A former Seljuk governor of Isfahan and Shiraz, Langar succeeded his aged brother at Yazd in 590/1193-94 and set about restoring order: forts, mosques, bath-houses, gardens, qanats and caravanserais, and a new village, Izzabad, outside the city (Bafqi).
He holds the oasis and its satellite villages and the stations of the desert roads.
Who he is
- Name
- Izz al-Din Langar (ibn Wardanruz in Bosworth's list)
- Title
- Atabeg of Yazd
- Since
- 590 AH (1193-94)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Brother of Rukn al-Din Sam (d. 590/1193-94). Sons: Wardanruz, Mu'izz al-Din Kaykawus, Muhyi al-Din, Qutb al-Din Isfahsalar Abu Mansur (births not pinned). Nephew: Ata Khan (Ala al-Dawla), Sam's son.
- Confidence
- high
Fairbanks, EIr 'Atabakan-e Yazd'.
Overlord
Not pinned for 1200.
What it holds
- Yazd
- Meybod and Ardakan
- Aqda
- Taft and Mehriz
- Bafq
- Abarquh (low confidence)
How it was acquired
Succession to his brother.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: the Salghurids, the Khwarazmian governor of Kerman, the Nizaris of Tabas across the desert.
How things stand that morning
Rules Yazd in peace.
Wealth
The oasis, silk and cotton, the caravan roads.
Military
Town garrison and forts.
Threats
- Raiders on the desert roads
Where the sources disagree
- Accession date: 590/1193-94 (Fairbanks, after the local histories) against 1188 (Bosworth's New Islamic Dynasties as reproduced on Wikipedia).
Evidence: Late but detailed local histories.
On the map: The oasis villages are scattered; the block includes desert between them.
Primary sources for Yazd
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
Sources and studies
- S. C. Fairbanks, 'Atabakan-e Yazd', Encyclopaedia Iranica (after Ja'fari, Tarikh-i Yazd; Ahmad b. Husayn, Tarikh-i jadid-i Yazd; Mufid Bafqi)
- 'Atabegs of Yazd', English Wikipedia (after Bosworth, New Islamic Dynasties)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.