Buran (Poorandokht or Purandokht), Sasanian Queen AD 630

Sunrise # 1005(this coin), Goble Type I/1, Mochiri 1466, Saeedi 302, Superb Extremely Fine

Mint : GO or GW – Gorgan. Year: 1 (regnal year), Gorgan mint is extremely rare among Buran’s drachms.

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Queen Buran also known in Persian literature as Poorandokht, was daughter of Khosrau II and the first of the the two queens to rule the Sasanian Empire in their own right.. Her name may have been inspired by her blond hair which is called “bur” or “boor” in Persian. It is difficult to determine the degree of order she was able to establish within her realm. She seems to have completed the peace treaty with Heraclius and returned the “True Cross” to Jerusalem, as promised by Kavad II. One of the most important event of her reign was the first major incursion of Arab forces into the Persian territories, killing a number of merchants and destroying or looting their goods in the village of Baghadad (present day Baghdad). This action alarmed all and prompted the merchants to write a letter to the queen requesting better security and protection against the invading Arabs. The Sasanian court continued to underestimate the religious, political and military storm rising from Arabia, threatening and eventually undermining the Sasanian empire. The exact fate of Buran is not fully known. There are records stating that she was killed and there are other records that she retired to her oasis and lived her life as a hermit after the Arab conquest of Ctesiphon. Queen Buran’s drachms are extremely rare. They are divided in to two classes, the western style (this coin) minted in the western regions of empire and the “eastern” style which has a crude design and were all minted in the province of Sakastan (modern day Sistan in southeastern Iran). We have the dates 1 through 3 for Queen Buran’s reign. There is a single gold dinar known of this queen, showing her facing forward and in full standing position on the reverse. That coin is currently in the Boston Museum.