Al-Watah

Coins of al-Andalus Tonegawa collection
Taifas

Al-WATAH الوطة

The rare coins of al-Watah (or Alutah), struck between 402H and 406H ( Prieto nº 134-137), represent the first Taifa mint-name to appear after the "Fitna", or Cordoba Revolution, of 399H. It is of no little embarrassment to those studying the coinage of this period that the location of this mint is still not at all clear.

F. Codera suggested Huete, but the Arabic script is said to be more like Wanza. Vives suggested Visigoth Elota, of lost location, or Walutah in Mallorca ( also Prieto, pg 105). This last correctly doubted by Miles, who nevertheless does not suggest any other location.

What is very probable, whatever the location, is that it was at some early point under the dominions of Mudjahid the ruler of what was to be the Taifa of Denia, though his early movements are not very clear. One type of coin, dated 405H, bears his name and that of his figurehead Imam, Abd Allah al- Mu`ayti. The last mentioned, seemingly in rebellion, also appears alone on coins of 405H & 406H.

To complicate matters further, Miles ( nº357) registers a coin purportedly of this mint name struck in 436H by Sulayman ibn Hud of Zaragoza. If this reading is at all correct, from the plate it cannot be confirmed, the Mallorca location suggested above is an impossible. As the Banu Hud never controlled it, though they probably did control Huete north of Cuenca.

Furthermore, there is an Almoravid dinar dated 511H whose mint could be read as al-Watah ( Museo Casa de la Moneda nº 73226). This coin is probably similar to the one cited by Brethes ( nº 869) as al-Wakha , for Loja.

In the name of Hisham II
Dirham Al-Watah 402H 3.18gr 24mm Vives 711, Prieto 134a
In the name of 'Abd Allah
Dirham Al-Watah 405H 3.26gr 22mm Suplemento Taifas 80

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FAS, after the Cordoba revolution