Muhtasham of Quhistan

Who he is

Name

not pinned: no muhtasham is named for 1199-1200 in the sources read

Title

Muhtasham (regional chief) of Quhistan

Since

not pinned

Family

not pinned

Confidence

low

The office is well attested (Nasir al-Din Abd al-Rahim ibn Abi Mansur, the patron of Nasir al-Din Tusi, held it in the 1220s-1240s); no holder is named for 1200.

Overlord

The imam at Alamut, who appoints him.

What it holds

• Qa'in and its district (the old capital of Quhistan)
• Tun (Ferdows) and its district
• Junabad (Gunabad), with its great qanats (Nizari in 1200: likely, not firmly pinned)
• Turshiz (Kashmar's ground), the chief Nizari fortress of northern Quhistan, besieged by the Khwarazmians in 1200 (later)
• Tabas Gilaki (Tabas), the desert oasis of dates
• Khusf and Khur in the south, Tabas Masinan near Birjand, and the castle of Mu'minabad (sites and holders thinly attested)
• Bajistan and the villages between Tun and Turshiz (not pinned)
• Not included: Zuzan and Khwaf (holder in 1200 not pinned), Zawa (Khwarazmian, khw's ground), Nih and the road to Sistan (Nasrid or desert)

How it was acquired

Nizari since the rising of the 1090s; held against Seljuk expeditions (1102-03 and after) and kept under Muhammad II.

Allies and rivals

Rivals: the Khwarazmshah's governors of Nishapur and Zawa to the north; the Ghurids at Herat to the east (an agreement between Ghiyath al-Din and the Quhistan Nizaris, and a Ghurid attack on them by Mu'izz al-Din that Ghiyath al-Din called off, are reported from Juzjani: not checked against the text for this map, date not pinned). Ibn al-Athir says a Ghurid army was besieging a Nizari fortress when Mu'izz al-Din was murdered in 1206 (later). Sistan to the south-east.

How things stand that morning

Held for the imam. No siege is attested for the winter itself; the Khwarazmian attack on Turshiz comes in the spring of 1200, after the murder of Tekish's vizier.

Wealth

Oasis farming on qanat water (grain, cotton, fruit, saffron is later famous), carpets and cloth of Qa'in and Tun, silk, and the caravan roads from Nishapur to Kerman and Sistan and across the desert to Yazd.

Military

Walled towns with citadels, and hill castles; townsmen and villagers in arms. Numbers not in the sources read.

Threats

• The Khwarazmian siege of Turshiz (spring 1200)
• Ghurid raids from Herat after 1200

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 596 AH, about March to July 1200Qutb al-Din Muhammad besieges Turshiz for about four months.Depends on: Tekish's order after his vizier's murder Stopped by: A truce before the spring
2. Ramadan 596 AH (July 1200)On news of Tekish's death Muhammad makes peace with the Nizaris of Turshiz for a payment and leaves.Depends on: Tekish's death on 3 July 1200 Stopped by: Tekish surviving: the siege would go on

Places of note

• Qa'in: Old capital of Quhistan
• Tun: Large Nizari town
• Junabad: Qanat town
• Turshiz: Chief Nizari fortress of northern Quhistan
• Tabas Gilaki: Desert oasis
• Khusf: Small town of southern Quhistan
• Mu'minabad castle: Castle east of Birjand (Darmian); Dara (Doreh) castle is its dependency
• Qal'a-yi Kuh of Tun (Ferdows): The largest fortress of Quhistan, south of Tun (Nizari attribution undated)
• Kuh-i Zardan castle: Hill castle in Zirkuh (Nizari attribution undated)

Where the sources disagree

• Turshiz is in the khw assignment 'where not Nizari'; in January 1200 it is Nizari (Ibn al-Athir and Juvaini on the siege of 596 AH), so it is drawn here.

Evidence: That the Nizaris hold Quhistan's towns is sure; which towns exactly, and the name of the muhtasham in 1200, are not in the sources read.

On the map: The polygon follows Quhistan as the geographers describe it; the eastern and southern limits towards Herat, Khwaf and Sistan are rough.

Primary sources for Nizaris of Alamut

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 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
• The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvayni (1252 to 1260). Written for the Mongols but with a long retrospective on the powers they destroyed. Read online
• Compendium of Chronicles, Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani (1300 to 1311, at Tabriz). The official Ilkhanid history, compiled from Mongol oral tradition and the lost Altan Debter. Read online
• The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Benjamin of Tudela (about 1173). A generation before 1200 but the only survey of its kind: the Jewish communities and their heads from Navarre through Provence, Italy, Constantinople and the Aegean, Antioch, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, Mosul and Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, with notes on rulers, trades, the exilarch at Baghdad, the Assassins of Syria and Persia, and hearsay on India, Ceylon and China. Read online