Ahmad Sanjar

"Sanjar" redirects here. For the town in Iraq, see Sinjar. For the Iraqi plain, see Plain of Sanjar. For the Iraqi mountain, see Mount Sinjar.

Ahmad Sanjar (Persian: احمد سنجر; full name: Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah^[3]) (6 November 1086 – 8 May 1157)^[4] was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until 1118,^[5] when he became the Sultan of the Seljuq Empire, which he ruled until his death in 1157.

Ahmad Sanjar
Ahmad Senjer seated on his throne, in a 1307 Ilkhanid miniature.
Sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire
Reign	18 April 1118 – 8 May 1157
Predecessor	Muhammad I
Co-sultan	Mahmud II (1118–1131) Dawud (1131–1132) Tughril II (1132–1134) Mas'ud (1134–1152) Malik-Shah III (1152–1153) Muhammad II (1153–1157)
Malik of Khorasan
Reign	1097–1118
Predecessor	Muhammad I Tapar
Successor	Khwarezmian Empire conquest
Born	6 November 1086 Sinjar
Died	8 May 1157(1157-05-08) (aged 70) Merv
Consort	Turkan Khatun Rasudan Abkhaziyya Khatun
Issue	Mah-i Mulk Khatun Amir Sitti Khatun Amira Khatun Gawhar Khatun
Dynasty	Seljuq
Father	Malik-Shah I
Mother	Taj Safariyya Khatun[1][2]
Religion	Sunni Islam

Early years

Sanjar was born on 6 November 1086^[6] in Sinjar, a town situated in northwestern Iraq. Although primary sources state that he was named after his birthplace (Rāvandi, p. 185; Ebn al-Jawzi, XVIII, p. 161) Bosworth notes Sanjar is a Turkic name, denoting "he who pierces", "he who thrusts".^[5] He was a son of Malik Shah I and participated in wars of succession against his three brothers and a nephew, namely Mahmud I, Barkiyaruq, Malik Shah II and Muhammad I. In 1096, he was given the province of Khorasan to govern under his brother Muhammad I.^[7] Over the next several years Ahmad Sanjar became the ruler of most of Iran with his capital at Nishapur.

Governor of Khorasan

A number of rulers revolted against Sanjar and continued the split of the Great Seljuq Empire that had started upon dynastic wars. In 1102, he repulsed an invasion from Kashgaria, killing Jibrail Arslan Khan near Termez.^[7] In 1107, he invaded the domains of the Ghurid ruler Izz al-Din Husayn and captured him, but later released him in return for tribute.

Sanjar undertook a campaign to eliminate the Nizari Ismailis within Persia and successfully drove them from a number of their strongholds, including Quhistan and Tabas.^[8] However, an anecdote indicates that en route to their chief stronghold at Alamut, Sanjar woke up one day to find a dagger beside him, pinning a note from Hassan-i Sabbah stating that he (Hassan) would like peace. Sanjar, shocked by this event, sent envoys to Hassan and they both agreed to stay out of each other's way.^[9]

In 1117, he marched against the Ghaznavid Sultan Arslan-Shah, defeating him at Battle of Ghazni and installing Arslan's brother Bahram-Shah in the throne as a Seljuk vassal.

Sultan of the Seljuk Empire

Ahmad Sanjar, as featured on the front of the 5 Turkmenistan manat banknote

On February 26, 1105 Sultan Barkiyaruq died. He chose his younger son, Muizzeddin Malik-Shah, as heir to the throne. Malikshah took the name Malik-Shah II after being proclaimed the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. However, the true power was in the hands of his uncle, Muhammad Tapar. In the same year, Muhammad Tapar dethroned his nephew and started to rule the State himself as sultan. When Muhammad died on April 4, 1118, his son Mahmud II was declared as new sultan. When Muhammad's son Mahmud II ascended the throne, Emir of Yazd Garshasp II fell into disgrace; slander about him spread to the court that made him lose confidence, and made Mahmud send a military force to Yazd where Garshasp was arrested and jailed in Jibal, while Yazd was granted to the royal cupbearer. Garshasp, however, escaped and returned to Yazd, where he requested protection from Ahmad Sanjar (Garshasp's wife was the sister of Ahmad).^[10]

Garshasp urged Ahmad to invade the domains of Mahmud in Central Iran and gave him information on how to march to Central Iran, and the ways to combat Mahmud. Ahmad accepted and advanced with an army to the west in 1119, where he together with "five kings" defeated Mahmud at Saveh.^[11] The kings who aided Ahmad during the battle were Garshasp himself, the Emir of Sistan and the Khwarazmshah,^[11] including two other unnamed kings.^[12] Nizari forces were also present in Sanjar's army.^[13] After being victorious, Ahmad then restored the domains of Garshasp II.^[12] Ahmad then marched as far as Baghdad, where he agreed with Mahmud that he should marry one of his daughters, and that he should give up strategic territories in northern Persia.^[11]

Battle of Qatwan in 1141

In 1141, Ahmad, along with Garshasp II, marched to confront the Kara Khitan threat and engaged them near Samarkand at the Battle of Qatwan. He suffered an astounding defeat, and Garshasp was killed. Ahmad escaped with only fifteen of his elite horsemen, losing all Seljuq territory east of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes).^[14][15]

Sanjar's as well as the Seljuks' rule collapsed as a consequence of yet another unexpected defeat, this time at the hands of the Seljuks’ own tribe, the Ghuzz Turks, in 1153.^[5] Sanjar was captured during the battle and held in captivity until 1156.^[16] It brought chaos to the Empire - situation later exploited by the victorious Turkmens, whose hordes would overrun Khorasan unopposed, wreaking colossal damage on the province and prestige of Sanjar.^[16] Sanjar eventually escaped from captivity in the fall of 1156, but soon died in Merv (present-day Turkmenistan), in 1157. After his death, Turkic rulers, Turkmen tribal forces, and other secondary powers competed for Khorasan, and after a long period of confrontations, the province was finally conquered by the Ghurids in 1192, and by the Khwarazmians in the early 1200s.^[17][18]

Death and legacy

Ahmad Sanjar mausoleum in Merv (modern Mary, Turkmenistan)

Sanjar died in 1157 and was buried in Merv. His tomb was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, during their invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire.^[19]

The death of Sanjar meant the end of the Seljuq dynasty as an empire, since they controlled only Iraq and Azerbaijan afterwards. Sanjar is considered one of the most prominent Seljuq sultans and was the longest reigning Muslim ruler until the Mongols arrived. Although of Turkic origin, Sanjar was highly Iranized, and due to his feats, even became a legendary figure like some of the mythological characters in the Shahnameh.^[20] Indeed, medieval sources described Sanjar as having "the majesty of the Khosrows and the glory of the Kayanids".^[5] Persian poetry flourished under Sanjar, and his court included some of the greatest Persian poets, such as Mu'izzi, Nizami Aruzi, and Anvari.^[5]

Family

One of his wives was Turkan Khatun. She was the daughter of Muhammad Arslan Khan, the ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.^[21] She died in April 1156,^[22] and was buried in Yusuf Hamadani Mausoleum Complex in Merv.^[23] Another wife was Abkhaziyya Khatun. She was the daughter of King Demetrius I of Georgia, and the widow of his nephew Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud. They married after Mas'ud's death in 1152.^[24][25][26] One of Sanjar's daughters was Mah-i Mulk Khatun. She was born in 1105. In probably 1119, Sanjar married her to his nephew Mahmud II. When she died aged seventeen^[27] in 1122,^[28] Sanjar sent another daughter, Amir Sitti Khatun, to be his wife. Melik Shah III and Gawhar Nasab Khatun were the children of this union.^[27] She died in 1129.^[28] Amira Khatun,^[29] another of Sanjar's daughters married Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustarshid^[27] in 1124.^[30] Another daughter of Sanjar, Gawhar Khatun, married his nephew, Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud in 1134.^[31] A daughter of this union was married by Mas'ud to his nephew Dawud, son of Mahmud II. They failed to get on together, and Ma'sud gave his daughter to Dawud's brother, Muhammad II.^[27]

References

1. Massignon 1982, p. 162.
2. Safi 2006, p. 67.
3. معزالدنیاوالدین عدودالدوله ابوالحارث احمد سنجر ابن ملک‌شاه
4. Rashid ad-Din. "Collection of annals". Translated from Persian by O.I.Smirnova, edited by prof. A.A.Semenova. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1952. Vol.1, book.2. p. 80.
5. "SANJAR, Aḥmad b. Malekšāh" Encyclopædia Iranica
6. Bosworth, C.E. (2010). The History of the Seljuq State: A Translation with Commentary of the Akhbar al-dawla al-saljuqiyya. Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey. Taylor & Francis. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-136-89743-6.
7. Grousset, René (1970) The Empire of the Steppes Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, p. 159, ISBN 0-8135-0627-1
8. Franzius, Enno (1969) History of the Order of Assassins Funk and Wagnalls, New York, p. 59, OCLC 23676
9. Lewis, Bernard (1968) The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam Basic Books, New York, p. 30, OCLC 436364
10. Bosworth, C. Edmund (1983). "ABŪ KĀLĪJĀR GARŠĀSP (II)". Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 3. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. pp. 328–329.
11. Bosworth 1968, p. 120.
12. Bosworth 1983, pp. 328–329.
13. Daftary 2007, p. 338.
14. Ibn al-Athir as cited by Zarncke, Friedrich (1879) Der Priester Johannes S. Heizel, Leipzig, p. 856-857 OCLC 7619779
15. Liao Shih (the official history of the Khitan Dynasty) cited by Wittfogel, Karl A. and Feng Chia-Sheng (1949) History of Chinese Society: Liao, 907-1125 American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, p. 639 OCLC 9811810
16. Sinor, Denis (1990). The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 368. ISBN 0-521-24304-1.
17. C. Edmond Bosworth, “The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217),” Camb. Hist. Iran V, 1968, pp.94-185
18. Bosworth, C. Edmund. "Encyclopaedia Iranica (Ghurids)". iranicaonline.org.
19. Saunders, John Joseph (1971). The History of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 60.
20. Grousset 1970, p. 159.
21. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Unesco. 1998. p. 162. ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1.
22. Basan, O.A. (2010). The Great Seljuqs: A History. Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey. Taylor & Francis. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-136-95393-4.
23. Cuno, K.M. (2015). Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt. Gender and Globalization. Syracuse University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-8156-5316-5.
24. Rayfield, D. (2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-78023-070-2.
25. Comité de l'indépendance du Caucase (1954). United Caucasus: Monthly Organ of the Committee for Caucasian Independence. The Committee. p. 25.
26. al-Fatḥ ibn ʻAlī Bundārī (1943). Irak ve Horasan, Selo̧uklulari tarihi: Imad ad-Dịn al-Kâtib al-Isfahânʼi'nin, al-Bondârʼi tarafindan ihtisar edilen Zubdat al-Nuṣra va Nuḩbat al 'Usra, adli kitabinin tercümesi. M. Th. Houtsma tarafindan 1889 da leiden'de neşredilen metinden türçeye çeviren Kivameddin Burslan. Türk Tarih Kurumu yayinlari, 2. seri, no. 4. Maarif Matbaasi. p. 212.
27. Lambton, A.K.S. (1988). Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia. Bibliotheca Persica. Bibliotheca Persica. pp. 259–60, 268. ISBN 978-0-88706-133-2.
28. Richards, D.S. (2010). The Chronicle of Ibn Al-Athir for the Crusading Period from Al-Kamil Fi'L-Ta'Rikh.: The Years 491-541/1097-1146 the Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response. Crusade texts in translation. Ashgate. pp. 241, 276. ISBN 978-0-7546-6950-0.
29. Güney, Alime Okumuş (2020-12-29). "Orta Asya Türk-İslâm devletlerinde evlilikler ve evlilik gelenekleri". Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. p. 49. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
30. "SENCER". TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-08-30.
31. Bosworth, E. (2000). The History of the Seljuq Turks: The Saljuq-nama of Zahir al-Din Nishpuri. Taylor & Francis. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-136-75257-5.

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217)". In Frye, R. N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–202. ISBN 0-521-06936-X.
• Bosworth, C. Edmund (1983). "ABŪ KĀLĪJĀR GARŠĀSP (II)". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 3. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. pp. 328–329.
• Bosworth, C. Edmund (2002). "GOWHAR ḴĀTUN". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XI, Fasc. 2. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. p. 179.
• Bosworth, C. E (1995). The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay: The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040-1186. ISBN 9788121505772. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
• Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines (2nd, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-46578-6.
• Grousset, René (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Rutgers University Press. pp. 1-687. ISBN 9780813513041. false.
• Massignon, Louis (1982). The Passion of al-Hallaj, Mystic and Martyr of Islam. Vol. 2. Translated by Mason, Herbert. Princeton University Press.
• Peacock, A. C. S. (2015). The Great Seljuk Empire. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–378. ISBN 9780748638260.
• Safi, Omid (2006). The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry. University of North Carolina Press.

External links

• SANJAR, Aḥmad b. Malekšāh

Preceded by Muhammad I

Sultan of the Seljuq Empire 1118–1153

Succeeded by Divisions of Seljuq dynasty