhui tribe, who settled in the vicinity of Suab. On the obverse, the inscription was copied from the coins of their suzerain - the Turgish khagan, and on the reverse, their title and mark were stamped, probably, like the Turgish, they placed their tamga. The Turgish tamga, the scholar suggests, is a stylized version of the letter "at" from the runic alphabet. Another type of Turgish coin, which is found in the Talas Valley, carries an additional element - a sign in the form of the runic letter "r" and the Chinese character "yuan" or a three-letter Sogdian inscription. One of such coins, found at the Krasnorechenskoye settlement, has a different circular inscription than the Turgish one - "Arslan-Kul irkin," and on the reverse - two tamgas (one of which repeats the sign "r"). On another coin, the inscription bears the name "Arslan-Bilge khakan." These are the names of representatives of the ruling Karluk dynasty (766-940 AD), which replaced the Turgish.
Turgish coins, and possibly Karluk coins, circulated in the markets of Pre-Tian Shan, Fergana, and beyond the borders of present-day Kyrgyzstan - in Pendzhikent, Samarkand, and Tashkent - until the 11th century and had equal value with Karakhanid coins. The rulers of Fergana apparently issued their own coins based on the Turgish type, but with a different tamga and an inscription of one word "khakan" on the left side of the coin. O.I. Smirnova believes that it was issued by representatives of one clan.
Thus, in the 7th-8th centuries, the form of the bronze Chinese coin was firmly mastered not only by the Iranian (Sogdian) population of Central Asia but also by the Turks under the direct influence of the Sogdians. It was called "fen." This word appears in the inscriptions on the coins of the Turgish themselves, in written sources, and in the documents of the Mug archive found in the vicinity of Pendzhikent (Tajikistan, early 8th century). According to the Chinese (or rather, already Turgish) model, the first representatives of the Karakhanids minted or cast coins, whose dynasty ruled in Semirechye and Eastern Turkestan, Mawarannahr from 940 to 1210 AD. Turgish and Tukhus coins were cast in clay or alabaster molds and put into circulation without further processing.
The Karakhanids minted their copper coins (early 10th century - late 10th century), but the discs themselves were cast in molds. On the obverse, there was the same tamga, a disc with a rim, and on the reverse, there was text, but done not in Sogdian but in Kufic script. The inscriptions were arranged on four sides, similar to Chinese characters, and in the case of unclear images or poor preservation of the coin, they could be perceived as Chinese characters. The coin discovered by T.N. Senigova at the Jikily (Chigil) settlement in the Talas Valley has no date, as the reverse side of the coin (or possibly the obverse) is not reproduced. Similar coins were found by V.D. Goryacheva during excavations of a palace structure at Burana and at the Krasnorechenskoye settlement.
In any case, both the Karluk coins (which V.N. Nastich called "arslanid") and the first Karakhanid coins, of the type of Turgish coins, newly identified in the last ten years, are related to local minting. Coins were minted in the capital Suab (Turgish), in Navekat (most of the coins found here are Tukhus coins, four types of these coins have already been identified). A mint of the Fergana Turks is clearly distinguished, the location of which is still unknown, as well as, apparently, Taraz (the capital of the Talas Turks). It is possible that the first Karakhanid coin, which we referred to as the above-described specimens with Kufic inscriptions and Turkic tamgas, was minted already in the new capital of the khanate - Balasagun or Kuz-Ordu, identified with the Burana settlement. This was already an Islamized city, rebuilt by the first representatives of the Karakhanid dynasty from the second half of the 10th century in the tastes of the new ideology - Islam and new cultural orientations - towards the caliphate. Instead of Sogdian writing, Arabic was introduced, and the earliest of the scripts widely spread in the 10th-11th centuries is Kufic.
Karakhanid coins represent a separate, large, and complex direction of Eastern numismatics, the history of which is reflected in the introduction of the proposed essay. Before moving on to the characterization of coins and commodity-money relations in medieval Kyrgyzstan, we will describe several types of Chinese coins that circulated in the markets of Sogdian colonies in ancient Turkic khanates. It should be noted that this category and invaluable pieces of material culture were long preferred not to be discussed due to the complicated relations with China in the 70s-80s of our century. For the same reason, information from Chinese sources was cautiously introduced into scientific circulation. Therefore, finds of coins of Chinese origin remained inaccessible to most researchers. However, a lot of coins have accumulated in state repositories and among collectors. The latest summary of them from the collections of V.D. Goryacheva was provided by V.N. Nastich in a publication about coins from the Red River.
The find of 1979 - from the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), issued during the reign of Emperor Suzong with a declared value of 10 qian. The inscription (read as a cross) "Qianyuan zhongbao" - "Heavy coin of the Qianyuan period" (i.e., issued in 758-760 AD). The find of 1981 - the same coin, but of lesser weight and size. The find of 1981 - a Tang dynasty coin with the inscription "Kaiyuan tongbao" - "Walking coin of the beginning of the reign" minted from 621 to the mid-10th century. On the reverse of the coin is the character ER - "two." The hole in it has been enlarged to round. The second coin - a find of this year - has the same motto.
The finds of 1982 - the same coins with the motto "Kaiyuan tongbao," fragments of coins - a total of 8 specimens, however, three of them are of a different type: type "Kai (yuan tun) bao," type (unknown dynasty) "Nango tunbao" - "Circulating coin of the Southern state." Coins with similar text are present in Chinese numismatic catalogs, but without indication of place and time of issue. As V.N. Nastich writes, they could have been issued during the Five Dynasties period (Tang tunbao) and the Southern Tang state (Nan Tang), which existed from 936 to 961 AD.
Type three (finds of 1983 and 1988). The inscription in a diamond - "Dali yuanbao" - "Main coin of the Dali era" (766-779 AD). The same coin was found in a stratigraphic trench of the lower layers of an early medieval castle on the palace complex of the Krasnorechenskoye settlement. And finally, from the finds of G.I. Velichko - a Chinese coin of the Song dynasty during the reign of Emperor Taizu (960-976 AD) with the motto "Songyuan tongbao" - "Walking coin of the beginning of the Song."
In conclusion, we can say that the finds of coins on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, relating to the early Middle Ages, do not provide grounds, just like written reports on commodity-money relations, to make far-reaching conclusions. Nevertheless, new coin finds from excavations somewhat expand our understanding of monetary circulation in the khanates, which is why we take the liberty of making some generalizations.
If in ancient times, regular trade relations with nearby and distant countries were mainly carried out by settled Ferganans from Dawan and Ustrushana (the Batken and Laylak regions of the modern Osh region were part of this state), then in the early Middle Ages, the northern route of the Great Silk Road was already included in international trade. The data from the journey of Xuanzang in 629 AD to India, to Buddhist shrines, about Suab as a city where merchants from four corners of the horizon meet, where farmers and traders live together, those who cultivate the fields, and those who profit, if not confirmed by the abundance of coins of that time (in particular, Sogdian), can perhaps be explained by the predominance of barter between herders, farmers, and artisans. Roman and Byzantine coins were used in trade operations between foreign merchants in the factories and cities of Semirechye, "but in the internal market, of course, barter predominated.
" With the establishment of statehood, which coincided with the beginning of feudal relations in Tian Shan, the need arose for the issuance of their own money. It cannot be firmly stated that initially, monetary circulation was based on the coins of conquered states, as their finds even in the capital Suab and the major trade and economic center Navekat are rare. If in the western regions of Kyrgyzstan imitations of coins appeared, especially from the time of the conquest of Sogdiana and Tokharistan by the Arabs in the early 7th century, then Arab-Byzantine, Arab-Sasanian, or Arab-Sogdian coins were not found in Pre-Tian Shan at all.
Most likely, for a long time, the Chinese coin was in the highest demand, as the main supplier of silk, glass, paper, lacquer, and other products was China.
From the mid-7th century, the basis of the monetary economy of the khanates consisted of Turgish and Tukhus coins, issued in the name of the supreme ruler and the local prince. It should be noted that at this time the situation in international trade between the West and the East changed: control over the transcontinental road was established by the Turks from the 7th century. The Turgish coin entered the general market, Central Asian silk significantly displaced Chinese silk, metal products, and artistic crafts. From Chinese written sources, 17 types of silk and woolen fabrics are known, imported from Western countries, mainly from Sogdiana, since the 7th century.
By the 8th-9th centuries, the cities of Pre-Tian Shan and Fergana became major trade, craft, and administrative centers of Central Asia, despite the scattered nature of the estate construction and the inclusion of arable land within the city limits. They carried out not only intra-city commodity exchange but also trade between countries, between the city and the steppe, between the city and the rural area. The Turks not only controlled the trade route but also willingly entered into transactions with states and cities. Thus, Istemi-kagan (567 AD) came to Iran specifically to establish trade, but was unsuccessful. The second embassy went to Byzantium, and a trade-political alliance was concluded. From Byzantium and the Near East to China along the routes passing through the lands of the khanates, they exported krazka for eyebrows, Babylonian carpets, jewelry, glass, and fabrics."
The Sogdians sold silver items, colored glass, medicinal and dyeing substances, carpets, and wool. It is assumed that some of the products were made by Christian communities in Semirechye according to Byzantine and Syrian models of earlier times (6th-8th centuries). The written sources refer to Suab and Taraz as "cities of merchants" or "places of meeting of merchants," through which trade routes passed, according to Xuanzang, to "all corners of the horizon." Indeed, already in the 7th century, not only transcontinental highways of the Great Silk Road were functioning but also a whole network of meridional branches to separate places in Southern Siberia, the Far East, the mountainous Tian Shan, Chatkal, Ketmen-Tube, as well as to all corners of the Fergana Valley. It is known that merchants from Taraz had their colony in Isfahan, entire colonies of foreign silver resellers were located in Sheldzhi, Tekabkete, Kul, Atlaq in the Talas Valley.
Written sources have conveyed to our days information about the purchasing power of money in the early Middle Ages. Although there is no specific information about Semirechye, judging by the documents of the famous Mug archive, commodity-money relations differed little from each other, for example, in Navekat in Semirechye and Pendzhikent or Samarkand in central Sogdiana. Let’s take a look at one so-called marriage contract between the Turk Ut-Tegin and the Sogdian Dugdgoncha from Navekat. The document was drawn up in the temple of the Samarkand ruler on March 25, 711 AD, that is, it dates back to the time of the reign of Turgish khagan Sakalkagan (706-711 AD). One of the conditions of the contract was the payment of silver, weighing in dinars as compensation for incurred losses. In economic documents, we also find some prices for livestock, goods, and services. For example, a cow fattened for slaughter cost 11 drachmas, a pair of oxen - 12 drachmas, kafshi (a type of footwear) - 1-2 drachmas, a dress - 15 drachmas. A war horse was valued at 200 drachmas, a hum for 200-250 liters - 2 drachmas. A young and strong slave was sold for 200 drachmas, gold weighing one miskal (i.e., 4.46 g) - for 20 drachmas.
The weight of the drachma fluctuated, so when buying and selling (as in the case of the marriage contract in Samarkand-Navekat) the weight of the drachmas in relation to gold was stipulated. A cut of silk purchased to sew clothing cost 20-25 drachmas at the market, but sometimes the silk itself served as money. Thus, warriors-Turks hired into the khans’ guard were paid in silk - one cut per month.
The Arab conquest of Central Asia did not pass without a trace for the culture and history of the peoples of this region. It directly affected monetary circulation, as from the time of Qutayba ibn Muslim - the first governor of the Arab Caliphate - a new coin began to be introduced, based on a different system than in antiquity.
The visual side of the Caliphate's monetary system was based on the laws of Sharia, which strictly prohibited the depiction of living beings. Only symbols of Islam and supreme authority were allowed to be minted on coins. An important event in the history of money was the reform carried out by Caliph Abd al-Malik in the 90s of the 7th century. It was then that a unified caliphate type of coin was legalized over a vast area from Spain to India and Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan at that time was not yet part of the Caliphate, but in its cities and villages, coins of the general caliphate type from various dynasties and states of Central and Near Asia are often found. The monetary system of the caliphate consisted of gold dinars, silver dirhams, and copper fals. The canonical weight of a dinar, as established by Sharia, was equal to 4.235 g, that of a dirham - 2.9645 g. The weight of fals fluctuated within 2-3 grams. Until the beginning of the 11th century, the ratio of 1 dinar to 15 drachmas was common.
The earliest coins of the general caliphate type in Central Asia were copper fals, later gold appeared. Moreover, in the central part of Kyrgyzstan, these early Muslim coins can be very rarely found, while in the southern part - quite often, and this is evidence that the cities of Fergana were part of the Central Asian market. The earliest coins of local Central Asian dynasties of Mawarannahr are the Tahirid coins (822-873 AD). In 1982, a gold dinar was found at the Krasnorechenskoye settlement, in the shahristan, among the urban development. The small and heavily distorted Arabic inscriptions on it are difficult to read. According to V.N. Nastich, it belongs to the minting of Abdallah b. Tahir (213/828-230/845 AD).
This find, however, confirms that gold was accepted in the market by weight, and the coin itself had no value in the Semirechye market. Later, for the Samanid period (873-999 AD), the weight of gold dinars varied, meaning they were accepted by weight, not by piece. Otherwise, there would be a significant difference between the value of coins and the purchased goods or settlements with workers. In everyday trade, dinars were not used because the purchasing power of this money was very high. They were only used for large transactions and in international trade. At that time, dinars were weighed as goods.
Where were coins minted?
In the 9th-10th centuries, the Fergana part of Kyrgyzstan partially entered the Samandid state. Until recently, it was believed that local Samandid coins did not circulate here, however, in the 1980s, B.D. Kochnev managed to discover several coins in the city of Uzgend, relating to the minting of the Samandids. One of the early fals, dated to 312 AH (924-925 AD), is very well stamped, with inscriptions typical for Muslim coins: a religious formula (kalima), the name and title of the ruling sovereign, also mentioning his governor, indicating the time and place of minting. The fals was struck in the name of Nasr ibn Ahmad, the name of the governor - Malik, who owned Akhsikent, the capital city of Fergana at that time. Other finds from Osh and Uzgend are dated to the end of the Samandid rule and the beginning of the era of the Karakhanids. The main minting of these coins was carried out in Akhsikent, as well as in Margiana and at the very beginning of the 11th century - in Osh. Based on the data of these Fergana coins, E.A. Davidovich studied such a complex problem as feudal grants for service in the 10th century, later accepted by the Karakhanids.
The history of the rise of the Karakhanids, which began in 940 AD with the seizure of power from the Karluks, culminated in the capture of the Samandid capital Bukhara in 999 AD. Thus, the borders of the khanate expanded almost over the entire Mawarannahr (according to Arab sources, the interfluve of the Syr and Amu-Darya) and Eastern Turkestan (Kashgaria). The inclusion of Northern Pre-Tian Shan and Fergana into more developed economic regions gave impetus to the rapid development of production and commodity-money relations. The Karakhanids adopted not only methods of governance from the Samandids but also the monetary system. Five years later, the general caliphate coin, modeled after the Samandid one, began to be minted in the cities of Eastern Turkestan - Kashgar and Yarkand.
The very first mint, still under the Samandids, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan was located in Uzgend. It operated from the beginning of the 11th century, while the first coins appeared in the capital Balasagun in 1003 AD, on which the places of minting were indicated in the form of Kuz-Ordu (Balasagun). Under this name, the coin is known in all catalogs, meanwhile, recently found are those on which the capital is named Balasagun.
In Osh, the mint operated from 1002 AD. In the Talas Valley, minting began in Sheldzhi (the Kirov settlement). In Pre-Issyk-Kul, in Barskhan, their own money appeared in 1026-1027 AD. In total, there were more than 50 mints in the Karakhanid khanate, most of which, of course, were located in the former workshops that existed under the Samandids. Commodity exchange was pushed out of the internal market, and the Karakhanid coin gained the status of international currency, although not at all times and not under all rulers." Modern researchers have also noted such a technological feature of this money: being mostly minted, copper and lead-copper discs were cast in molds from the preceding Turgish-Arsalanid period. This fact, as well as the circulation of Turgish and Tukhus coins until the mid-11th century, indicates the continuity of artisanal experience and metalworking techniques in the cities of Pre-Tian Shan in the 8th-11th centuries. In other places of the khanate, from the very beginning, the minting of coins was carried out according to the general caliphate type, as, for example, in Isfijab, located near modern Chimkent, although bordering the cities of Taraz and Sheldzhi in the Talas Valley, where Turgish traditions were preserved. The mints of Bukhara, Samarkand, Akhsikent, Kuva, Margiana, Khojent, Shasha, Tunket, Taraz, and other feudal lords continued to operate.
More than 13,000 Karakhanid coins have been found on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, the first publications about which were initiated by E.A. Davidovich based on the treasures of Ak-Beshim. Then reports were made about treasures from Belyvodsk, totaling 5,290 Karakhanid coins; from the Shish-Tube settlement - 4,859 coins. An unexamined treasure of 974 coins is located in the Osh Museum; treasures from the Jambyl Historical and Local Lore Museum are being studied. Finds of three to five and up to ten coins are a frequent occurrence during excavations of settlements. Such a small treasure of coins from the early 11th century was found by D.F. Vinnik and V.D. Goryacheva in the foundation of the basement part of the Burana minaret, which provided another additional basis to consider it a monument of the second half of the 10th century. But these are treasures of silver-plated dirhams and copper fals. Treasures of gold coins are of completely different interest; we will talk about them below.
The geography of finds of Karakhanid coins is very extensive. One mint usually served its own domain, but its money did not have clear boundaries. Even now, coins minted in Kuz-Ordu can be found far beyond Semirechye, for example, in Shash and Toy-Tube of the Tashkent oasis, in Khojent and a number of other places. Just as coins from Samarkand, Shash, Otrar, Taraz, Bukhara, Yarkand, Kaogara, Uzgend, Akhsikent, Khojent, and Osh circulated on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.
The 48 coins found, issued in Kuz-Ordu, are silver-plated dirhams from 394/1003-04 to 460/1067-68 AD (not including finds from the last five years). Up to 406/1016 AD, the coins bear the name of Ahmad b. Ali - the ruler who presided over the khanate during this time. (More precisely, since 382/992 AD, when he became the successor of Balasagun and the title of supreme ruler after the death of Bogra-Khan Kharrun). On the obverse of the coins, the symbol of faith (kalima) is presented, which appears in three variants: "There is no god but (Allah the One) and no partner for Him," "There is no god but Allah (the One) and no partner for Him," or "There is no god but (Allah), Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
In the release information, the introductory formula has two variations: "In the name of Allah, this dirham is minted..." and "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, this dirham is minted..." Next is the name of the mint - Kuz-Ordu (in one case - Balasagun) and the date of issue. On the reverse of the coin, in a circular inscription-legend, the 33rd verse of the 9th surah of the Quran is often placed, and in two versions: in full - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, who sent him with the right path and the religion of truth, to manifest it above all religions, even if the polytheists hate it," and in abbreviated form - without the first three words. The preservation of coins varies, so it is not always possible to confidently determine the full text of its legend.
After the death of Ahmad b. Ali, the throne in Balasagun was taken by a representative of another clan - Togan-khan Muhammad b. al-Hasan (sometimes referred to as Tonga-khan). This ruler was replaced in a civil war by his brother Qadir-khan Yusuf until 417 (1026-1026 AD). Then power passed to his son Arslan-khan Sulayman, who was captured by his brother Muhammad. The latter was killed by his wife, who placed her son Ibrahim (coin 445/1056-57 AD) on the throne. It is characteristic that the nicknames of these rulers have variations, contain Arabic and Turkic names and titles. The last known coin of Balasagun is a dirham from 460/1067-68 AD. Apparently, by this time, the minting of money in the capital of the Eastern Karakhanid khanate, which split into Western and Eastern in 1041-1042 AD, had completely ceased.
Balasagun remained the capital of the khanate, and the cessation of coin minting is associated by researchers with the general crisis of coinage, the so-called "silver crisis," and the oversaturation of the market with copper-lead dirhams. The crisis was associated with the fact that in the 8th-9th centuries, silver was leaving Central Asia precisely in silver dirhams. From the 10th century, silver mining, including in the Talas mountains, began to decline due to the depletion of mines and environmental changes that destroyed forests, which were used instead of coal in silver smelting. Already in the early 11th century, a shortage of silver began to be felt, which caused the "debasement" of coins. Thus, according to E.A. Davidovich, in 1010 AD, Karakhanid coins contained 88 percent silver, in 1015 AD - already 60, and in 1030 AD - 30 percent. From the mid-11th century until the beginning of the 12th century, the amount of silver in dirhams was only 20-23 percent, the copper core was only covered with a thin layer of silver. In the second quarter of the 12th century, copper silvered coins, containing only about 5 percent silver, replaced these coins.
Silver was applied using amalgam (a solution of silver and mercury), then the blanks were placed in the furnace, the mercury evaporated, and a layer of silver remained on the copper base. The exchange rate of such money was established forcibly by the decree of the ruler; they were accepted only in the territory of the domain where they were minted. Excessive issuance of coins led to their devaluation and inflation. Therefore, together with copper silvered coins in the 12th century, under the Karakhanids, the issuance of gold coins - dinars began, but in small batches. Whether they circulated in Tian Shan is still unknown, but in Uzgend, coins of Sultan Qadir-khan circulated from the time when the Uzgend ruling dynasty adopted the title of "sultans" and supreme power in Samarkand. It is possible that gold dinars were minted here even earlier. Gold coins minted at different times in different cities and states were also in circulation. They reached Semirechye and Fergana in connection with trade operations and cultural exchange.
Balasagun is particularly known in this regard. As the capital of the khanate, it was also a major trade center. Golden coins are found more frequently on its ruins than in other places. According to M.E. Masson and E.A. Davidovich, such coins and even treasures of coins were found in 1902, 1903, 1927, and 1966, totaling 33 whole coins and more than 100 fragments. In the treasures, coins of the Ghurids, Seljuks, and Khorezmshahs are found, and there was also a mixed treasure: it contained coins of Khorezmshah Muhammad issued in the early 13th century. The treasure was buried, as B.D. Kochnev believes, on the eve of the Mongol invasion. Small change coins - falses, resembling silver dirhams, were widely used in the local market: they are often found at the ruins of ancient settlements.
What was the purchasing power of Karakhanid coins? How much did one have to pay for a particular good in the markets of Central Asia, in the economic space of which Kyrgyzstan was included in the 10th-12th centuries? Written evidence records prices in dirhams or dinars. In 1035, for one dirham, one could buy 8 kg of bread and 14 kg of barley, which is very cheap, concludes M.N. Fedorov. In 1040, there was a famine in Nishapur, and the price of one kilogram of bread rose to 16 dirhams. In 1046, 160 kg of grapes or 80 kg of honey could be bought for one dinar. Land was expensive: 1600 sq. m of cultivated land with trees was sold for 3,000 dirhams, while an uncultivated plot of the same size cost 1,000 dirhams. A thoroughbred horse from Sultan Melikshah's stable cost 300 dinars, while a war elephant of Sultan Masud - 100,000 dirhams, a chicken - one dirham, a simple horse - 20 dinars.
Commodity production and trade under the Karakhanids reached their peak. To satisfy the market, the supply of silver was insufficient, and the state began to issue fakes under silver, which circulated at a forced rate as a means of exchange for trade. This practice began under the Samandids and gained wide development under the Karakhanids. Such money was no longer equivalent to value but merely a sign of it, a kind of metallic note. They are known as "gitrif" dirhams, whose exchange rate was either equal to silver or higher. Government policy and public psychology ensured their strength. It was these coins that in the sphere of silver circulation fulfilled the need for gold dinars as a means of exchange and payment. Until the second half of the 12th century, the financial policy of the Karakhanids ensured all levels of trade without the involvement of gold.
The regular minting of gold dinars that began is already direct evidence of a change in the monetary policy of the state, which consisted of halting the issuance of low-grade silver coins and organizing monetary circulation based on gold currency in conjunction with silver-plated dirhams and copper falses. Such was the general trend in Central Asia. Copper silvered money - these are Karakhanid coins of quite solid size and weight, which were regularly minted by the mints of Uzgend and Akhsikent in the second half of the 12th - early 13th centuries.
From the 11th to the beginning of the 13th centuries, the functions of gold as a measure of value, means of exchange, and payment increased immeasurably. Analyzing the available numismatic material, E.A. Davidovich concluded: "For many centuries, it was rarely and incidentally involved in internal trade, used more for rewards and gifts, and in fact did not even perform the function of a measure of value. The contemporaries understood this, equating gold coins with goods and items of trade. There are many examples in the sources where gold is valued in silver. The minting of gold coins was largely determined not by the economic needs of the market but by political and prestige considerations. The functions of gold coins as a means of exchange, means of payment, and measure of value were the least developed throughout the millennium (i.e., 9th-18th centuries), but they were not unchanged: their significance increased in the periods discussed above, but each time this was caused by specific reasons..."
When the Karakhanid khanate was conquered by the Khitans in 1029-31 AD, Balasagun no longer minted coins. The issuance of money decreased in the western part of the khanate, but the mints of the cities of Fergana and Mawarannahr continued to operate. Khorezmshah Muhammad put an end to the Karakhanid dynasty, but his monetary system had much in common with the Karakhanid one: dinars (sometimes of small size and 1/3 of the standard coin), silver-plated dirhams, small copper falses, as well as high-grade silver coins, which had never been seen under the Karakhanids. It is these coins that are found in treasures buried on the eve of the Mongol invasion.
In 1219, under the blows of the Mongol hordes, the state of the Khorezmshahs ceased to exist. Eight years later, a vast state of the Chagatai emerged, which until 1270 AD administratively and economically copied the state of the Khorezmshahs. Gold and silver-plated coins were minted. The latter circulated at a forced rate. The population refused to accept low-grade coins, and threatening inscriptions appeared on them: "In Samarkand and the vicinity of this city, anyone who does not take this coin will be a criminal." Such inscriptions were also executed in the Turkic language. According to M.N. Fedorov, money was minted in Osh, but the address of the mint is not indicated on them. Since these coins were reluctantly accepted, under threat, there was no sense in exporting them beyond the city where they were minted. In Northern Kyrgyzstan, such coins were not found; moreover, here barter again began to prevail.
In the following years, the minting of the Chagatai underwent changes associated with the reforms of ruler Masud-bek (1270-1271 AD) and Khan Kepek (1318-1326 AD). In 1270-1271 AD, high-grade silver coins - dirhams weighing up to 2 grams began to be issued. The legends on the coins are different, but it circulated everywhere. In 1318, Kepek minted a large silver coin weighing about 9 grams, calling it a dinar and placing his name on it. Many such coins have been found in Kyrgyzstan, stored both in museum collections and among collectors.
M.E. Masson dedicated a special work to them, indicating the places of finds of coins in the Talas Valley in general and Chagatai coins, in particular, in the villages of Orlovka and Leninpol. The scholar recorded: a dirham