QANIRA PIRGULIYEVA
PhD in History, Associate Professor of Baku State University
ORCID: 0000-0002-2049-7902
IDEOLOGICAL AND SEMIOTIC DIMENSIONS OF SAFAVID COINAGE
(Based on Persian-Language Sources and Azerbaijani Numismatic Materials)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2708-065X/113/244-250
This article examines the ideological, semantic, and sacred functions of Safavid coinage based on a comparative analysis of Persian-language scholarly sources and numismatic materials discovered in Azerbaijan. The study aims to demonstrate that Safavid coins functioned not only as instruments of economic exchange but also as ideological tools for legitimizing the Shiʿi theocratic state. The research analyzes royal titular, epigraphic formulas of imamate ideology, semantic structures of prayers and sacred expressions, and the role of Iranian mints in political centralization. The findings reveal that Safavid coins served as carriers of visual-sacral information that transmitted Shiʿi ideology to mass consciousness. The study’s originality lies in presenting Safavid numismatics as an integrated ideological system structured through semiotic codes. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of the political culture of medieval Azerbaijan and Iran and provide valuable insights into the relationship between material culture and religious ideology.
Keywords: Safavid coinage; Shiʿi ideology; numismatics; imamate; Iranian mints; semiotics.