Umayyad: Hisham (724-743), silver dirham (2.91g), al-Andalus (Spain) mint, AH 114 (732-733 CE). Rare. Year of Battle of Tours (The Battle of the Highway of Martyrs).

Umayyad: Hisham (724-743), silver dirham (2.91g), al-Andalus (Spain) mint, AH 114 (732-733 CE). Klat 127. Cleaned, very fine to extremely fine. Rare. Struck in AH 114, this historic dirham dates to the pivotal year that Umayyad forces under 'Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi confronted the Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours. Known in Arabic history as Ma'rakat Balat al-Shuhada (The Battle of the Highway of Martyrs), it earned its name from the heavy casualties sustained by the Muslim army, including the martyrdom of al-Ghafiqi himself. This crucial engagement represents the absolute zenith of Islamic expansion into Western Europe, marking the farthest northern advance of the Umayyad Caliphate into northern Aquitaine in western France.