Marwanid, (990-1085), was a
KurdishThe Kurds are an Ethnic-Iranian ethnolinguistic group mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
dynasty in Northern
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
(present day
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, 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.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
) and
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, centered around the city of Amed (
DiyarbakırDiyarbakır is the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province with a population of almost 1.5 million...
). Other cities under rule were
Arzan,
Mayyāfāriqīn (today
SilvanSilvan or Sylvan may refer to:*Richard Sylvan, the Australian logician and environmentalist Richard Routley who changed his surname to Sylvan...
),
Hisn Kayfa (
HasankeyfHasankeyf is a 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
SilvanSilvan or Miyarfarqin is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. It is was the capital of the Merivan Kingdom and is known today for its Malabadi Bridge. Its population is 76,000. In Byzantine Times it was known as Martyropolis....
. 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
VanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
in Armenia. During the
Phocas revolt, Bādh took advantage of the mayhem inside
ByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, which was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas . The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
to raid the plain of
MusMuş is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km² in area, and has a population of 488,997 . The population was 453,654 in 2000. Kurds form the majority. The traffic code is 49. 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 is the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province with a population of almost 1.5 million...
) 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
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
punitive raids around Lake
VanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
,
Basil IIBasil II, later surnamed the Bulgar-slayer , 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...
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 Byzantines'ambitions, who were present in Northern-
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
. The relations of this prince with the Emperor
Basil IIBasil II, later surnamed the Bulgar-slayer , 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...
(976-1025) were quite friendly. When Basil learnt the murderer of the
GeorgianGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
potentate
David III of TaoDavid 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
SyriaSyria , 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
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and historically one of the most important rivers of Southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates 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
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of 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
douxDux is Latin for leader and later for Duke.During the Roman Republic, dux could refer to anyone who commanded troops, including foreign leaders, but was not a formal military rank...
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 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
FatimidThe Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is...
caliph of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
Al Hakim and on the Byzantine Emperor
Basil IIBasil II, later surnamed the Bulgar-slayer , 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...
. 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
vassalA vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief. By...
in
DiyarbakırDiyarbakır is the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province with a population of almost 1.5 million...
, in 1011. He signed with the Empire of
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, 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, (
EdessaEdessa is the historical name of a Syriac town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site 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 EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
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-MuqtadiAl-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 Seljuk, who ruled on the largest part of Jazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and
SyriacsSyria , 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....
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 is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
. There, he could convince the sultan
Malik Shah IJalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh or simply Malik Shāh was the Seljuk sultan from 1072 to 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 Seljukids. The last emir,
Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-day Cizre in south-eastern
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
).
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