پژوهشی بر قدرت اقتصادی ایالت طبرستان در عصر ناصری به‌کمک تجزیۀ عنصری سکه‌های آن دوره به‌روش پیکسی

ایالت طبرستان (مازندران) به دلیل موقعیت های اقتصادی و تجاری فراوان همیشه از اهمیت ویژه ای برخوردار بوده، علاوه بر آن جایگاه سیاسی بالایی نیز برای حکمرانان قاجاری داشته است؛ به همین دلایل، از دیرباز ضرابخانۀ فعالی تا سال 1288 ه.ق. در این ایالت دایر بود که در دورۀ ناصرالدین شاه قاجار (13131264 ه.ق.) قِران های نقرۀ فراوانی را بین سال های 12661264، 12741269، 1283-1280، 1288-1287 ه.ق. به ضرب رسانده بود. نظام ضرب سکۀ دورۀ ناصری، هرچند به صورت اسمی پیرو نظام تهران بود، اما در عمل هر شهر، نظامی خودمختار داشت و سکه های بیشتر شهرها با مقادیر متفاوت خلوص نقره به ضرب می رسید. این مسائل دو پرسش را برای ضرابخانۀ طبرستان طرح می سازد: مقدار خلوص نقرۀ سکه های ضرب شده در طبرستان چگونه بوده و سیر تغییرات آن چگونه رقم خورده است؟ سکه های ایالت طبرستان در جایگاه ایالتی مهم، دربرابر شهرها و ایالات مهم دیگر ایران نظیرِ مشهد، تبریز، تهران، اصفهان، و شیراز چگونه بوده است؟ بنابراین برای پاسخ دادن به این پرسش ها، تجزیۀ عنصری سکه های این دوره با استفاده از شیوۀ پیکسی به دلیل غیرمخرب بودن، سرعت و دقت بالای آن، پایۀ اصلی این پژوهش قرار گرفت تا تحلیلی از میزان تعهد ضرابخانۀ طبرستان به نظام مرکزی ضرب سکه در تواریخ مختلف درمقایسه با سایر شهرها و ایالات اصلی ایران عصر قاجار ارائه گردد. در این پژوهش تعداد 17 سکه در 17 تاریخ متفاوت، مورد تجزیۀ عنصری قرار گرفت که در نتیجه روند تغییرات میزان خلوص نقره به طور میانگین در دو بازۀ زمانی بین سال های 1278-1264 ه.ق. 90.13%، 1288-1280 ه.ق. 84.33%، و در کل این دورۀ ضرب 88.08%، تبیین شده و جایگاه آن ازنظر میزان خلوص نقره درمقابل ضرابخانه های مشهد (84%)، تبریز (82%)، تهران (90%)، اصفهان (84%)، و شیراز (90%) مشخص گردید. در آخر نیز اطلاعات ارزشمندی از نوع معادن نقرۀ مورد استفاده، یعنی معادن سروزیت و نحوۀ عیار زدن فلز سکه ها با فلزات مس و آهن به دست آمد.

an investigation of the economic power of tabaristan state during naseri era using elementary analysis of coins of that period by pixe method

abstracttabaristan state (mazandaran) has always been of great importance due to its numerous economic and commerce potentials. moreover, it has politically been much valued by qajar rulers. accordingly, an old mint was actively working in this city up to 1288 ah which issued (uring naser aldin shah qajar (12641313 ah) numerous silver qirans in the following years: 12641266, 12691274, 12801283, and 12871288 ah. the coin issuing system was although superficially obeying tehran rules, each city acted independently in practice, and the coins in many cities were issued with different grades of silver purity. such problems raise two questions regarding tabaristan mint: how much was the silver purity grade of the coins issued in tabaristan, and how have they changed during the history? what was the position of tabaristan’s coins which was an important state in comparison with other important states such as mashhad, tabriz, isfahan, and shiraz? therefore, to answer these questions, the elemental analysis of this era coins (using pixe method) was chosen as the main base of the present research due to not being destructive, being quick, and being highly precise in order to present an analysis of the tabaristan’s mint commitment level to the central system of coin issuing during different times in comparison with other main states and cities in qajar dynasty. in the present research, 17 coins from 17 different historical periods were elementally analyzed. based on the numbersshowing the average silver purity grade changes during two periods of 12641278 ah and 12801288 ah, the results are 90.13 % and 84.33 %; the average for the whole period is then 88.08 %. at the same time, the silver purity grades of other mints are as follows: mashhad (84%), tabriz (82%), tehran (90%), isfahan (84%), and shiraz (90%). also, valuable information was obtained on the type of silver mines used, namely the cerussite mines and how the coins were minted with copper and iron metals.keywords: numismatics, pixe experiment, tabaristan, naser aldin shah qajar, economy.introductionthe naseri period currency system was extremely disorganized; actually, coins were considered local! every city issued silver qirans with different purity grades, and their rate of exchange with gold tomans was not the same. in fact, a city’s common money was not the same value in other cities (matthee et al., 1396: 281282). tabaristan had always been important in terms of commerce and economy with a high political position for qajar rulers, but even tabaristan was not different from other places concerning coin issuing: there were numerous local silver qirans issued there with different values from 1264 to 1288 ah.here, coins could be considered priceless archeological data and documents facilitating economic analysis because coins belong to that time and, like texts, were not meant to be read again later (kianzadegan et al., 1398: 182). accordingly, elemental analysis of this era’s coins using archaeometry can offer important information regarding economicpolitical conditions which could lead to a better understanding of those ears atmosphere (beck et al., 2004: 153162). the present research aims at investigation of the naser aldin shah coins issued in tabaristan covering all issuing dates with the help of pixe experiment: the results can help us analyze the level of commitment to the coin issuing central system and tabaristan economic power in different times in comparison with other states and cities.the coins used in the present research belong to the personal collection of seyed hasan sadat razavi (hyderabad, india) which were lent to the authors. naser aldin shah coins (belonging to tabaristan) were issued inthe following dates: 12641266, 12691274, 12801283, and 12871288 ah. they include 17 coins issued in 17 different dates in general. therefore, for each specific issuing date, one coin was selected; the total number of coins was 17, which were analyzed by pixie method at institute of physics, bhubaneswar (odisha, india).identified traces archaeometry studies, especially elemental analysis methods, are considered very useful in evaluating the coins carat (here: silver). therefore, to answer these questions, 17 coins issued in tabaristan at different times during 12641288 ah to do elemental decomposition by pixe method, it was transferred to the institute of physics, bhubaneswar.based on pixe experiment results, silver, copper, and iron were considered the main metals for analyzing the economic power of tabaristan state in naseri era; the purity grades have undergone drastic changes in 3 periods as follows:1. 12641278 ah: silver (90.13%), copper (6.07%), and iron (1.99%)2. 12801288 ah: silver (84.33%), copper (9.54%), and iron (4.45%)the whole period average: silver (88.08%), copper (7.29%), and iron (2.86%)normally, less than 2 percent of the coins was naturally copper; if it is more than 2, it will not be considered natural, and for sure the mixture is done arbitrarily. the coins in the present research have 7.29 % copper which is a sign of intentional mixing done for alloying the coin metal. the existence of iron, also, is due to surface contamination because of the place in which the coins were buried, but the present research coins contain a little amount of iron; the original coins were not buried at all and contain an average amount of 2.86 %. it is a sign of alloying for regulating the coins metal carat.the silver purity grade of the coins issued in tabaristan has decreased in two periods and has undergone changes but the silver carat of 88.08 % is extremely high in comparison with main mints in mashhad (84%), tabriz (82%), tehran (90%), isfahan (84%), and shiraz (90%). it normally shows the economic power and flourishment of tabaristan in naseri era.moreover, the existence of 0.86% lead is a sign of using lead mines for silver, haste, and carelessness while extracting. furthermore, lead mines are of two kinds: cerussite and galena. cerussite mines contain 1.5 to 2 percent gold and galena less than 2 percent. so, these coins contain an average of 0.31% gold which could be another sign of using cerussite mines.conclusion in this research, 17 coins belonging to 17 different periods have been elementally analyzed. as a result, the trend of silver purity grade changes for two periods of 12641278 ah and 12801288 ah is 90.13% and 84.33%: on the average, 88.08%. therefore, its position was estimated among other mints in mashhad (84%), tabriz (82%), tehran (90%), isfahan (84%), and shiraz (90%). finally, it was clear that copper and iron were added (7.29% and 2.86%, respectively, on the average) in order to reduce the coins silver purity grade. also, the existence of lead and gold (0.86% and 0.31%, respectively, on the average) is a sign of hasty extraction of silver and using cerussite mines.