City · The Eldiguzid atabegs of Azerbaijan · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tabriz

Tabriz lies in a fertile plain watered by the Mehran river, between the Sahand and Eynali mountains, where the roads from Iraq and Persia meet the roads to Anatolia, Georgia and the Caspian.

It was a lesser town until the Rawwadid emirs made it their seat; it was rebuilt after the great earthquake of 434 AH (1042). The Eldiguzids took it from the Ahmadilis of Maragha in the 1170s, and Qizil Arslan made it his capital; on 1 January 1200 it is Abu Bakr's capital and the chief market of Azerbaijan. Its poets' cemetery at Surkhab holds Khaqani of Shirvan.

Who holds it

Name
Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr, through a governor (not named in the sources read)
Title
Atabeg of Azerbaijan and Arran
Since
1191
Confidence
high

Lord in 1200

Atabeg Abu Bakr's capital, held through his governor

How things stand that morning

Abu Bakr's capital and residence (with Nakhchivan).

Charter

None: the towns of the atabegs have no charters; the governor (shihna or wali), the judge (qadi) and the market inspector (muhtasib) answer to the ruler.

Council

No sworn council; the notables (a'yan), the qadi and the heads of quarters speak for the town.

Communities

Persian-speaking Muslim townsmen, the atabeg's Turkish soldiers and officials; Armenian and other Christian traders (numbers and quarters for 1200 not pinned).

Fairs and markets

Weekly and daily markets (suq) and caravanserais; no fair dates recorded.

Militia

Townsmen's young men's associations (ahdath, 'ayyarun) exist in the towns of the region; nothing specific is recorded for 1199-1200.

Walls and castle

Walled since the rebuilding after 1042 (Le Strange after Mustawfi); the atabeg's palace and citadel. The great Mongol-era city and walls (Ghazan) are later.

Trade and crafts

The caravan trade between Iraq, Persia, Anatolia and the Caucasus; cloth and silk; the produce of the plain (fruit, grain).

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. 606-607 AH (1210)Georgian raiders reach Tabriz on their great raid after sacking Ardabil.Depends on: The Georgian advance after Dvin (1203) and Ardabil Stopped by: A strong atabeg

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The town's history is clear in outline; its institutions in 1200 are not documented in the sources read.

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

Sources and studies

  1. K. A. Luther, 'Atabakan-e Adarbayjan', Encyclopaedia Iranica
  2. K. A. Luther, 'Atabakan-e Maraga', Encyclopaedia Iranica
  3. G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905), chapters on Adharbayjan and Arran

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.