´¡°ÕÄ€µþ´¡°Ä€±·-E ²Ñ´¡¸éĀḠA (also called AḥmadÄ«lÄ«s), a family of local rulers of MarÄḡa who ruled from the early 6th/12th century until 605/1208-09 in MarÄḡa itself and in Rūʾīn Dez for some years after the Mongol conquest. They are often referred to as the AḥmadÄ«lÄ« Dynasty because of a connection with AḥmadÄ«l b. EbrÄhÄ«m b. VahsÅ«á¸Än RawwÄdÄ« KordÄ« who is first mentioned by Ebn al-Aṯīr under the year 501/1107-08 and was named as ruler of MarÄḡa in 505/1111-12 (repr., X, pp. 447, 485). AḥmadÄ«lÄ« himself was in the service of the Saljuq Sultan Moḥammad b. MalekšÄh (r. 498-511/1105-18). There are questions about his ethnic background and how he relates to the Rawwadid VahsÅ«á¸Än. Minorsky (EI1 III, p. 263, EI2I, p. 300) and KasravÄ« (&³§³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;²¹³ó°ùÄ«Äå°ùÄå²Ô, p. 230) regard him as a Kurdicized descendant of the Arab Rawwadids. He is noted for joining the force which Sultan Moḥammad sent against the Crusaders in 505/1111-12, for his desire to gain the lands of the Shah Armanid SokmÄn Qoá¹bÄ«, and for hostility towards the IsmaÊ¿ilis, according to Sebá¹ b. al-JawzÄ« (²Ñ±ð°ùʾÄå³Ù VIII/1, p. 53) who reports that his ±ð±çá¹ÄÊ¿ yielded 4,000 dinars and that he had 5,000 horsemen in his service. This author places his assassination at the hands of the IsmaÊ¿ilis in 508/1114-15, while Ebn al-Aṯīr puts it in Moḥarram, May-June of 510/1116 (X, p. 516).
Ä€q Sonqor AḥmadÄ«lÄ« (ca. 516/1122-1123 to 528/1133-1134): Ä€q Sonqor is the first person who can be called an ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì (atabeg) of MarÄḡa and the clear founder of the line. Some writers, such as KasravÄ« (&³§³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;²¹³ó°ùÄ«Äå°ùÄå²Ô, p. 232) and á¹¢afÄ (´¡»å²¹²úÄ«²âÄå³Ù II, p. 44) regard him as the son of AḥmadÄ«l, but, aside from the evidence of his Turkish name, it should be noted that he is never referred to as “Ebn AḥmadÄ«l,” only as “al-AḥmadÄ«lÄ«,” a type of appellation which usually indicated a mamluk or freed-man of the person referred to in the nesba. In addition, the poet NeẓÄmÄ« GanÇ°avÄ« clearly refers to him as the founder of the line in the Haft peykar (p. 23), and it is unlikely that he would have made an error in this regard. He is referred to as one of the great mamluks of the Saljuq house by ḤosaynÄ« (AḵbÄr al-dawla al-salÇ°Å«qÄ«ya, p. 196). It is not known if Ä€q Sonqor held MarÄḡa before 516/1122-23. It was under the control of MasÊ¿Å«d, brother of the Iraq Sultan MaḥmÅ«d b. Moḥammad, who gave it to his ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì, QasÄ«m-al-dawla BorsoqÄ«, in 514/1120-21, but after MasÊ¿Å«d’s defeat at the hands of the sultan, it was apparently either given, or returned, to Ä€q Sonqor who had it in 516/1122-23 when he tried to use his position as ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of Ṭoḡrel b. Moḥammad to revolt against MaḥmÅ«d and gain control of Azerbaijan. He failed but apparently got his land back and seems to have been faithful in his service to MaḥmÅ«d for the next seven years or so. In 523/1129 MaḥmÅ«d sent him into Arab Iraq in pursuit of the Mazyadid Dobays b. á¹¢adaqa, for whom he and another amir were held responsible (Ebn al-Aṯīr, X, p. 655).
When MaḥmÅ«d died in 525/1131, Ä€q Sonqor was ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of ḠīÄṯ-al-dÄ«n DÄʾūd b. MaḥmÅ«d. He and the sultan’s vizier, Abu’l-QÄsem DargazÄ«nÄ«, proclaimed DÄʾūd sultan in Azerbaijan and JebÄl, but they were defeated by MaḥmÅ«d’s brother Rokn-al-dÄ«n Ṭoḡrel, who had been made sultan by SanÇ°ar, at HamadÄn in 526/1131-1132. Ṭoḡrel’s brother, MasÊ¿Å«d, had also opposed them and had been besieged by Ä€q Sonqor in TabrÄ«z until he made peace. Ṭoḡrel set out after them and forced them to flee to Baghdad. There the caliph proclaimed MasÊ¿Å«d sultan and DÄʾūd his heir. After being outfitted by the caliph, they proceeded to Azerbaijan and MarÄḡa where Ä€q Sonqor apparently put considerable cash at the disposal of the expedition. Ṭoḡrel’s forces shut themselves up in ArdabÄ«l where they were besieged by Ä€q Sonqor and his Saljuqs. An attempt on the part of some of Ṭoḡrel’s amirs to raise the siege failed, and they were pursued to HamadÄn where Ṭoḡrel himself was defeated and driven off in ŠaÊ¿bÄn, 528/May-June, 1134. Ä€q Sonqor himself was murdered by Assassins in his tent at HamadÄn. BondarÄ« (Zobda, p. 169) leads one to believe that the Ṭoḡrel’s vizier, DargazÄ«nÄ«, instigated the murder, while Ebn al-Aṯīr (X, p. 686) reports that it was said that MasÊ¿Å«d himself was responsible.
Noá¹£rat-al-dÄ«n ArslÄn Aba b. Ä€q Sonqor (ca. 528/1133-34 to 570/1174-75): He was ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì in MarÄḡa for a long time, but he is never at the focus of interest in the sources, and it is often difficult to see where he fits into the factional strife which marked so much of the reign of MasÊ¿Å«d b. Moḥammad. He is first mentioned by Ebn al-Aṯīr under the year 530/1135-36 as one of the amirs who gathered with the Saljuq DÄʾūd b. MaḥmÅ«d in Baghdad in support of the ill-fated caliph, al-RÄšed. The next notices deal with his brother, ŠÄ«rgÄ«r, who took troops to serve MasÊ¿Å«d’s Azerbaijan-based Ç°Äå²Ô»åÄå°ù, JÄvlÄ« (ÄŒÄvlÄ«), in 540/1145-46, then again was among the commanders brought by ḴÄṣṣ Beg ArslÄn b. PalangarÄ« (Minorsky, “Beling-eri,” EI2, p. 300) to defeat MasÊ¿Å«d’s enemy BÅ«z Aba the amir of FÄrs at Isfahan in 542/1147-48 (BondÄrÄ«, Zobda, p. 191-92). However, BondÄrÄ« (p. 217), also says that ḴÄṣṣ Beg besieged MarÄḡa in 541/1146-47. RÄvandÄ« (RÄḥat al-á¹£odÅ«r, p. 244) also says that MasÊ¿Å«d himself besieged MarÄḡa in ŠawwÄl, 545/February, 1151, took it in two days, and ordered the fortifications ruined. RÄvandÄ« further reports that there was antagonism between ḴÄṣṣ Beg and AtÄbak ArslÄn Aba and that they were reconciled in the castle of Rūʾīn. This fortress, usually referred to as Rūʾīn Dez, seems to have become the family stronghold. Minorsky (EI1III, p. 264) suggests it was some ten miles above MarÄḡa on the SÅ«fÄ« ÄŒÄy on the site of a place now called Yay-Šahar (summertown).
ArslÄn Aba and the ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of Azerbaijan, Īldegoz, protested when Sultan Moḥammad b. MaḥmÅ«d killed ḴÄṣṣ Beg in early 548/1153. From that time until 551/1156-57, ArslÄn Aba cooperated with Īldegoz and other amirs against Moḥammad, joining them in the attempt to put SolaymÄnšÄh b. Moḥammad on the throne in HamadÄn. He also joined Īldegoz in obtaining the expulsion of the Saljuq prince, ÄŒaḡrÄ« Beg, from Azerbaijan in 549/1154-55. The two then divided up the province between themselves, save for ArdabÄ«l. But, after Sultan Moḥammad defeated Īldegoz at NaḵǰavÄn in 551/1 l56-57, he made ArslÄn Aba ·ÉÄå±ôÄ« of Azerbaijan, and when the sultan died in 554/1159-60, he entrusted his young son to the ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of MarÄḡa who refused to accept Īldegoz’s control of the sultanate of Iraq through his own ward, Sultan ArslÄnšÄh. Īldegoz sent his son, Moḥammad JahÄn-pahlavÄn, against ArslÄn Aba who met and defeated the Ildegozid with the assistance of troops sent to him by the Shah Arman of ḴelÄá¹ (Aḵlaá¹).
ArslÄn Aba usually opposed Īldegoz and his ward, ArslÄnšÄh, in the years between 556/1161 and 563/1168, when Īldegoz was plagued by the opposition of ĪnÄnÇ° of Ray. ArslÄn Aba sent 5,000 troops to assist ḤosÄm-al-dÄ«n ĪnÄnÇ° in his rebellion of 556/1161, and, even though he took part in Īldegoz’s campaigns against the Georgians in 557/1161-62 and 558/1162-63, his opposition to Īldegoz’s control of the Saljuq sultanate of Iraq continued. He took advantage of ĪnÄÇ°’s renewed opposition to Īldegoz in the years 561/1165-66 to 564/1168-69, and Ebn al-Aṯīr (XI, p. 332) records that in 563/1167-68 [Ebn] Ä€q Sonqor requested that the caliph give the ḵoá¹b²¹ in the name of the Saljuq malek, son of Moḥammad, who was with him. This challenge to his supremacy caused Īldegoz to send his son JahÄn-pahlavÄn against ArslÄn Aba once again, and this time he was defeated and forced to shut himself up in MarÄḡa, after which they made peace.
Falak-al-dÄ«n (?), dates unknown. There is only one report in Ebn al-Aṯīr (XI, p. 423), which records that, when Moḥammad JahÄn-pahlavÄn besieged MarÄḡa in 570/1174-75, Ebn Ä€q Sonqor had died and left the city to his son, Falak-al-dÄ«n. It is not clear whether his death was in 570 or somewhat before. PahlavÄn besieged Rūʾīn Dez, then MarÄḡa itself, but was unable to take either. He had sent his brother, Qezel ArslÄn, to besiege TabrÄ«z, also under AḥmadÄ«lÄ« control at that time, and a peace was made in which TabrÄ«z was ceded to the Ildegozids. Falak-al-dÄ«n’s reign would have to have ended sometime before 584/1188-89, as noted below. A notice by ḤamdallÄh MostawfÄ« (°ÕÄå°ùīḵ-±ð²µ´Ç³úÄ«»å²¹, p. 462), a much later author, claims that the “ruler of MarÄḡa” was thinking of war with Īldegoz after the death of ĪnÄnÇ° and that PahlavÄn went and defeated him. It then says that MarÄḡa was given as ±ð±çá¹ÄÊ¿ to the brothers Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n Karba (Karpa) and Rokn-al-dÄ«n. This tradition eliminates Falak-al-dÄ«n and seems to indicate that ArslÄn Aba was deposed in favor of Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n, who is known from other sources, and Rokn-al-dÄ«n, who is not mentioned elsewhere. A scribal error in Browne’s facsimile °ÕÄå°ùīḵ-±ð²µ´Ç³úÄ«»å²¹ is probably responsible for Minorsky’s entry of an otherwise unknown Qotloḡ into the family list (EI2I, p. 300).
Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n KarpÄ (or Karpa) ArslÄn (before 584/1188-1189 to 604/1207-08; on the name see KasravÄ«, &³§³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;²¹³ó°ùÄ«Äå°ùÄå²Ô, p. 232). The sources have no notices of the AḥmadÄ«lÄ«s for fourteen years, then we find in RÄvandÄ« (RÄḥat al-á¹£odÅ«r, p. 347) that shortly after the last Saljuq sultan of Iraq, Ṭoḡrel, had defeated the caliph’s army at DÄy Marg in 584/1188-89, Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n of MarÄḡa came to HamadÄn to pay homage and was given charge of Ṭoḡrel’s son Berk-yaruq (BarkÄ«Äroq). The situation in HamadÄn was not to the ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì’s liking, so he returned to MarÄḡa. Again, we lack a connected account of Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n’s reign.
He seems to have been a man of pronounced literary interests, since at his request the poet NeẓÄmÄ« GanÇ°avÄ« composed the Haft peykar. According to the poet (p. 22) he was a descendant of Ä€q Sonqor and he had two sons who are otherwise unknown to us, Noá¹£rat-al-dÄ«n Moḥammad and Falak-al-dÄ«n Aḥmad. We also learn at the end of the poem that it was sent to Rūʾīn Dez, confirming this place as the residence of the ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ìs, and that it was finished 14 RamażÄn 593/31 July 1197.
Ebn al-Aṯīr (XII, p. 236) reports that he planned to take Azerbaijan from the irresolute Ildegozid ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of Azerbaijan, AbÅ« Bakr, with the help of Moẓaffar-al-dÄ«n KÅ«kborÄ« of Erbel. AbÅ« Bakr got assistance, however, and besieged Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n in MarÄḡa. Peace was made with Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n ceding one of his fortresses and receiving OšnÅ« and Urmia from AbÅ« Bakr, who actually had the last word. For Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n died in 604/1207-08, leaving his kingdom to a child, in this account, who died in 605/1208-09, allowing AbÅ« Bakr to take all of the AḥmadÄ«lÄ« possessions save Rūʾīn Dez in which a faithful eunuch shut himself with the stores and treasures and presumably with a granddaughter, who is the last of the line we know about (Ebn al-Aṯīr, XII, p. 275).
There are two entries in Ebn al-Fowaá¹Ä«’s MaÇ°maÊ¿ al-ÄdÄb which may complicate the list of rulers of the family. In one (pt. 2, p. 1070, no. 1598) there is an Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n b. Karba b. Noá¹£rat-al-dÄ«n Aba ArslÄn b. AtÄbak QarÄ Sonqor AḥmadÄ«lÄ«. This is probably our Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n with his name and ancestors somewhat garbled. He is reported to have been partial to the learned and religious leaders, as well as to Sufism. Ebn al-Fowaá¹Ä«, quoting a work by QÄżī Afżal-al-dÄ«n, the °ÕÄå°ùīḵ-±ðµþÄ«&²õ³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;°ìÄ«²Ô, also says that he died in Ḏu’l-qaÊ¿da of 604/1207-08, which agrees with Ebn al-Aṯīr, and that he was buried in his tomb which was attached to a madrasa not named in the text. If Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n was a tomb builder, he could have been responsible for the so-called Gonbad-e KabÅ«d which is from about the right period (Godard, Monuments, p. 9; KÄrang, ´¡²ú²ÔÄ«²¹, p. 15). The other person mentioned in the MaÇ°maÊ¿ al-ÄdÄb (pt. 1, p. 27, no. 18) is more difficult to account for. He is called Ê¿Ezz-al-dÄ«n Abu’l-ḤÄreṯ ArslÄn Aba b. AtÄbak TorkÄ« MarÄḡī and is said to have been killed in a battle near TabrÄ«z with one Noá¹£rat-al-din BÄ«škÄ«n in 605/1208-09. It is not clear from his name whether he was even part of the family, just that he is supposed to have ruled in MarÄḡa. The date of his death is the same as that of the child mentioned by Ebn al-Aṯīr (XII, p. 275), but Ebn al-Fowaá¹Ä«’s notice suggests that this person was an adult, as he was “á¹£Äḥ±ð²ú” of a madrasa and was killed in battle. Even so, we do not know enough to rule out the possibility that he was a son of Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n, although his name is not the same as either one of the sons of Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n mentioned by the poet NeẓÄmÄ«.
The last certain recorded member of the family is the SalÄfa ḴÄtÅ«n mentioned in Ebn al-Fowaá¹Ä«’s notice. She is apparently the woman referred to by Ebn al-Aṯīr (XII, p. 377) as being the ruler of MarÄḡa and being in Rūʾīn Dez when MarÄḡa was taken by the Mongols in 617/1220-21. NasavÄ« (³§Ä«°ù²¹³Ù, p. 232) who refers to her as one of the descendants or grandchildren (ḥa´Ú²¹»å²¹) of ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì Ê¿AlÄʾ-al-dÄ«n, notes that she had been married to the deaf-mute, Malek-e ḴÄmÅ«š Qezel ArslÄn by his father, the ²¹³ÙÄå²ú²¹°ì of Azerbaijan, Ozbek. She apparently remained in Rūʾīn Dez when Malek-e ḴÄmÅ«š joined the ḴᵛÄrazmšÄh JalÄl-al-dÄ«n, whose service he later left for AlamÅ«t where he died. SalÄfa ḴÄtÅ«n was preparing to end the siege of her castle by the ḴᵛÄrazmšÄh’s vizier, Šaraf al-molk, by marrying him when JalÄl-al-dÄ«n arrived and claimed her for himself, installing a governor in Rūʾīn Dez. ḴÄmÅ«š’s son, Noá¹£rat-al-dÄ«n, who, according to JovaynÄ« (I, p. 116; II, p. 248), later received appointments from the Mongols, may have been by SalÄfa ḴÄtÅ«n, but, according to Minorsky (EI2I, p. 301), this is not certain.
See also AtÄbakÄn-e Ä€á¸arbÄyÇ°Än; and AtÄbakÄn-e MarÄḡa.
Bibliography:
Medieval sources: Abu’l-Fatḥ BondÄrÄ«, Zobdat al-noá¹£ra wa noḵbat al-Ê¿oá¹£ra, ed. M. Th. Houtsma, in Recueil de textes relatifs à l’histoire des Seldjoucides II, Leyden, 1889, pp. 160-70, 175, 217, 231-43.
Ebn al-Aṯīr (repr.), X, years 501, 505, 510, 514, 516, 523, 525-528; XI, years 529, 530, 532, 554, 556, 557, 563, 570; XII, years 602, 604, 617.
Ebn al-Fowaá¹Ä«, MaÇ°maÊ¿ al-ÄdÄb, Damascus, 1962, IV/1, p. 27; IV/2, p. 1070.
Abu’l-Ḥasan Ê¿AlÄ« ḤosaynÄ«, AḵbÄr-al-dawla SalÇ°Å«qÄ«ya, Lahore, 1933, pp. 101, 142, 196.
°ÕÄå°ùīḵ-±ð²µ´Ç³úÄ«»å²¹ (Tehran), pp. 446, 454, 472.
ŠehÄb-al-dÄ«n Moḥammad NasavÄ«, ³§Ä«°ù²¹³Ù al-solá¹Än JalÄl-al-dÄ«n MankobertÄ«, Cairo, 1953, pp. 223-24, 264; Pers. tr., ³§Ä«°ù²¹³Ù-e JalÄl-al-dÄ«n MinkbernÄ«, ed. M. MÄ«novÄ«, Tehran, 1344 Š./1965-66, pp. 161-62, and notes, pp. 366, 404, 407.
NeẓÄmÄ« GanÇ°avÄ«, Haft peykar, ed. Waḥīd DastgerdÄ«, Tehran, n.d., pp. 21-28, 366-67.
Moḥammad b. Ê¿AlÄ« RÄvandÄ«, RÄḥat al-á¹£odÅ«r wa Äyat al-sorÅ«r, ed. M. EqbÄl, GMS, N.S. II, London, 1921, pp. 44, 233, 244, 347.
Sebá¹ b. al-JawzÄ«, ²Ñ±ð°ùʾÄå³Ù al-zamÄn VIII/1, Hyderabad (Deccan), 1951, p. 53.
Modern sources: A. Godard, Les Monuments de MarÄgha, Publications of the Société des études iraniennes, no. 7, Paris, 1934, pp.7-11.
Ê¿Abd-al-Ê¿AlÄ« KarÄng, ´¡²ú²ÔÄ«²¹ wa ÄṯÄr-e tÄrīḵī-e MarÄḡa, TabrÄ«z, 1350 Š./1971-72, pp. 13-16.
A. KasravÄ«, &³§³¦²¹°ù´Ç²Ô;²¹³ó°ùÄ«Äå°ùÄå²Ô-e gomnÄm, 1335 Š./1956-57, pp. 228-50, 252.
V. Minorsky, “MarÄgha,” EI1III, pp. 261-66.
Idem, “AḥmadÄ«lÄ«s,” EI2I, pp. 300-01.
Camb. Hist. Iran V, pp. 169-71, 176-79, 183.
Search terms:
| اتابکان مراغه | atabakan e maragheh | atabakan e maraagheh | ataabakaan e maraaghe |
(K. A. Luther)
Originally Published: December 15, 1987
Last Updated: August 17, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 8, pp. 898-900
