After the death of Malik Muhammad in 536 H (1142 AD) his brother Yaghi Basan proclaimed himself amir in Sivas and married Malik Muhammad’s widow, who was the daughter of the Rum Saljuq ruler Rukn al-Din Mas’ud I. At this usurpation of power, al-Malik Muhammad’s brother ‘Ayn al-Dawla seized Malatya for himself, while his son Dhu’l Nun retained control of Kayseri.

None of the three was strong enough to impose his will on the others, but Yaghi Basan was the pre-eminent leader until his death in 559 (1164).

His connection to the Rum Saljuq royal family did not lead to harmony, for he was constantly in conflict with his father-in-law Mas’ud, and then with his brother-in-law Qilij Arslan II, to the point where the Byzantine Emperor Manuel took Yaghi Basan’s side against Qilij Arslan.

Yaghi Basan had several sons, but none of them inherited his throne.

After he died his wife took as her third husband the sixteen-year old Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim, a nephew of ‘Ayn al-Dawla’s son Dhu’l-Qarnayn. Together they attempted to hold on to the throne, but in a palace coup in 567 (1172) both were killed and Dhu’l-Nun was proclaimed amir.

Conflict with the Rum Saljuqs continued, and in 570 (1175) Dhu’l-Nun was poisoned on the orders of Qilij Arslan. Dhu’l-Qarnayn, who died in 557 (1162), left three sons, the eldest of whom, Nasir al-Din Muhammad, ruled for eight years before being dethroned. Five years later he was reinstated for a second reign.

This coin, struck in Nasir al-Din Muhammad’s first reign, bore his name and that of his father and grandfather on the obverse.

The reverse, apart from the date in Arabic and what may be a Danishmendid tamgha (seal) copied a contemporary Byzantine issue of Manuel Comnenus. The reason for this is not known, although it could have been intended to annoy the Rum Saljuqs, while it would certainly have pleased the native Christian population.