Persian toman–dinar accounting — Ilkhanid and later traditions
Persian toman–dinar accounting: a historical unit of account.
- Dates in use
- Introduction and ending not established
- Ancestry branch
- See family connections
Its place in the family
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The story
The currency law and 1932 rial notes replaced the official qerān–toman reckoning. Qerān-denominated obligations establish an account unit, not merely a coin type. [1]
The VOC embassy journal beginning in 1651 records the Persian toman as a unit for debts, taxes, fees and transfers, reckoning 100 mahmudis to a toman. Placement in the later Persian continuity is qualified; not every regional toman variant is treated as identical. [2]
From about 1776 existing Persian coins were revalued against the toman currency of account rather than simply reduced in size. Placement in the later Persian continuity is qualified; not every regional toman variant is treated as identical. [3]
Turning points
Account-unit observation
Mustawfi’s revenues for 1335 are reported in currency dinars, including 2, 871, 200 for Fars and 325, 000 for Khuzistan. The fiscal witness is explicit; association with the later Persian account lineage is qualified. [4]
Account-unit observation
Barker’s 1626 account describes reckoning in tomans and decimal amounts rather than naming the coins used in payment. [5]
Account-unit observation
Olearius in 1637 explicitly identifies the toman as a unit of account. [6]
Account-unit observation
The qeran was introduced as a 1, 000-dinar denomination reckoned within the toman system; this does not by itself create a new currency identity. [7]
Changing monetary anchors
Mughal rupee–dam accounting · 1740 · qualified unit adoption event
1 Iranian silver toman = 20 silver rupees in the reform. Terms and evidence ↗
Sources and evidence
- Encyclopaedia Iranica · ESKENĀS C1116 ↗
- Dick Nauta, translating and examining Cornelis Speelman / A. Hotz · Notes on the monetary situation in Persia as recorded by a Dutch trade mission to the court of Shah Abbas II, Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society 211 (Spring 2012) C1495 ↗
- Stephen Album, Michael L. Bates and Willem Floor · Coins and Coinage, Encyclopaedia Iranica VI/1, pp. 14–41 (1992) C1496 ↗
- G. Le Strange, reporting Hamd-Allah Mustawfi · Description of Persia and Mesopotamia … from the Nuzhat-al-Qulub, JRAS 34/1 (1902); Rudi Matthee, Willem Floor and Patrick Clawson · The Monetary History of Iran: From the Safavids to the Qajars (2013) C1998 ↗
- Rudi Matthee, Willem Floor and Patrick Clawson · The Monetary History of Iran: From the Safavids to the Qajars (2013) C2000 ↗
- Rudi Matthee, Willem Floor and Patrick Clawson · The Monetary History of Iran: From the Safavids to the Qajars (2013) C2001 ↗
- Stephen Album, Michael L. Bates and Willem Floor · Coins and Coinage, Encyclopaedia Iranica VI/1, pp. 14–41 (1992) C1497 ↗
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“Persian toman–dinar accounting — Ilkhanid and later traditions.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/FTM000031.html