Dāniq

The Dāniq ( Arabic دانقwith the plural Dawāniq or Dānāq داناقwith the plural Dawānīq ), also called Danec or Danig in European representations , is an Arabic coin weight that has canonical meaning in Islam . According to al-Maqrīzī , along with dirham , dinar , mithqāl , qīrāt , Ūqīya , naschsch , nawāt, ratl and qintār, it is one of the ten measures of weight that were already used at the time of the Prophet Mohammed . The name of this unit of weight goes back to the Middle Persian word dānag , which also lives on in the neo-Persian word dāne ("piece") and in the unit of weight dāng .

Regarding the relationship between dirham and daniq, al-Maqrīzī explains in his coin history, Shu Šūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd , that there were three types of dirhams in pre-Islamic times: 1) the dirham Ṭabarī worth eight dānāqs, 2) the dirham baġlī worth four dānāqs and 3) the dirham ǧūrāqī worth four and a half dānāqs. For the measurement of the Dānāq one had taken 8 2/5 Habbas of average size as a basis. The Prophet Mohammed confirmed this weight ratio. The caliph Muʿāwiya I (ruled 656-670) then minted dirhams that weighed less than six Dānāqs. Under ʿAbd al-Malik (r. 692-705) the weight of the dirham was uniformly set at six Dāniq, while it was also determined that ten dirhams should correspond to seven Mithqāl. In this meaning, the Dāniq corresponds to the ancient obolus . In al-Andalus there was generally 1 Dāniq = 2 Qīrāt.

JH Heigelin mentions in his handbook of foreign words from 1838 under the lemma "thanks" a weight of 8 grains , which is used by the Arabs for weighing precious stones. Presumably he also means the Dāniq, because his measurement largely corresponds to that of al-Maqrīzī (1 Dānāq = 8 2/5 Habba).

In Egypt, the Dāniq also appears as a fixed square measure, which corresponds to one sixth of a Qīrāt and 29.17 m².

literature

Wilhelm Eilers : "Akkad. Kaspum" silver, money "and related things" in Die Welt des Orients 2/4 (1957) 322–337. Here pp. 332–334.
Walther Hinz : Islamic measures and weights: converted into the metric system. EJ Brill, Leiden / Cologne 1970. pp. 11, 66.
Clément Huart: "Dānaḳ" in Encyclopedia of Islam Brill, Leiden, 1913–1936. Vol. I, p. 951b. Digitized
Cengiz Kallek: "Dânek" in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi Vol. VIII, S 457b-458c. Digitized
al-Maqrīzī : Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . Ed. Oluf Gerhard Tychsen . Rostock 1797. Digitized
MH Sauvaire: "Matériaux pour servir à l'histoire de la numismatique et de la métrologie musulmanes" in Journal Asiatique IV (1884) 368-445. Here pp. 422-425. Digitized

Individual evidence

↑ Al-Maqrīzī: Kitāb al-Auzān wa-l-akyāl aš-šarʿīya Ed. Sulṭān ibn Hulaiyil. Dār al-Bašāʾir al-Islāmīya, Beirut, 2007. pp. 46f. Digitized
↑ Eilers: "Akkad. Kaspum" silver, money "and related things". 1957, p. 332.
↑ al-Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, pp. 4, 6.
↑ al-Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, p. 9.
↑ al-Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, pp. 15-17.
↑ Huart: "Dānaḳ" in EI ¹ vol. I, p. 591b.
↑ Johann Friedrich Heigelin: General foreign words handbook for Germans, or explanation of all foreign expressions of the German conversation language. Verlag CF Osiander, Tübingen 1838, p. 257. Digitized
↑ Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 65.

[1] Al-Maqrīzī: Kitāb al-Auzān wa-l-akyāl aš-šarʿīya Ed. Sulṭān ibn Hulaiyil. Dār al-Bašāʾir al-Islāmīya, Beirut, 2007. pp. 46f. Digitized

[2] Eilers: "Akkad. Kaspum" silver, money "and related things". 1957, p. 332.

[3] -Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, pp. 4, 6.

[4] -Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, p. 9.

[5] -Maqrīzī: Shuḏūr al-ʿuqūd fī ḏikr an-nuqūd . 1797, pp. 15-17.

[6] Huart: "Dānaḳ" in EI ¹ vol. I, p. 591b.

[7] Johann Friedrich Heigelin: General foreign words handbook for Germans, or explanation of all foreign expressions of the German conversation language. Verlag CF Osiander, Tübingen 1838, p. 257. Digitized

[8] Hinz: Islamic Measures and Weights . 1970, p. 65.