Kabir – Yemeni Zaidi State

In the early 18th century, the Zaidi Imamate in Yemen’s northern highlands operated within a complex and fragmented monetary landscape, largely defined by its integration into regional trade networks rather than a strong, centralized minting authority. The primary currency in circulation was the silver riyal, specifically the Maria Theresa thaler (MTT), which had become the dominant trade coin throughout the Red Sea region. This Austrian-minted coin, valued for its consistent silver content and reliability, was essential for both international commerce and larger domestic transactions, linking the Imamate’s economy to global flows of silver.

Alongside the thaler, a variety of older and often debased local coins circulated, including remnants of earlier Ottoman and Mamluk issues. The Zaidi Imams themselves exercised limited minting power, primarily producing lower-value copper coins (fulus) for everyday market use in cities like Sana'a. However, the state’s mint output was inconsistent and insufficient to establish a unified national currency. This created a multi-layered system where high-value foreign silver coexisted with a patchwork of depreciating local coins, leading to frequent fluctuations in exchange rates and valuations.

This monetary duality reflected the political reality of the era. While the Qasimid Imamate had experienced a period of consolidation in the previous century, by 1700 its control was often contested by internal tribal factions and external pressures. The reliance on the externally minted MTT underscored the state’s dependence on foreign trade—especially for coffee exports from the port of Mocha—while the chaotic local coinage highlighted the practical limits of central authority. Consequently, the currency situation was one of pragmatic adaptation, characterized by a reliance on trusted foreign silver to facilitate trade amidst a backdrop of localized and unstable fractional coinage.