VIIIᵉ siècle – Xᵉ siècle
Ifrīqiya, central Mediterranean and North Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Aghlabid Ifrīqiya was the North African polity whose economic history included a highly pure gold dinar coinage and possible connections with West African gold. The passage records especially refined dinars from the ninth century, while leaving open whether their gold came from Sicily, the Bilād al-Sūdān, or other sources. Its relationship with trans-Saharan commerce remains debated.
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Le récit
Under the Aghlabids, Ifrīqiya possessed a dinar coinage of exceptionally high fineness. The evidence surveyed in the passage gives an average purity of 98.99 percent, with some coins reaching complete gold content. Chronological analysis places the lowest-fineness issues at the beginning of the ninth century and the purest issues after 817.
The existence of this coinage demonstrates that the Aghlabid state obtained substantial quantities of gold. Yet the provenance of that gold remains unresolved. One hypothesis links it to the conquest of Sicily, while another possibility is that it arrived from the Bilād al-Sūdān during the ninth century.
The passage also presents the Ibāḍites as a political and ideological barrier to Aghlabid southward expansion. It remains possible, however, that Ibāḍite authorities controlled Saharan traffic while still selling gold to the governors of Kayrawān. The extract therefore treats Aghlabid relations with West Africa as an open historical problem rather than an established system.
VIIIᵉ siècle – Xᵉ siècle
Ifrīqiya, central Mediterranean and North Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Aghlabid Ifrīqiya was the North African polity whose economic history included a highly pure gold dinar coinage and possible connections with West African gold. The passage records especially refined dinars from the ninth century, while leaving open whether their gold came from Sicily, the Bilād al-Sūdān, or other sources. Its relationship with trans-Saharan commerce remains debated.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Under the Aghlabids, Ifrīqiya possessed a dinar coinage of exceptionally high fineness. The evidence surveyed in the passage gives an average purity of 98.99 percent, with some coins reaching complete gold content. Chronological analysis places the lowest-fineness issues at the beginning of the ninth century and the purest issues after 817.
The existence of this coinage demonstrates that the Aghlabid state obtained substantial quantities of gold. Yet the provenance of that gold remains unresolved. One hypothesis links it to the conquest of Sicily, while another possibility is that it arrived from the Bilād al-Sūdān during the ninth century.
The passage also presents the Ibāḍites as a political and ideological barrier to Aghlabid southward expansion. It remains possible, however, that Ibāḍite authorities controlled Saharan traffic while still selling gold to the governors of Kayrawān. The extract therefore treats Aghlabid relations with West Africa as an open historical problem rather than an established system.
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