Pre-Islamic Central Asia bronze Scarce drachm of Tuun Qaghan, ca.650-700 AD, Chach, Central Asia (Sh.#178)

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Male and female busts facing, male is wearing oval earrings, the female triagular earrings / Rounded tamgha, Sogdian legend around: bgy twwn ggn ("divine Tuun Qaghan") around. 20mm, 1.89 grams. Smirnova -; Shagalov/Kuznetsov #178.

 

Very rare.

There are a number of different readings of the reverse inscriptions. The name of the ruler might be "Toon" or "Tuun".

The principality of Chach, whose main town had a square citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Syr Darya River. By the 7th century AD, Chach had over 30 towns and a network of over 50 canals, forming a trade center between the Sogdians and Turkic nomads. The region came under the sway of Islam in the early parts of the 8th century.