Ahar (Pishteginids)

Who he is

Name

Not pinned (a Pishteginid; the only ruler named in the sources read is Mahmud ibn Pishtegin, on a coin of 613 AH, 1216-17, naming the atabeg Uzbek as overlord)

Title

Malik of Ahar

Since

The family holds Ahar from about 1155

Born

Not pinned

Family

Descendants of a Georgian nobleman taken prisoner by Sultan Alp Arslan in 1068 and brought to Iran (Minorsky, 'The Georgian Maliks of Ahar').

Confidence

low

Known from Minorsky's article and coins; nothing dated to 1199-1200 in the sources read.

Overlord

The Eldiguzid atabeg (the dynasty's later coins name the caliph and the atabeg with themselves).

What it holds

• Ahar and its district in the Qaradagh mountains (Varzaqan, Kaleybar)

How it was acquired

Hereditary since about 1155.

Allies and rivals

Vassals of the atabeg; nothing recorded for 1199-1200.

How things stand that morning

The malik holds Ahar under Abu Bakr.

Wealth

Mountain pastures and Ahar's market.

Military

Not recorded.

Threats

• Georgian raids that pass through Azerbaijan (1208-10: later)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One article (Minorsky 1951) and coins; the ruler on 1 January 1200 is not known.

On the map: Drawn round Ahar only; the real extent is unknown.

Primary sources for Eldiguzids

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.

• The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
• History of the Armenians, Kirakos Gandzaketsi (1241 to 1265). Written at Getik and Gandzak in the Zakarid lands of Georgian Armenia. Read online
• The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. Read online
• The Historical Compilation of Vardan Areveltsi, Vardan Areveltsi (about 1267 to 1271). A short universal history that for the 12th and 13th centuries follows Samuel of Ani, Michael the Syrian (which Vardan helped translate into Armenian in 1248) and Kirakos. Read online
• Comfort of Hearts and Sign of Joy: a History of the Seljuks, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Rawandi (Ravandi) (1203 to 1204, dedicated to Kaykhusraw I of Rum). A history of the Great Seljuks from their origins to the death of the last sultan Toghril III in 1194, begun at Hamadan and finished for Kaykhusraw of Rum when the author moved to Anatolia. Read online
• History of Tabaristan, Ibn Isfandiyar (Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan) (begun 1206, extended about 1216; continued anonymously to 1349). The local history of the Caspian province and the only account of the Bavandid kings of Tabaristan: Husam al-Dawla Ardashir (reigned 1173 to 1206) at Sari and Amul, his dealings with the Khwarazmshahs Tekish and Ala al-Din Muhammad, the Nizaris of Alamut, the Eldiguzids and the caliph, and the marriages, feuds and raids of the Daylamite and Gilaki lords. Read online
• 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