Mu'ayyid al-Din Ai-Aba (died July 1174) [1] was the amir of Nishapur from c. 1154 until his death. Although nominally subservient to the Seljuks of Khurasan, he acted as an independent ruler. Due to his control of much of Khurasan, the historian Ibn Funduq called him "Emperor of Khurasan, King of the East." [2]
Ai-Aba had once been a ghulam of the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar, [3] who ruled in Merv. After Sanjar was captured by a band of Ghuzz nomads in 1153 his empire quickly fell into chaos as Ghuzz tribes overran much of the sedentary areas. Sanjar's amirs attempted to restore order by recognizing Suleiman Shah as sultan. Suleiman Shah quickly demonstrated that he was incapable of dealing with the Ghuzz and fled; the amirs then set up the Karakhanid Mahmud Khan in his place, but he did little better.
With the central government unable to restore order on its own, Ai-Aba was free to pursue a largely independent policy in Khurasan. He first drove the Ghuzz out of Nishapur, Tus, Damghan, and several other cities. [4] By lowering taxes and placating the landowners, he was able to build up a good reputation and expand his influence over much of Khurasan. After Mahmud Khan was appointed as sultan, Ai-Aba initially resisted submitting to him; after prolonged negotiations he was convinced to become Mahmud's vassal, although he retained his autonomous rule of the cities he administered. [5]
Sanjar had escaped from Ghuzz captivity in 1156, but died a year later; before his death he confirmed Mahmud Khan as his successor. In spite of this, Mahmud Khan was incapable of establishing any effective control over Ai-Aba and was forced to deal with him as an equal. The latter had gone to war after Sanjar's death against Ikhtiyar al-Din Ai-Taq, another amir who had formerly been one of Sanjar's ghulams. Ai-Taq received assistance from the Bavandids of Tabaristan, but was nevertheless defeated by the armies of Ai-Aba and Mahmud Khan and was compelled to make peace with them in 1158. [6]
After the war with Ai-Taq, Ai-Aba and Mahmud Khan attempted to quell the Ghuzz bands that had set themselves up in various parts of Khurasan. The Ghuzz, however, managed to defeat them and then went on the offensive. After occupying Merv, they moved against Ai-Aba's territories and raided Sarakhs and Tus. Furthermore, they offered their services to Mahmud Khan, who considered them to be a useful check on Ai-Aba's power and accepted.
The Ghuzz continued to push against Ai-Aba, even managing to temporarily occupy Nishapur in 1159. Ai-Aba's fortunes were soon revived, however, and he was able to retake his capital that same year. He then began a purge against individuals who he considered to be responsible for the internal strife that had plagued the cities for several years, such as the head of the Nishapur Alids. In 1161, meanwhile, Mahmud Khan attempted to abandon his alliance with the Ghuzz and make peace with Ai-Aba, who however seized and blinded him before imprisoning him and his son. For two years after this he made the khutba out for himself only. [7]
Following the imprisonment of Mahmud Khan, Ai-Aba rigorously attempted to expand his domain. In 1163 he received gifts and an investiture patent from the Seljuk sultan of Hamadan, Arslan Shah, and Ai-Aba hereafter inserted his name in the khutba, [7] although the Seljuk had no effective authority over him. During this time he engaged in border disputes with the Ghurids. He also seized Qumis from the Bavandids, although they were able to take back the province in 1164. In the same year, the amir of Herat died and local citizenry handed over the city to Ai-Aba, in the hopes that he could protect them from the Ghuzz. Campaigns against the Ghuzz in Merv and Sarakhs were also undertaken. [8]
In the mid 1160s, Khwarezmid armies began raiding into Khurasan. Ai-Aba, fearing that they would eventually move against him, wrote of the matter in 1167 to his friend Ildeniz, the Atabeg of Azerbaijan and the "protector" of the Hamadan Seljuks. Ildeniz responded by writing to the Khwarezmshah, warning him that Khurasan comprised part of the territories of the Seljuks. [9]
In 1174, Ai-Aba led an expedition into Khwarezm following an appeal for help by the recently displaced Khwarezmshah, Sultan Shah, who had lost his throne to his brother Tekish. Unfortunately for Ai-Aba, his army was defeated by Tekish's forces and he himself was captured and killed. [10] In Nishapur he was succeeded by his son Toghan-Shah.
Ahmad Sanjar was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until 1118, when he became the Sultan of the Seljuq Empire, which he ruled until his death in 1157.
Mughith al-Dunya wa'l-Din Mahmud bin Muhammad known as Mahmud II was the Seljuk sultan of Iraq from 1118–1131 following the death of his father Muhammad I Tapar. At the time Mahmud was fourteen, and ruled over Iraq and Persia.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Hasan al-Mustaḍīʾ, better known by his laqabal-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh or simply as al-Nasir, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. His laqab literally can mean The One who Gives Victory to the Religion of God. He continued the efforts of his grandfather al-Muqtafi in restoring the caliphate to its ancient dominant role and achieved a surprising amount of success as his army even conquered parts of Iran. According to the historian, Angelika Hartmann, al-Nasir was the last effective Abbasid caliph.
Rukn al-Din Abu'l-Muzaffar Berkyaruq ibn Malikshah, better known as Berkyaruq (برکیارق), was the fifth sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1094 to 1105.
Ala al-Din wa-l-Dawla Abu'l-Muzaffar Atsiz ibn Muhammad ibn Anushtegin, better known as Atsiz (اتسز) was the second Khwarazmshah from 1127 to 1156. He was the son and successor of Muhammad I.
Jalal-ud-Din Sultan-Shah, known as Sultan-Shah was a claimant to the title of Khwarazmshah from 1172 until his death. He was the son of Il-Arslan.
Il-Arslan was the Shah of Khwarezm from 1156 until 1172. He was the son of Atsïz.
Ikhtiyar al-Din Ai-Taq was an influential amir in western Khurasan following the decline of the Seljuks, and the ruler of Gurgan and Dihistan from 1161 until 1165.
Sanjar-Shah was the amir of central Khurasan from 1185 or 1186 until 1187. His short reign was ended by a Khwarezmid invasion and resulted in the takeover of Nishapur by Khwarezm.
Toghan-Shah Abu Bakr was the emir of Nishapur from 1174 until his death. He was succeeded by his son, Sanjar-Shah.
Ïnanch Sonqur (Turkic) or Husam al-Din Sunqur Inanj was the Seljuk amir of Ray from 1160 at the latest until his death. During his eight years in power he played a major role in the events that occurred in northern Iran.
Malik Dinar was the Ghuzz ruler of Sarakhs from c. 1153 until 1179. He was also the ruler of the province of Kerman from 1186 until his death.
Muhammad-Shah II was the last Seljuk amir of Kerman, from 1183 until 1186.
Toghrul III was the last sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire and the last Seljuk Sultan of Iraq. His great uncle Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud had appointed Shams ad-Din Eldiguz as atabeg of his nephew Arslan-Shah, the son of his brother Toghrul II, and transferred Arran to his nephew's possession as iqta in 1136. Eldiguz eventually married Mu’mina Khatun, the widow of Toghril II, and his sons Nusrat al-Din Muhammad Pahlavan and Qizil Arslan Uthman were thus half-brothers of Arslan Shah, but despite close ties with the Royal Seljuk house, Eldiguz had remain aloof of the royal politics, concentrating on repelling the Georgians and consolidating his power. In 1160, Sultan Suleiman-Shah named Arslan Shah his heir and gave him governorship of Arran and Azerbaijan, fearful of the power of Eldiguz.
The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim empire of Turkic mamluk origin. Khwarazmians ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran from 1077 to 1231; first as vassals of the Seljuk Empire and the Qara Khitai, and from circa 1190 as independent rulers up until the Mongol conquest in 1219–1221.
Battle of Sarakhs took place in March 1459, at a location between Merv and Sarakhs.
Shahriyar IV, also known by his honorific title Husam al-Dawla, was the king of the Bavand dynasty of Mazandaran, ruling from 1074 to 1114.
Ali I, was the ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 1118 to 1142. He was the uncle and successor of Rustam III.
Ardashir I, was the ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 1173 to 1205. He was the son and successor of Hasan I.
Yelü Zhilugu was the third emperor of the Western Liao dynasty, ruling from 1177 to 1211. He was the final ruler of the Western Liao to come from the House of Yelü, as the throne would be usurped by his son-in-law Kuchlug in 1211.