Numismatic sources for the Bani Khalid Emirate in local and regional context, 1669-1795

This article examines two types of coinage issued by the Bani Khalid Emirate in the eighteenth century as sources for understanding regional political and economic relationships. It focuses on two coins from al-Hasaʾ, the ṭawīlat al-Ḥasāʾ, a copper larin, and a set of copper fulūs. These are analysed together with local documentary sources to explore three key areas. First, the currency is situated within the eighteenth-century ‘copper boom’, which helps explain the issuance of copper larins long after silver ones had disappeared from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Second, Khalidid coinage is examined within broader development of ‘copper autonomies’ in the eastern Ottoman world and Iran. Third, this coinage sheds light on shifting relations with the Ottoman Empire, particularly through the inclusion or omission of the sultan’s name. Together, these coins offer insights into the economy and politics of the Bani Khalid Emirate and the regional place of al-Hasaʾ.