Sa'd ibn Zangi

Who he is

Name

Abu Shuja' Sa'd ibn Zangi (Bosworth's CHI text calls him Izz al-Din Sa'd)

Title

Atabeg of Fars

Since

594 AH (1198) on the majority reading (Mercil); 1195 in Shahbazi

Born

Not pinned

Family

Son of Muzaffar al-Din Zangi ibn Mawdud, one of his five sons (the other three, besides Tekele, are not named in the sources read); brother of the atabeg Tekele (d. 594/1198). Wives on 1 January 1200: not pinned (his Khwarazmian bride is of 614/1217). Sons attested later: Abu Bakr (Qutlugh Khan, atabeg 1226-1260) and others; whether any were born by 1 January 1200 is not pinned. A daughter later married Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah.

Confidence

medium

Mercil (TDV); German Wikipedia after Bosworth and Spuler; Shahbazi (EIr 'Shiraz').

Overlord

None; the caliph al-Nasir is named in the prayer.

What it holds

• Shiraz (capital, mint) and its plain
• The castles of Istakhr and Ishkanwan (with Shikasta and Shahrak)
• Marvdasht, Beyza and Kamfiruz
• Kazerun and the Shapur valley
• Firuzabad, Kavar, Qir and Karzin
• Fasa, Sarvestan and Jahrom
• Eqlid, Abadeh, Surmaq, Pasargadae and Dehbid on the Isfahan road
• The coast from Ganaveh to Siraf (loose)
• Arrajan and Mahruban (low confidence)
• Yazdikhwast and Sumayram (Semirom) on the Isfahan border (low confidence)

How it was acquired

Succession to his brother in 594/1198, defended by arms against Tughril.

Allies and rivals

Rival: Tughril ibn Sunqur. Enemies later: the Ghuzz and Shabankara in Kerman, the Khwarazmshah Muhammad. Neighbours: Langar of Yazd, the Hazaraspids, the caliph in Khuzistan.

How things stand that morning

Holds Shiraz and the central plains on the majority reading; Tughril is in revolt somewhere in Fars (not pinned).

Wealth

As the realm record: the plains of Shiraz and Marvdasht, the cloth towns, the roads and the coast, all cut by famine.

Military

The Salghurid household troops, iqta' holders, the Oghuz settled in Fars, Kurdish and Lur levies. The Istakhr castles hold the treasury.

Threats

• Tughril
• Famine
• Defection of emirs to Tughril

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. 599 AH (1202-03)Sa'd captures and executes Tughril.Depends on: Victory in the civil war Stopped by: Defeat or death in battle
2. 600 AH (1203-04)Sa'd's army receives Bardasir from the Ghuzz; Sa'd takes Isfahan.Depends on: Peace in Fars Stopped by: A Khwarazmian return

Where the sources disagree

• See the realm record: Mercil makes Sa'd's succession unchallenged (Tughril dead in 577/1181-82).

Evidence: His reign is well known; its first years (1198-1203) only in outline.

On the map: The blocks follow the old districts of Fars; the war with Tughril may have taken some of them out of Sa'd's hands that winter.

Primary sources for Salghurids

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.

• 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
• 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