Marwanid
Encyclopedia
Marwanid, was a Kurdish
dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia
(present day Iraq
) and Armenia
, centered around the city of Amed (Diyarbakır
). Other cities under rule were Arzan, Mayyāfāriqīn (today Silvan
), Hisn Kayfa (Hasankeyf
), Khilāṭ, Manzikart, Arjish. The founder of the dynasty was a Kurdish shepherd, Abu Shujā Bādh bin Dustak. He left his cattle, took up arms and became a valiant chief of war, obtaining celebrity. When a member of the Iranian dynasty of Buyid, Adud al Dawla, who ruled the Islamic empire, died in 983, Badh took Mayyāfāriqīn, a city of the North-Eastern Diyarbakır. Formerly it was Martyropolis, and nowadays it calls Silvan
. He took Akhlat and Nisibis, too.
in Armenia. During the Phocas revolt, Bādh took advantage of the mayhem inside Byzantium
to raid the plain of Mus
in Taron, an Armenian princedom annexed by Byzantium in 966.
) in 997 by insurged inhabitants. His brother Abu Mansur Sa’id succeeded to him, under the name of Mumahhid al-Dawla. In 992, after Bad's death and a series of Byzantine
punitive raids around Lake Van
, Basil II
was able to negotiate a lasting peace with the Kurdish emirate.
'ambitions, who were present in Northern-Anatolia
. The relations of this prince with the Emperor Basil II
(976-1025) were quite friendly. When Basil learnt the murderer of the Georgian
potentate David III of Tao
, who had left by testament his kingdom to the Byzantine empire, he stopped the campaign that he had begun in Syria
for making sure of Arabian emirs' obedience and he crossed the Euphrates
. He annexed David's state, received Mumahhid ed Daula merrily and made peace with him.
Mumahhid ed Daula took advantage of peace for restoring the walls of his capital Maïpherqat (Mayyafarikin), the siege of his sovereignty, and made inscribe on it his name, that is still shining nowadays.
In 1000 when Basil II travelled from Cilicia
to the lands of David III Kuropalates (Akhlat and Manzikert), Mumahhid al-Dawla came to offer his submission to the emperor and in return he received the high rank of magistros and doux
of the East.
caliph of Egypt
Al Hakim and on the Byzantine Emperor Basil II
. All of them sent him congratulations. They represented the great powers that surrendered the state-plug of Mayyafarikin. Elias of Nisibis has written that Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad bin Marwan, "the victorious emir", subdued Ibn Dimne, his vassal
in Diyarbakır
, in 1011. He signed with the Empire of Constantinople
, a pact of mutual non-aggression, but violated it once or twice. The renown of this Kurdish Muslim prince grew so such that the inhabitants of al-Ruha, (Edessa
)(present-day Sanli Urfa), at the west, called him for being released of an Arabian chief. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan took the city of Edessa in 1026, and added it to his possessions. This event has been reported by the famous western-Syriac author Abu’l Faradj Bar Hebraeus (1226–1286). So Nasr al-Dawla annexed Edessa, but the city was retaken by the Byzantine Empire
in 1031. In 1032 he sent an army of 5000 horsemen, under the command of the his general Bal, to re-take the town from Arab tribes supported by Byzantium. The Kurdish commander Bal took the city and killed the Arab tribal chief, then he wrote to his lord Nasr-ad-Daula asking for reinforcements "if you want to save your Lordship on Kertastan (Kurdistan)".
The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad meaning the apogee of Marwanids' power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where stood the Church of Virgin, he built bridges and public baths. He restored the observatory. Some libraries fit out the mosques of Mayyafarikin and Amed. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among them Ibn al-Athir, ‘Abd Allah al-Kazaruni (poet), al-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees as the future Abbassid caliph Al-Muqtadi
(1075–1099). Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan, in 1054, had to acknowledge as his own liege Toghrul Beg the Seljuq, who ruled on the largest part of Jazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and Syria
cs was rich in creations in the field of cultural life. It was dense for trade, active for arts and crafts, impressive in short. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan left in Diyarbakır monumental inscriptions that show still now the artistic brightness of its reign.
. There, he could convince the sultan Malik Shah I
(1072–1092), a grand-nephew of Toghrul Beg, and the famous vizir Nizam al-Mulk, to allow him for assaulting Mayyafarikin. When the city was taken, Ibn Jahir took off the great treasures that belonged to the Marwanids and detained them greedily for himself. Since and after, the Diyarbakır fell almost entirely under the direct rule of Seljuqids. The last emir, Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-day Cizre in south-eastern Turkey).
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
(present day Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
) and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, centered around the city of Amed (Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
). Other cities under rule were Arzan, Mayyāfāriqīn (today Silvan
Silvan, Turkey
Silvan is a district of the Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. Its population is 41,451 Notable attraction is Malabadi Bridge.-History:Silvan has been identified by several scholars as one of two possible locations of Tigranakert, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, which was built by...
), Hisn Kayfa (Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf is an ancient town and district located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province in southeastern Turkey. It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981...
), Khilāṭ, Manzikart, Arjish. The founder of the dynasty was a Kurdish shepherd, Abu Shujā Bādh bin Dustak. He left his cattle, took up arms and became a valiant chief of war, obtaining celebrity. When a member of the Iranian dynasty of Buyid, Adud al Dawla, who ruled the Islamic empire, died in 983, Badh took Mayyāfāriqīn, a city of the North-Eastern Diyarbakır. Formerly it was Martyropolis, and nowadays it calls Silvan
Silvan, Turkey
Silvan is a district of the Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. Its population is 41,451 Notable attraction is Malabadi Bridge.-History:Silvan has been identified by several scholars as one of two possible locations of Tigranakert, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, which was built by...
. He took Akhlat and Nisibis, too.
List of Marwanid rulers
- Abu Shujā' Badh bin Dustak (983-990)
- Al-Hasan ibn Marwān (990-997)
- Mumahhid al-Dawla Sa’īd (997-1010)
- Sharwin ibn Muhammad (1010), usurper
- Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwān (1011–1061)
- Nizām al-Dawla Nasr (1061–1079)
- Nasir al-Dawla Mansur (1079–1085)
Bādh bin Dustak
He founded the Kurdish emirate and conquered Diyarbakır, as well as a variety of urban sites on the northern shores of Lake VanLake Van
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes . The original outlet from...
in Armenia. During the Phocas revolt, Bādh took advantage of the mayhem inside Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
to raid the plain of Mus
Mus Province
Muş Province is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km² in area, and has a population of 406,886 . The population was 453,654 in 2000. The provincial capital is the city of Muş...
in Taron, an Armenian princedom annexed by Byzantium in 966.
Abu Ali Al-Hasan bin Marwān
Elias of Nisibis, a Syriac chronicler, mentioned shortly the life of Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan. After the death of his uncle Badh, the elder son of Marwan came back to Hisn-Kayfa, married the widow of the old warrior chief. He fought the last Hamdanids, confused them and took again all the fortresses. Elias related the tragic end of this prince who was killed in Amed (DiyarbakırDiyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
) in 997 by insurged inhabitants. His brother Abu Mansur Sa’id succeeded to him, under the name of Mumahhid al-Dawla. In 992, after Bad's death and a series of Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
punitive raids around Lake Van
Lake Van
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes . The original outlet from...
, Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
was able to negotiate a lasting peace with the Kurdish emirate.
Mumahhid al-Dawla Sa’id
Mumahhid, a skilful diplomat, could make use of the ByzantinesByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
'ambitions, who were present in Northern-Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. The relations of this prince with the Emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
(976-1025) were quite friendly. When Basil learnt the murderer of the Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
potentate David III of Tao
David III of Tao
David III Kuropalates or David III the Great , also known as David II, was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid family of Tao/Tayk, a historic region in the Georgian–Armenian marchlands, from 966 until his murder in 1000...
, who had left by testament his kingdom to the Byzantine empire, he stopped the campaign that he had begun in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
for making sure of Arabian emirs' obedience and he crossed the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
. He annexed David's state, received Mumahhid ed Daula merrily and made peace with him.
Mumahhid ed Daula took advantage of peace for restoring the walls of his capital Maïpherqat (Mayyafarikin), the siege of his sovereignty, and made inscribe on it his name, that is still shining nowadays.
In 1000 when Basil II travelled from Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
to the lands of David III Kuropalates (Akhlat and Manzikert), Mumahhid al-Dawla came to offer his submission to the emperor and in return he received the high rank of magistros and doux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
of the East.
Sharwin ibn Muhammad, usurper
In 1010, Mumahhid al-Dawla was assassinated by his ghulam, slave, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, who assumed rulership. He legitimized his rule with the ancient 'law of the Turks', that who kills the ruler becomes himself the successor. However this archaic rule and Sharwin rulership were soon contested, and Sharwin overthrown. Coins are known from his brief reign.Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan
He was the third Marwan's son, acceded to the throne. As a clever politician, he could skillfully impose on the Buyid emir Sultan al-Dawla, the FatimidFatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
caliph of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
Al Hakim and on the Byzantine Emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
. All of them sent him congratulations. They represented the great powers that surrendered the state-plug of Mayyafarikin. Elias of Nisibis has written that Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad bin Marwan, "the victorious emir", subdued Ibn Dimne, his vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
in Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
, in 1011. He signed with the Empire of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, a pact of mutual non-aggression, but violated it once or twice. The renown of this Kurdish Muslim prince grew so such that the inhabitants of al-Ruha, (Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
)(present-day Sanli Urfa), at the west, called him for being released of an Arabian chief. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan took the city of Edessa in 1026, and added it to his possessions. This event has been reported by the famous western-Syriac author Abu’l Faradj Bar Hebraeus (1226–1286). So Nasr al-Dawla annexed Edessa, but the city was retaken by the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in 1031. In 1032 he sent an army of 5000 horsemen, under the command of the his general Bal, to re-take the town from Arab tribes supported by Byzantium. The Kurdish commander Bal took the city and killed the Arab tribal chief, then he wrote to his lord Nasr-ad-Daula asking for reinforcements "if you want to save your Lordship on Kertastan (Kurdistan)".
The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad meaning the apogee of Marwanids' power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where stood the Church of Virgin, he built bridges and public baths. He restored the observatory. Some libraries fit out the mosques of Mayyafarikin and Amed. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among them Ibn al-Athir, ‘Abd Allah al-Kazaruni (poet), al-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees as the future Abbassid caliph Al-Muqtadi
Al-Muqtadi
Al-Muqtadi was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1075 to 1094.He was honored by the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah, during whose reign the Caliphate was recognized throughout the extending range of Seljuk conquest. Arabia, with the Holy Cities now recovered from the Fatimids, acknowledged again the...
(1075–1099). Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan, in 1054, had to acknowledge as his own liege Toghrul Beg the Seljuq, who ruled on the largest part of Jazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
cs was rich in creations in the field of cultural life. It was dense for trade, active for arts and crafts, impressive in short. Nasr al-Dawla b. Marwan left in Diyarbakır monumental inscriptions that show still now the artistic brightness of its reign.
Twilight
After Nasr al-Dawla's death, the Marwanids' power declined and grew weak. His second son, Nizam, succeeded him and ruled until 1079, then followed his son Nasir al-Dawla Mansur. The end of the Marwanid dynasty minced along, in a scent of treason. Ibn Jahir, a former vizir, left the Diyarbakır, and went to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. There, he could convince the sultan Malik Shah I
Malik Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh was born in 1055, succeeded Alp Arslan as the Seljuq Sultan in 1072, and reigned until his death in 1092....
(1072–1092), a grand-nephew of Toghrul Beg, and the famous vizir Nizam al-Mulk, to allow him for assaulting Mayyafarikin. When the city was taken, Ibn Jahir took off the great treasures that belonged to the Marwanids and detained them greedily for himself. Since and after, the Diyarbakır fell almost entirely under the direct rule of Seljuqids. The last emir, Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-day Cizre in south-eastern Turkey).
Sources
- Bar Hebraeus, Chronique universelle, Mukhtassar al-Duwal, Beirut.
- Chronography of Elias bar-Sinaya, Metropolitan of Nisibe, edited and translated by L.J. Delaporte, Paris, 1910.
- al-Fāriqī, Ahmad b. Yûsuf b. `Alī b. al-Azraq, Tārīkh al-fāriqī (ed. Badawī `Abd al-Latīf `Awwad). Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, 1984. English summary by H.F. Amedroz, "The Marwanid dynasty at Mayyafariqin in the tenth and eleventh centuries AD", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1903, pp. 123–154.
Research
- Blaum, P., "A History of the Kurdish Marwanid Dynasty (983-1085), Part I", Kurdish Studies: An International Journal, Vol.5, No.1-2, Spring/Fall 1992, pp. 54–68.
- Blaum, P., "A History of the Kurdish Marwanid Dynasty (983-1085), Part II", Kurdish Studies: An International Journal, Vol.6, No.1-2, Fall 1993, pp. 40–65.
- Stefan Heidemann: A New Ruler of the Marwanid Emirate in 401/1010 and Further Considerations on the Legitimizing Power of Regicide. In: Aram 9-10 (1997-8), pp. 599-615.
External links
- Waqf inscription from Nasr al-Dawla; Jerusalem
- The Kurdish Marwanid princes and Syriac scholars, by Ephrem-Isa Yousif.
- The Kurdish Marwanid princes and Syriac scholars
- Basil II, in An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors, by Catherine Holmes, 2003.