Abu Tahir

Who he is

Name

Abu Tahir ibn Muhammad (Iranica's Hazaraspid entry: Abu Tahir Ali ibn Muhammad)

Title

Atabeg of Greater Lur

Since

about 550/1155 (Iranica)

Born

not pinned (old by 1200)

Family

The Fadluya house; son and heir Hazarasp (succeeds 600/1203-04)

Confidence

medium

See the realm record.

Overlord

None shown

What it holds

• Idhaj (Malamir) and its plain
• The Bakhtiari highlands of Lordegan, Ardal, Farsan and Chelgard
• A claim to Kuhgiluya (not pinned)

How it was acquired

Service to the Salghurid Sunqur and independence about 1155.

Allies and rivals

As in the realm record.

How things stand that morning

Independent atabeg at Idhaj; no overlord's khutba can be shown.

Wealth

Herds, the Idhaj plain, mountain tolls.

Military

Lur tribesmen and mountain strongholds.

Threats

• The Salghurids
• The Shul
• The caliph's Khuzistan

Places of note

• Idhaj (Malamir): Seat

Where the sources disagree

• The title Nusrat al-Din given in the brief is not found for Abu Tahir in the sources read (see the realm record).

Evidence: Late Persian sources via Iranica.

On the map: Tribal country; see the realm outline.

Primary sources for Greater Lur

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online