The word "dirham" () comes from drachma (δραχμή), the Greek coin.Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, s.v. 'dirhem' "Dirham" is also the name of the currency in use in Morocco today. Idris I was the founder of the Idrisid dynasty.
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They were copied from the Spanish dinero and were consequently minted in billon. These circulated alongside Byzantine siliquae and Moorish dirhem and dinar. Around 1200, Sancho I also introduced the gold morabitino (cf. Spanish maravedí), worth 15 soldos.
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The origin of the troy weight system is unknown. Although the name probably comes from the Champagne fairs at Troyes, in northeastern France, the units themselves may be of more northern origin. English troy weights were nearly identical to the troy weight system of Bremen. (The Bremen troy ounce had a mass of 480.8 British Imperial grains.) An alternative suggestion is that the weights come from the Muslim domains by way of the Gold Dirhem (47.966 British Imperial grains), in the manner that King Offa's weights were derived from the silver Dirhem (about 45.0 British grains).
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King Offa's currency reform replaced the sceat with the silver penny. This coin was derived from half of a silver dirhem. The masses were then derived by a count of coins, by a mix of Charlemagne and Roman systems. A shilling was set to twelve pence, an ounce to twenty pence, and a pound to twelve ounces or twenty shillings.
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This is made even more explicit by the double-headed eagle emblazoned with the word al-Sultan on a ceramic tile excavated at the palace of Alaeddin Kaykubad at Kubadabad, near Akşehir" Helen C. Evans, William D. Wixom, The Glory of East Roman Empire: Art and Culture of the Middle East Roman Era, A.D. 843-1261, Metropolitan Museum of Art (1997), p. 411. The motif appears on Turkomen coins of this era, notably on coins minted under Artuqid ruler Nasir al-Din Mahmud of Hasankeyf (r. 1200-1222)."Artuqids of Mardin, Nasir al-Din Mahmud (1200–1222 AD), AE Dirhem 26 mm; minted AH 617 (1220/1221 AD) obv: Two- headed eagle. Rev: Three line Kufic legend in beaded border" Tom Buggey, Coins of Islam . "B2272. ARTUQUIDS OF HISN KAYFA AND AMID, NASIR AL-DIN-MAHMUD, 1200–1222 AD. AE Dirhem, Spengler/Sayles 15. 12.68 gm.
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The dirham was a unit of weight used across North Africa, the Middle East, and Persia, with varying values. In the late Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish درهم), the standard dirham was 3.207 g;based on an oka of 1.2828 kg; Diran Kélékian gives 3.21 g (Dictionnaire Turc-Français, Constantinople: Imprimerie Mihran, 1911) ; Γ. Μπαμπινιώτης gives 3.203 g (Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens, 1998) 400 dirhem equal one oka. The Ottoman dirham was based on the Sasanian drachm (in Middle Persian: drahm), which was itself based on the Roman dram/drachm. In Egypt in 1895, it was equivalent to 47.661 troy grains (3.088 g).
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Silver objects, coins and decorations, often cut into pieces, are believed to have served as currency units, brought in by Jewish and Arab traders, but locally more as accumulations of wealth and symbols of prestige. The process of hiding or depositing them, besides protecting them from danger, is believed by the researchers to represent a cult ritual. A treasure located in Góra Strękowa, Białystok County, hidden after 901, includes dirhem coins minted between 764 and 901 and Slavic decorations made in southern Ruthenia that show Byzantine influence. This find is a manifestation of a 10th-century trade route running all the way from Central Asia through Byzantium, Kiev, the Dnieper and Pripyat rivers basins and Masovia to the Baltic Sea shores.
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In the first third of the 9th century, many Volyntsevo settlements, such as Khodosivka, Obukhov, the Bititskoe, and the Volyntsevo, suffered a period of destruction; signs of fires abound. The most vivid picture of destruction was noted at the Bititskoe site, and at the Andriyashevka settlement. These events can be dated quite accurately by the finds of Arabic dirhem silver coins from the Lower Syrovatka site; the youngest of them dated in 813 AD. Archaeologist A.V. Komar put forward a hypothesis that the destruction may have been connected with the invasion of the early Rus' people from the left bank of the Dnieper. This was based on the dating of arrowheads, and of the special type of ax found at the Bititskoe settlement, but this was disputed by other scholars.
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Nations in red currently use the dirham. Nations in green use a currency with a subdivision named dirham. Silver Dirham of Caliph alt= Silver dirham of Yazid II minted in 721/22 Silver Dirham of Marwan II ibn Muhammad 127-132 AH Silver Dirham of As-Saffah 132-136 AH Silver Dirham of Al-Hadi 170 AH minted in 786/787 in al-Haruniya Silver dirham of Al-Mu'tasim, minted at al- Muhammadiya in 836/7 AD One of the first silver coins of the Umayyad Caliphate, still following Sassanid motifs, struck in the name of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Later silver dirham of the Umayyad Caliphate, minted at Balkh in AH 111 (= 729/30 CE) Dirham, dirhem or dirhm (); (Amazigh: ⴰⴷⵔⵉⵎ, romanized: adreem, was and, in some cases, still is a unit of currency in several Arab states. It was formerly the related unit of mass (the Ottoman dram) in the Ottoman Empire and the Sasanian Empire.
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