The Coins of Saray in the first half of the 660s AH / 1260s AD

After having long scrutinized the finds of 19 unusual, anonymous Juchid dirhams discovered in the vicinity of Saratov, the authors of this article are finally able to attribute these coins. One specimen bears the year of minting 663 AH/1264–1265 AD, i.e. the year when Berke reigned in the Juchid ulus. Another coin, connected with the issues of the same typological series, has the mint name of Saray, but lacks any tamgha. While tamghas are also absent on all the other dirhams, judging by their weights, the 19 coins represent three different denominations. The authors have no information regarding the finds of such coins in other regions of the Juchid ulus. The coins’ legends contain the issuer’s laqab – al-da‘i ila’l-huda nusrat al-dunya wa’l-din, which unequivocally confirms that this is a laqab of a ruler who converted to Islam. An analysis of these Saray dirhams from the vicinity of Saratov, struck during the reign of Berke, as well as the fact that the monetary circulation in the Juchid ulus in the thirteenth century was predominantly local, raised important questions not only concerning the location of Batu’s Saray and Berke’s Saray respectively, but also regarding how we should understand the toponym “Saray” in the second third of the thirteenth century. In this connection, it is not improbable that our current understanding of Saray as a particular city is incorrect or at least not uncontroversial. At the moment, in light of current research, it is clear that the mint of Saray was operating already in the 650s AH / 1250s AD.