The emir rules the fortress city that closes the Caspian passage, with its citadel and double walls running into the sea, and the strip of coastal plain round it.
His father Bek-Bars joined Rus' raiders (brodniki) against Shirvan in 1173-74 and was beaten by Akhsitan and George III of Georgia. On 1 January 1200 he is probably Abd al-Malik ibn Bek-Bars.
Who he is
- Name
- Abd al-Malik ibn Bek-Bars (modern lists: about 1180 to about 1222)
- Title
- Emir of Derbent
- Since
- About 1180 (not pinned)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Son of Bek-Bars ibn Muzaffar (emir about 1173); grandson of Muzaffar ibn Muhammad and his Georgian wife, a daughter of Demetrius I.
- Confidence
- low
Minorsky's reconstructed list (1958) via Wikipedia; not attested in a dated text of 1199-1200 among the sources read.
Overlord
None effective.
What it holds
- Derbent and its citadel
- The coastal villages from the Samur north toward the Kaitag country
- The customs of the passage
How it was acquired
Hereditary in the line that replaced the Hashimids after 1075.
Allies and rivals
Rivals: the Shirvanshah, the mountain lords of Tabasaran and Sarir. Neighbours: the Kipchaks of the steppe (no tie recorded for 1199-1200).
How things stand that morning
Holds Derbent and the coast between the Samur and the Kaitag hills.
Wealth
Tolls of the passage, the steppe trade in slaves, furs and horses, fisheries.
Military
The Sasanian walls and citadel; the town militia. No figures.
Threats
- The Shirvanshahs
- Hostile Kipchaks
- The mountain peoples
Places of note
- Naryn-Kala citadel: Citadel at the head of the double walls
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Modern list from coins and scattered notices.
On the map: The emirate's inland limit is not recorded.
Primary sources for Derbent
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 History of Derbent and Shirvan, as preserved in Munejjim-bashi's Jami al-duwal, Anonymous (an 11th-century author of Derbent, excerpted by Munejjim-bashi, died 1702) (about 1075; preserved in an Ottoman compilation of the 1670s). The only local history of the Shirvanshahs and the emirs of Derbent, surviving as extracts in a 17th-century Ottoman compilation.
- 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
- 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
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Emirate of Derbent' (ruler list after Minorsky, A History of Sharvan and Darband, 1958)
- Wikipedia, 'Derbent'
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.