Yazd: the atabegs, 1 January 1200

A local house that took over Yazd from the last Kakuyids: Sultan Arslan ibn Tughril made Rukn al-Din Sam, a commander of the Yazd garrison, guardian (atabeg) of the two daughters of the Kakuyid Faramarz, who fell at Qatwan in 536/1141.

Sam's brother Izz al-Din Langar, who had governed Isfahan and Shiraz for the Seljuks, succeeded him in 590/1193-94 and restored order after the gang-ridden last years of his brother, building forts, mosques, bath-houses, gardens, underground canals (qanat) and caravanserais. The house holds the oasis city of Yazd with its satellite villages on the edge of the central desert, astride the caravan roads from Kerman and the Gulf to Khurasan, Isfahan and Fars.

Who rules

Name: Izz al-Din Langar
Title: Atabeg of Yazd
Since: 590 AH (1193-94), succeeding his brother Rukn al-Din Sam (Fairbanks); 1188 in Bosworth's list
Born: Not pinned
Family: Brother of Rukn al-Din Sam ibn Langar, the founder (d. 590/1193-94 aged about ninety). Sons: Wardanruz (atabeg 604-615 AH), Mu'izz al-Din Kaykawus, Muhyi al-Din and Qutb al-Din Isfahsalar Abu Mansur (births not pinned). Sam's son Ata Khan (Ala al-Dawla) is also of the house.
Confidence: high

Fairbanks, EIr 'Atabakan-e Yazd', after the Yazd local histories (Ja'fari, Ahmad b. Husayn, Mufid Bafqi).

Overlord

Formerly the Seljuk sultans; on 1 January 1200 no effective overlord is attested (not pinned whether Langar names Tekish or the atabeg of Fars).

What the realm holds

Yazd (Kathah) and its oasis
Meybod and Ardakan to the north-west
Aqda towards Na'in
Taft, Mehriz (Mahriz) and the mountain villages of the Shir Kuh
Bafq towards Kerman
Abarquh (with low confidence: it belonged to Fars in older lists; the Kakuyids of Yazd held it in the eleventh century)
The caravan stations of the desert roads to Tabas and Khurasan

How it was acquired

Appointment as atabeg by Sultan Arslan (r. 1161-1176) for the Kakuyid heiresses; held by hereditary succession since.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the Salghurids of Fars, the Khwarazmian governor of Kerman, the masters of Isfahan, the Nizaris of Quhistan across the desert (Tabas). No war of Yazd is recorded for 1199-1200.

The realm that morning

Langar rules Yazd in peace, as far as the sources show.

Wealth

The irrigated oasis fed by qanats, silk and cotton weaving (Yazd's silk is famous by Marco Polo's time), the caravan trade between Kerman and the Gulf on one side and Isfahan, Khurasan and Fars on the other.

Military

The town garrison and the atabeg's forts (Langar built forts round the oasis); no figures.

Threats

Desert raiders and gangs on the roads
Pressure from the Salghurids or the Khwarazmshah

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.

604 AH (1207-08)Langar dies; his son Wardanruz succeeds.Depends on: Natural death Stopped by: Not applicable (outside 1200)

Where the sources disagree

The dossier's 'Yazd: the atabeg Langar' is confirmed: Izz al-Din Langar, atabeg 590-604 AH (Fairbanks) or 1188-1207 (Bosworth's list).

Evidence: The Yazd local histories are late (fifteenth century) but detailed; Langar's titles and dates agree across the modern summaries.

On the map: The oasis basin is drawn generously to the desert edge; the villages are scattered along qanat lines.

Primary sources for this realm

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

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