Mirdasid dynasty

Mirdasid dynasty مرداسيون
1024–1080
Map of the Mirdasid emirate at its zenith during the rule of Salih ibn Mirdas in 1025
Capital	Aleppo
Common languages	Arabic
Religion	Shia Islam
Government	Emirate
Emir
• 1024–1029	Salih ibn Mirdas
• 1029–1038	Shibl al-Dawla Nasr
• 1042–1062	Mu'izz al-Dawla Thimal
History
• Established	1024
• Disestablished	1080
Currency	Dirham, dinar
Preceded by Succeeded by Fatimid Caliphate Uqaylid dynasty
Today part of	Syria Lebanon

Historical Arab states and dynasties
Ancient Arab states Kingdom of Qedar 800 BC–300 BC Kingdom of Lihyan 600 BC–100 BC Nabataean Kingdom 400 BC–106 AD Kingdom of Osroene 132 BC–244 AD Emesene Dynasty 64 BC–300s AD Kingdom of Hatra 100s–241 AD Tanukhids 196–1100 AD Ghassanids 220–638 AD Salihids 300s–500s AD Lakhmids 300s–602 AD Kingdom of Kinda 450 AD–550 AD
Arab empires and caliphates Rashidun 632–661 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–1258 Fatimids 909–1171
Eastern dynasties Emirate of Armenia 654–884 Emirate of Tbilisi 736–1122 Emirate of Crete 824–961 Dulafids 840–897 Habbarids 854–1011 Kaysites 860–964 Shirvanshah 861–1538 Alavids 864–928 Hamdanids 890–1004 Rawadids 955–1071 Mazyadids 961–1150 Jarrahids 970–1107 Uqaylids 990–1096 Numayrids 990–1081 Mirdasids 1024–1080 Munqidhites 1025–1157 Ma'nids 1517–1697 Turabays 1480–1677 Harfushs 1517–1865 Shihabs 1697–1842
Western dynasties and caliphates Salihids 710–1019 Umayyads of Córdoba 756–929 Muhallabids 771–793 Idrisids 788–974 Aghlabids 800–909 Sulaymanids 814–922 Emirate of Sicily 831–1091 Caliphate of Córdoba 929–1031 Kanzids 1004–1412 Bakrids 1012–1051 Tujibids 1013–1039 Amirids 1020–1086 Abbadids 1023–1091 Yahsubids 1023–1062 Hammudids 1026–1057 Muzaynids 1027–1063 Jawharids 1031–1091 Hudids 1039–1110 Sumadihids 1041–1091 Tahirids 1049–1078 Nasrids 1230–1492 Saadids 1554–1659 Senussids 1837–1969
Arabian Peninsula Imamate of Oman 751–1970 Ziyadids 819–1138 Yufirids 847–997 Ukhaidhirds 865–1066 Rassids 897–1962 Qarmatians 899–1077 Wajihids 926–965 Sharifate of Mecca 968–1925 Sulayhids 1047–1138 Sulaymanids 1063–1174 Uyunids 1076–1253 Zurayids 1083–1174 Nabhanids 1154–1624 Mahdids 1159–1174 Rasulids 1229–1454 Usfurids 1253–1320 Jarwanids 1305–1487 Kathirids 1395–1967 Tahirids 1454–1526 Jabrids 1463–1521 Qasimids 1597–1872 Ya'arubids 1624–1742 Upper Yafa 1800–1967 Muscat and Oman 1820–1970 Rashidids 1836–1921 Qu'aitids 1858–1967 Emirate of Beihan 1903–1967 Idrisids 1906–1934 Mutawakkilite Kingdom 1926–1970
East Africa Makhzumi dynasty (Shewa) 896–1279 Nabahani dynasty (Pate Island) 1203–1894 Mahdali dynasty (Kilwa) 1277–1495 Mazrui dynasty (Mombasa) 1746–1828 Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856–1964 Nabahani dynasty (Wituland) 1858–1895 Tippu Tip's State 1860–1887
Current monarchies 'Alawis (Morocco) 1631–present Al Qasimi (Ras al Khaymah) 1727–present Al Qasimi (Sharjah) 1727–present Al Saud (Saudi Arabia) 1744–present Al Said (Oman) 1749–present Al Sabah (Kuwait) 1752–present Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi) 1761–present Al Mualla (Umm al-Quwain) 1775–present Al Khalifa (Bahrain) 1783–present Al Nuaimi (Ajman) 1810–present Al Maktoum (Dubai) 1833–present Al Thani (Qatar) 1868–present Al Sharqi (Fujairah) 1900–present Hashemites (Jordan) 1921–present
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The Mirdasid dynasty (Arabic: المرداسيون, romanized: al-Mirdāsiyyīn), also called the Banu Mirdas, was an Arab Shia Muslim dynasty which ruled an Aleppo-based emirate in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) more or less continuously from 1024 until 1080.

History

Dominance of the Kilab in northern Syria

The Mirdasids were a family of the Bedouin (nomadic Arab) tribe of Banu Kilab. The Kilab's ancestral home was in central Arabia and its tribesmen first established themselves in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) in the years after the 630s–Muslim conquest.^[1] A second major wave of Kilabi tribesmen migrated to northern Syria from Arabia in the 9th century.^[2] The political vacuum and frequent revolts throughout the region during that period paved the way for the Kilab to strengthen their influence,^[3] becoming the predominant tribe in the region north of the Palmyrene steppe and west of the Euphrates River by the early to mid-10th century.^[4]

A third major wave of Kilabi migrants, principally from the Abu Bakr branch of the tribe from which the Mirdasids sprung, had invaded northern Syria in 932.^[5] This Kilabi migration was encouraged or directly supported by the Qarmatian movement,^[6] a radical millennarian Shi'a Isma'ili sect that had spread from southern Iraq in the second half of the 9th century.^[7] Around this time, the Bedouin tribes of Syria and Mesopotamia experienced marked population growth, which coincided with rising grain prices.^[8] This, according to historian Thierry Bianquis, made the tribes "susceptible to Qarmatian [sic] propaganda denouncing the wealth of the urban Sunni population".^[8] The Kilab and other branches of the Banu Amir, such as the Uqayl, Qushayr and Numayr, provided the bulk of the Qarmatians' military personnel.^[9] The Qarmatian campaigns "led to fundamental changes in the distribution and relative strengths of the bedouin tribes in the Syrian and Arabian deserts", and was the most important such realignment of the Arab tribes until the 18th century.^[10]

The dominance of the Kilab prevented Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid (r. 935–946), the ruler of Egypt and southern Syria, from exercising power in northern Syria, which he had conquered in the late 930s.^[6] He allied with part of the tribe, appointing one of its chiefs, Ahmad ibn Sa'id,^[8] as governor of Aleppo in 939.^[8] In the months after, al-Ikhshid's forces were driven out of northern Syria by the Abbasids. Between 941 and 944, the political situation there was fluid and at one point, al-Ikhshid reoccupied the region.^[6] He appointed Ahmad ibn Sa'id as governor of Antioch and the latter's brother, Uthman, as governor of Aleppo.^[8] Their appointments aroused the jealousy of other Kilabi chiefs.^[8] Seeking to replace their kinsmen, they invited the Hamdanids of Mosul to invade Aleppo with their assistance.^[6] The 13th-century historian Ibn al-Adim asserts that the internal divisions among the Kilab enabled the Hamdanid Sayf al-Dawla to establish his emirate in Aleppo.^[2] Due to incessant Bedouin raids against his subjects, Sayf al-Dawla expelled most of the tribes of northern Syria to the Jazira, except for the Kilab, which was the only Bedouin tribe authorized to inhabit the area.^[8]

Throughout the 10th and 11th centuries, the Kilab "represented an organised military force with powerful cavalry trained in mounted swordsmanship and not fearing to confront a government army on the field of battle", according to Bianquis.^[8] Salibi notes that the northern Syrian Kilab's main military assets were its "Bedouin swiftness of movement" and its reservoir of tribal kin in the Jazira.^[11] The Kilab "served those who paid most and often, at a time of crisis, would sell their employer to the highest bidder", according to the historian Suhayl Zakkar.^[12] Kilabi tribes were involved in every Hamdanid struggle with the Byzantine Empire, which ruled the regions north of Syria, every uprising against the Hamdanids, and in intra-dynastic conflicts over the emirate of Aleppo.^[9][8] Between 1009 and 1012, the Kilab participated in the struggle for control of Aleppo between the emirate's ruler, Mansur ibn Lu'lu', and its former rulers, the Hamdanids, and their regional backers.^[13] Twice the Kilab betrayed the Hamdanids and their allies, and in return, demanded from Mansur numerous villages to supply them with grain, pastures to breed their flocks, and war horses.^[13] Instead, Mansur, who viewed the Kilab as a hindrance to his rule,^[14] strove to eliminate them by luring the tribesmen into a trap.^[13] To that end, in May 1012, he invited them to a feast, where his ghilmān (slave soldiers or pages; sing. ghulām) assaulted them.^[15] Several were killed and the rest were imprisoned in the citadel of Aleppo.^[13]

Rise of the Mirdasid emirate

Among the Kilabi chiefs jailed by Mansur was Salih ibn Mirdas, the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty, whose family was based in the area of Qinnasrin.^[16] Salih had captured the fortress town of al-Rahba, situated along the Euphrates River, at the strategic crossroads between Iraq and Syria, in 1008, boosting his prestige among the Kilab and probably encouraging his wider territorial ambitions.^[17] Salih escaped imprisonment in 1014 and gained the allegiance of his tribesmen in Marj Dabiq, in the environs of Aleppo. Under his leadership, they defeated and captured Mansur, extricating major concessions in the subsequent negotiations to release him. These included the allotment of half of the Aleppo emirate's revenues to the Kilab and recognition of Salih as the paramount emir of the Kilab with formal authority over his tribesmen.^[18] In the following years, Salih consolidated his authority over the Kilab and expanded his emirate to include the important Euphrates fortress towns of Manbij and Balis.^[18]

The Egypt-based Fatimid Caliphate eventually gained authority over Aleppo, appointing Aziz al-Dawla as its governor there in 1017.^[13] Salih maintained friendly relations with him,^[19] while he strengthened his Jaziran emirate, which was centered in al-Rahba, where he formed an administration and presided over a tribal court.^[20] By 1022, he expanded this realm to include the twin Euphrates cities of Raqqa and al-Rafiqa.^[13] Aziz al-Dawla was killed that year and a period of chaos followed, but the Fatimids held onto the city.^[21] In 1023, Salih inaugurated an unprecedented military alliance of the Kilab and the two other strongest Arab tribes in Syria, the Banu Kalb of the Damascus region and the Jarrahid-led Banu Tayy of Transjordan, whereby the three tribes agreed to support the other in taking over Aleppo, Damascus, and Palestine, respectively, from the Fatimids.^[22] After backing the Tayy and Kalb in these efforts, Salih moved on Aleppo,^[23] capturing the town of Ma'arrat Misrin in its countryside from the Fatimids.^[24]

In late 1024, Salih's forces besieged Aleppo, capturing the city and its citadel from the Fatimids in early 1025, bringing "to success the plan which guided [Salih's Kilabi] forebears for a century", in the words of Bianquis.^[25] By then, he had also captured a string of central Syrian towns and fortresses, including Sidon on the Mediterranean, Baalbek and Homs, affording his new, Aleppo-based emirate an outlet to the sea and control of the trade route to Damascus.^[26][25] Despite his conflict with the Fatimids, he gave formal allegiance to the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir (r. 1021–1036), who, in turn, recognized him as emir of Aleppo.^[27] After Salih's Arab tribal alliance frayed with the defection of the Banu Kalb to the Fatimids in 1028, the Fatimid general Anushtakin al-Dizbari launched an assault against the Tayy in Palestine. Salih came to his ally's backing, but was slain in battle in 1029. This was soon after followed by the Fatimids resuming control over Salih's central Syrian domains.^[28]

Reigns of Nasr and Thimal

Salih was succeeded by his sons Shibl al-Dawla Nasr and Mu'izz al-Dawla Thimal, who concentrated their forces in northern Syria and the western Jazira after the Fatimid offensive.^[25] Not long after their succession, they faced an offensive from the Byzantine Empire, which controlled Antioch and the Anatolia region north of their domains. A diplomatic appeal to the Byzantine emperor Romanos III by their cousin Muqallid ibn Kamil ibn Mirdas was rejected and the emperor led the assault on the young Mirdasid emirs in person, in the summer of 1030. While Thimal strategically withdrew with the bulk of the Mirdasids' forces from Aleppo, Nasr and his Bedouin warriors from the Kilab and Numayr confronted Romanos and routed his forces at the Battle of Azaz.^[29] In the aftermath, Nasr became the sole Mirdasid ruler of Aleppo with the backing of the Byzantines, while Thimal's power was centered in al-Rahba, where most of the Kilab supported him.

Nasr's rule came to an end in 1038, when he was killed in battle confronting an offensive led by Anushtakin, who had objected to Nasr's allotment of Homs by the Fatimid government in Cairo.^[30] Thimal briefly took control of Aleppo, but soon after withdrew to al-Rahba, while Anushtakin followed up by seizing control of Aleppo from Thimal's deputies there, his cousin Muqallid and Khalifa ibn Jabir al-Kilabi, in the summer of 1038.^[31] Thimal further lost Balis and Manbij to Anushtakin, but retained control of al-Rahba. The Mirdasids had also since lost control of Raqqa and al-Rafiqa to the Numayrids, but Thimal married the Numayrid princess, al-Sayyida al-Alawiyya, and practically inherited control of the twin cities after the death of their ruler, al-Sayyida's brother Shabib ibn Waththab, in 1039 or 1040. He subsequently made Raqqa his capital to position himself closer to Aleppo. In late 1041, the Fatimid government appointed Thimal governor of Aleppo, but Anushtakin refused to vacate.^[30] He died of natural causes in 1042, but Thimal still had to seize the city by force from Anushtakin's forces, which he captured by the end of the year.^[32]

While initially remaining on good terms with the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir (r. , Thimal also requested Byzantine protection, and became a vassal of the empire. He successfully fought off two imperial Fatimid campaigns between 1048 and 1050, the first led by a scion of the Hamdanids, Nasir al-Dawla ibn Hamdan, and the second by the eunuch Rifq.^[33][30] Peace was subsequently reached between Thimal and the caliph, largely a result of a successful diplomatic mission to Cairo led by al-Sayyida al-Alawiyya.^[34][35] The following seven years were marked by stability and prosperity and Aleppo experienced a major construction boom during this period.^[35] Nevertheless, Thimal vacated his seat in Aleppo due to an inability to satiate the financial demands of his Kilabi tribal base and the growing conflict with his Balis-based brother, Atiyya, who was backed by a good part of their tribe. The Fatimids installed their own governor, Ibn Mulhim, while compensating Thimal with holdings along the central Syrian coast.^[36] When Thimal's nephew, Nasr's son Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud, captured Aleppo in 1060, the Fatimids stripped Thimal of his coastal possessions, prompting Thimal to return to Aleppo. He was unable to oust Mahmud by force, but the Kilabi chiefs brokered a settlement, giving Thimal control of Aleppo in 1061, in return for financial concessions.

Decline and fall

After Thimal's death a succession dispute emerged between Mahmud and Thimal's brother Atiyya, leading to a split in the Mirdasid domains. Mahmud controlled the western half, while Atiyya controlled the east. In order to gain an edge over Mahmud, Atiyya recruited a band of Turks, but they later defected to Mahmud, forcing Atiyya to give up Aleppo in 1065.

The Turks began moving into northern Syria in greater numbers, forcing Mahmud to convert to Sunni Islam and become a vassal of the Seljuk sultan. Mahmud's death in 1075, followed by that of his son and successor Nasr ibn Mahmud in 1076, resulted in Nasr's brother Sabiq ibn Mahmud becoming amir. Conflicts between him and members of his family, along with several different Turkish groups, left the Mirdasid domains devastated, and in 1080, prompted by Sabiq, the Uqaylid emir of Mosul, Sharaf al-Dawla Muslim, took over Aleppo. The Mirdasids maintained a level of influence in the region after the loss of Aleppo, and attempted to stem the advance of the First Crusade.

List of Mirdasid emirs

Family tree

Kurdish offshoot

According to the Sharafnama,^[39] the Kurdish Mirdasi dynasty, ruling Eğil, Palu and Çermik, took its name from the Mirdasids. Part of the Mirdasids had fled to this region after Salih ibn Mirdas had been killed in 1029. The ruling dynasty allegedly commenced in the early 11th century, when a mystic by the name of Pir Mansour travelled from Hakkari to the village of Pîran, close to the fortress of Egil. He attained widespread fame among the local Kurds and Mirdasids, and his son Pir Bedir took the fortress of Egil by force and initiated the dynasty's rule over the region.^[40]

See also

• List of Shi'a Muslims dynasties

References

Sources

• Amabe, Fukuzo (2016). Urban Autonomy in Medieval Islam: Damascus, Aleppo, Cordoba, Toledo, Valencia and Tunis. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-31598-3.
• Bianquis, Thierry (1993). "Mirdās, Banū or Mirdāsids". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 115–123. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
• Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʿı̄lı̄s: Their History and Doctrines (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-61636-2.
• Kennedy, Hugh (2023). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (2nd ed.). Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-36690-2.
• Salibi, Kamal S. (1977). Syria Under Islam: Empire on Trial, 634–1097, Volume 1. Delmar: Caravan Books. ISBN 978-0882060132.
• Zakkar, Suhayl (1971). The Emirate of Aleppo: 1004–1094. Beirut: Dar al-Amanah. OCLC 759803726.

Further reading

• Heidemann, Stefan (2002). Die Renaissance der Städte in Nordsyrien und Nordmesopotamien: Städtische Entwicklung und wirtschaftliche Bedingungen in ar-Raqqa und Harran von der Zeit der beduinischen Vorherrschaft bis zu den Seldschuken. Islamic History and Civilization. Studies and Texts (in German). Vol. 40. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-12274-5.

External links

• The Shia Rulers of Banu Ammar, Banu Mardas and the Mazidi