Kilwa Sultanate

81 – 284 AH

A small sultanate on the tiny island of Kilwa Kisiwani and the adjucent coastal region, now part of Tanzania. The coinage consists of copper fulus, though a few gold dinar were recently shown at the Ashmolean Museum. Most of the copper coins bear their inscription in the form of a rhyme couplet, a rhetorical device known as saj' in Arabic. Reign dates are from Mitchiner, The World of Islam, and should be considered highly conjectural.