Marwanid Emirate | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 983/990–1084 | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Amid | ||||||||||||||||
| Spoken languages | Kurdish (mother tongue)[1] Arabic (religious/poetry/numismatics)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (official) | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Emirate | ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 983/990 | ||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1084 | ||||||||||||||||
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TheMarwanids orDustakids, Marwanid Emirate (983/990-1085,Kurdish:میرنشینی مەڕوانی یان میرنشینی دۆستەکی) were aKurdishSunni Muslim dynasty in theDiyar Bakr region ofUpper Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq/southeastern Turkey) andArmenia, centered on the city ofAmid (Diyarbakır).
The Marwanid realm in theDiyar Bakr region ofUpper Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq/southeastern Turkey) andArmenia, centered on the city ofAmid (Diyarbakır).[2] They also ruled overAkhlat,[3]Bitlis,[4]Manzikert,[5]Nisibis,[6]Erciş,[5]Muradiye,[5]Siirt,[4]Cizre,Hasankayf, and temporarily ruled overMosul[7] andEdessa.[8]
According to most academic sources,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] the Marwanids were aKurdish dynasty hailing from theHumaydi Tribe.[17] The Encyclopaedia of Iran considers them as an Arab dynasty in one article,[18] and refers to them as a Kurdish dynasty in another article.[3] The Marwanids wereSunni Muslims.[19]
The founder of the dynasty was a shepherd,Badh ibn Dustak. He left his cattle, took up arms and became a valiant chief of war, obtaining popularity. When theBuyidemirAdud al-Dawla, who ruled Iraq, died in 983, Badh tookMayyāfāriqīn. He also conquered Diyarbakır, as well as a variety of urban sites on the northern shores ofLake Van.
During the rebellion ofBardas Phokas the Younger in theByzantine Empire, Bādh took advantage of the chaotic political situation to conquer the plain ofMush inTaron, an Armenian princedom annexed by the Byzantine Empire in 966.[20]
Elias of Nisibis, anAssyrianSyriac Christian chronicler, discussed the life of Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan. After the death of his uncle Badh, the elder son of Marwan came back to Hisn-Kayfa, and married the widow of the old warrior chief. He fought the lastHamdanids, confused them and retook all the fortresses. Elias related the tragic end of this prince who was killed inAmid (Diyarbakır) in 997[21] by rebellious inhabitants. His brother Abu Mansur Sa’id succeeded him under the name of Mumahhid al-Dawla. In 992, after Badh's death and a series of Byzantine punitive raids around Lake Van, EmperorBasil II (r. 976–1025) was able to negotiate a lasting peace with the Kurdish emirate.
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Mumahhid, a skilful diplomat, made use of the Byzantines' ambitions. The relations of this prince with Emperor Basil II were quite friendly. When Basil learnt of the murder of theGeorgian potentateDavid III of Tao, who had left his kingdom to the Byzantine Empire by testament, he stopped the campaign that he had begun inSyria to ensure the Arabian emirs' obedience and crossed theEuphrates. He annexed David's state, received Mumahhid al-Dawla with honours and made peace with him. Mumahhid al-Dawla took advantage of the peace to restore the walls of his capital Maïpherqat (Mayyafariqin), where an inscription still commemorates this event.
In 1000 when Basil II travelled fromCilicia to the lands ofDavid III Kuropalates (Akhlat and Manzikert), Mumahhid al-Dawla came to offer his submission to the emperor and in return he received the high rank ofmagistros anddoux of the East.[22]
In 1010, Mumahhid al-Dawla was assassinated by hisghulam, Sharwin ibn Muhammad, who assumed rulership. He legitimized his rule with the ancient rule that whoever kills the ruler becomes himself the successor. However this archaic rule and Sharwin's rule were soon contested, and Sharwin was overthrown. Coins are known from his brief reign.
Nasr al-Dawla was the third son of Marwan to ascend the throne. A clever politician, he skilfully navigated between the surrounding great powers: theBuyid emirSultan al-Dawla, theFatimid caliph ofEgyptal-Hakim and Basil II. Elias of Nisibis has written that Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan, "the victorious emir", subduedIbn Dimne, hisvassal in Diyarbakır, in 1011. He signed with the Byzantine Empire a pact of mutual non-aggression, but violated it once or twice. The renown of this Kurdish Muslim prince grew so much that the inhabitants of al-Ruha (Edessa, present-daySanli Urfa), at the west, called him to free them from an Arab chief. Nasr al-Dawla took the city of Edessa in 1026, and added it to his possessions. This event has been reported by the famous western Syriac authorBar Hebraeus (1226–1286). So Nasr al-Dawla annexed Edessa, but the city was retaken by the Byzantine generalGeorge Maniakes in 1031. In 1032 he sent an army of 5000 horsemen, under the command of 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, asking for reinforcements, "if you want to save your Lordship on Kertastan (Kurdistan)". Al-Ruha was finally captured again by Byzantines in 1033.[8]
The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla represented the apogee of Marwanid power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where the Church of the Virgin stood, and also constructed bridges and public baths, and restored the observatory. Some libraries were established in the mosques of Mayyafarikin and Amid. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among themIbn al-Athir,Abd Allah al-Kazaruni, andal-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees such as the futureAbbasid caliphal-Muqtadi (1075–1099). In 1054 he had to acknowledgeToghrul Beg theSeljuq as his own liege, who ruled the largest part of theJazira, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings betweenKurds and Syriacs was rich in cultural creations. It enjoyed extensive trade, vibrant arts and crafts, and an impressive history. Nasr al-Dawla left monumental inscriptions in Diyarbakır that show still now the artistic brightness of his reign.
After Nasr al-Dawla's death, the Marwanids' power declined. His second son, Nizam, succeeded him and ruled until 1079, then followed his son Nasir al-Dawla Mansur. The end of the Marwanid dynasty came about by treason.Ibn Jahir, a former vizier, left the Diyar Bakr and went toBaghdad. There, he convinced the Seljuq sultanMalik Shah I (1072–1092), a grand-nephew of Toghrul Beg, and the famous vizierNizam al-Mulk, to allow him to assault Mayyafarikin. When the city was taken, Ibn Jahir took the Marwanids' great treasures for himself. Henceforth, the Diyar Bakr fell almost entirely under the direct rule of theSeljuks. The last emir, Nasir al-Dawla Mansur, kept only the city of Jazirat Ibn ‘Umar (present-dayCizre in south-eastern Turkey). The roots of the Badikan tribe go back to Badh ibn dustak the founder of the Marwanids. This tribe continues its existence in the provinces ofMuş,Silvan andDiyarbakır inTurkey.[23] TheMalabadi Bridge inSilvan, Diyarbakır takes its name from Bad, the founder of the Marvanids. Malabadi means (house of Bad) in Kurdish.[24]
The Marwanids based their Military on Kurdish tribesmen, they never needed to employ TurkicGhilmans like their Buyid Predecessors, because they provided mounted soldiers from their own ranks.[25]
..Kurdish dynasties were formed (cf. James, 2006, 2007: 110–13; Ripper, 2012: 21), such as the Hasanwayhids, Rawadids (cf. Minorsky, 1953), Ayyubids and Marwanids. Among these, the Marwanid dynasty (983–1085) especially enjoyed considerable economic and cultural prosperity (Ripper, 2012: 21). However, Kurdish, the mother tongue of the rulers of the dynasty, does not seem to have enjoyed any visibility in administration nor in the cultural life at the court. Thus, although the qasida poetry was thriving in the Marwanid court and produced by poets of Kurdish and other origins, the language of its composition and performance is reported to be exclusively Arabic (cf. James, 2007:112; Ripper, 2012: 507–28), while the number of coins from their reign is also in Arabic (cf. Heidemann, 1997–1998).
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