Afridun I | |
---|---|
Shah of Shirvan | |
Reign | 1106–1120 |
Predecessor | Manuchihr II |
Successor | ManuchIhr III |
Emir of Derbent | |
Tenure | 30 January 1066 - July 1068 28 December 1068 - January 1072 |
Predecessor | Abd al-Malik III |
Successor | Emir Yaghma |
Born | 1046 |
Died | November 1120 (aged 73–74) Derbent |
Issue | ManuchIhr IiI |
House | Kasranid |
Father | Fariburz I |
Mother | Sarir princess |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Afridun the Martyr was the eighteenth Shah of Shirvan. He was appointed governor of Derbent several times during his father Fariburz I's reign. "Afridun" is the arabicized form of the New Persian name Fereydun, an Iranian mythical hero. [1]
He was born c. 1046 to Fariburz I and his wife, a Sarir princess. After having suffered from several raids from the Shaddadid ruler Abu'l-Asvar Shavur I, Afridun was sent by his father Fariburz I to ask for help from the ruler of Sarir, whom Afridun was related to through his mother. However, the ruler of Sarir declined his request, and after three months, Afridun returned to Shirvan. [2] On 30 January 1066, Fariburz appointed Afridun as the governor of Derbent, who was warmly received by its people. [3] In July 1068, Afridun left Derbent and returned to Shirvan.
He succeeded his elder brother Manuchihr II around 1106. He wed his son Manuchihr to David IV's eldest daughter Tamar in c. 1111. Despite this alliance, Afridun probably continued to cooperate with Seljuks. David sent his son Demetrius on a punitive campaign to Shirvan in 1117. Demetre returned to Georgia after conquering the castle of Kaladzor (later Alberd, now Ağdaş). [4]
It is said that he was killed in a battle against "infidels" near Derbent in November 1120, [5] possibly while attempting to prevent David IV's invasion from Georgia, thus gaining the nickname "the Martyr". [6] He has been succeed by his only son Manuchihr III.
His name is inscribed on Pir Huseyn Khanqah located near river Pirsaat: "This building was ordered to be built by Abu'l Muzaffar Fariburz ibn Gershab, ibn Farrukhzad, ibn Manuchehr's ancestor Jam Afridun" [7] He is remembered by Khaqani in his ode to Ismataddin: "I saw jewels of Dara in the mines of Afridun the Martyr". [8] No coins related to Afridun has been found so far.
Muhammad Falaki, commonly known as Falaki Shirvani was a poet who served at the court of the Shirvanshah Manuchihr III. A student of the poet Khaqani, Falaki is known to have authored a Persian divan, of which 1,512 verses have survived. He played a leading role in the early development of the habsiyat, a genre in Persian literature.
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty. who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951 to 1199 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia.
Ibrahim I was the 33rd Shirvanshah. Because of his cunning politics he managed to remain independent and avoid being deposed by the Turko-Mongol ruler Timur.
Khalilullah I, also known as Sultan-Khalil (سلطان-خلیل), was the Shirvanshah from 1418 to 1465. He was the son and successor of Ibrahim I. He was succeeded by his son Farrukh Yasar.
Afzal al-Dīn Badīl ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿOthmān, commonly known as Khāqānī, was a major Persian poet and prose-writer. He was born in Transcaucasia in the historical region known as Shirvan, where he served as an ode-writer to the Shirvanshahs. His fame most securely rests upon the qasidas collected in his Divān, and his autobiographical travelogue Tohfat al-ʿErāqayn. He is also notable for his exploration of the genre that later became known as habsiyāt.
Sarir or Serir was a medieval Christian state lasting from the 6th or 7th century to the 12th century in the mountainous regions of modern-day Dagestan in southern Russia. Its name is derived from the Arabic word for "throne" and refers to a golden throne that was viewed as a symbol of royal authority.
The Caspian expeditions of the Rus' were military raids undertaken by the Rus' between the late 9th century and c. 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores, of what are nowadays Iran, Dagestan, and Azerbaijan. Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland in the 9th century traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale Viking raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged in the Gorgan region, in the territory of present-day Iran, and more to the west, in Gilan and Mazandaran, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by the Khazars in the Volga Delta, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on the middle Volga.
Abu'l-Aswar or Abu'l-Asvar Shavur ibn Fadl ibn Muhammad ibn Shaddad was a member of the Shaddadid dynasty. Between 1049 and 1067 he was the eighth Shaddadid ruler of Arran from Ganja. Prior to that, he ruled the city of Dvin from 1022 as an autonomous lord. A capable warrior, and a wise and cunning ruler, Abu'l-Aswar was engaged in several conflicts with most of his neighbours. During his rule over Dvin, he was mostly involved in the affairs of the Armenian principalities. He collaborated with the Byzantine Empire in its conquest of the last remnants of Bagratid Armenia in 1045, but when the Byzantines later turned on him, he survived three successive offensives that sought to take Ganja. In 1049, a revolt in Ganja overthrew his infant great-great-nephew, Anushirvan. The rebels invited him to take up the family's emirate, and he moved from Dvin to Ganja. Under his rule, the Shaddadid dynasty reached its zenith. He undertook successful campaigns into Georgia and Shirvan, although the limits of Shaddadid power were exposed by his failure to take over the Emirate of Tiflis and by devastating raids by the Alans. At the same time, his reign witnessed the rapid rise of the Seljuk Empire and the extension of its control over the Transcaucasian principalities. Abu'l-Aswar became a Seljuk vassal in 1054/5. Although he gained control over the former Armenian capital of Ani through Seljuk patronage in 1065, this association also paved the way for the dynasty's decline after his death in November 1067.
Shirvanshah was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids. The second ruling line were the Darbandi, distant relatives of the Yazidids/Kasranids.
Akhsitan I was the 20th Shirvanshah after 1160, and thought to have reigned until the years 1197–1203/04. He was the son and successor of Manuchihr III. His mother was Tamar, a Georgian princess from the Bagrationi dynasty.
Muhammad III was the third Layzanshah and the seventh Shirvanshah. He was the son of Abu Tahir Yazid.
Yazid ibn Ahmad was the tenth independent Shah of Shirvan.
Manuchihr, Minuchihr or Manuchehr I was the eleventh Shah of Shirvan. He is considered to be first fully Persianized ruler of the dynasty. Starting from his rule, the Shirvanshahs favoured names from the pre-Islamic Iranian past and claimed descent from characters such as the Sasanian monarch Bahram V Gur.
Abu Mansur Ali was twelfth Shah of Shirvan, ruling from 1034 to 1043.
Qubad was the thirteenth Shah of Shirvan, a younger brother of his predecessor Ali II.
Fakhr al-Din Fariburz ibn Sallar, better simply known as Fariburz I (فریبرز), was the sixteenth Shah of Shirvan, ruling from 1063 to 1096. His reign saw many major political balance changes in Caucasus, including expansion by the Seljuqs. He was considered a ruler with great diplomatic skills, and his kingdom extended from Mughan to Kumuk and Alania.
Manuchihr III was the 19th Shirvanshah from 1120 to sometime after 1160. He was the son and successor of Afridun I.
Shabaran, was a town and district in the historical region of Shirvan, in what is now the eastern part of Azerbaijan.
The Kasranids were a branch of the Shirvanshahs, who ruled the Shirvan region for 387 years. The word "Kasra" was derived from legendary king Kai Khosrow of Iran, reflecting a shift in naming tradition from Arabic to Persian and it was part of an effort to break with their Arabic roots by claiming to be successors of the Sasanians and the Kayanian dynasty.
In the history of Azerbaijan, the Early Middle Ages lasted from the 3rd to the 11th century. This period in the territories of today's Azerbaijan Republic began with the incorporation of these territories into the Sasanian Persian Empire in the 3rd century AD. Feudalism took shape in Azerbaijan in the Early Middle Ages. The territories of Caucasian Albania became an arena of wars between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire. After the Sassanid Empire was felled by the Arab Caliphate, Albania also weakened and was overthrown in 705 AD by the Abbasid Caliphate under the name of Arran. As the control of the Arab Caliphate over the Caucasus region weakened, independent states began to emerge in the territory of Azerbaijan.