First Ziyarid ruler of northern Iran (r. 930?935)
Mardavij
(
Gilaki
/
Persian
:
???????
, meaning "man assailant") was an
Iranian
prince, who established the
Ziyarid dynasty
, ruling from 930 to 935.
Born to a
Zoroastrian
family native to
Gilan
, Mardavij sought to establish a native Iranian Zoroastrian empire akin to the
Sasanian Empire
that had been
conquered
in the 7th century by the
Rashidun Caliphate
and subsequently ruled by
Muslims
.
[1]
He first started his career by joining the army of his kinsman
Asfar ibn Shiruya
. Mardavij, however, later betrayed and killed him, conquering much of
Jibal
. He then set out to conquer
Hamadan
,
Dinavar
and
Isfahan
from the
Abbasid Caliphate
, and thereafter declared himself king of
Iran
, making Isfahan his capital.
He then defeated the
Daylamite
military leader
Makan ibn Kaki
, and conquered
Tabaristan
in 932. By 934, his authority was acknowledged as far as
Shiraz
and
Ahvaz
.
However, his goal of recreating the Iranian Empire was ruined when he was murdered by his own Turkish slaves in 935.
Background
[
edit
]
Mardavij was born ca. 890 in
Gilan
; he was the son of Ziyar, who belonged to the
Shahanshahvand
, a royal clan that roamed around
Dakhel
. Mardavij's mother was a sister of
Harusindan
, a Gilaki ruler. Mardavij belonged to the Arghich tribe, which claimed to be descended from
Arghush Farhadan
, king of Gilan who lived during the time of
Kay Khosrow
.
Mardavij grew up in an environment where memories of the glories of the
Iranian Empire
were alive in the
Iranian culture
. According to the 10th-century
Arab
historian
al-Masudi
, most of the
Daylamite
and Gilaki leaders, who were
Zoroastrian
and pagan, had become
atheists
.
Mardavij was one of the many Gilaki leaders that entered into the service of the
Alids
, once they had established their rule over
Tabaristan
,
Gilan
, and
Daylam
.
Rise to power
[
edit
]
Around 913, Mardavij joined the army of
Asfar ibn Shiruya
of
Lahijan
, who served the
Zaydids
of Tabaristan. In 930, Asfar invaded the domains of the Zaydi
Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Qasim
. During the invasion, Mardavij managed to heavily wound Abu Muhammad near
Amol
, thus avenging his maternal uncle Harusindan, who was killed by the hands of the Alids. The army of Asfar then marched towards
Ray
, where they defeated the
Daylamite
general
Makan ibn Kaki
, who fled to
Daylam
.
Asfar managed to successfully conquer Tabaristan, and also captured
Qazvin
and
Zanjan
. He then appointed Mardavij as the governor of Zanjan. In 930, Mardavij, along with Asfar's brother, Shirzad, were ordered to capture
Tarom
, the capital of the
Sallarid
ruler
Muhammad bin Musafir
. During the siege, Mardavij, on the urging of Makan and Muhammad, betrayed Asfar by revolting against him. With the aid of Muhammad and Makan, Mardavij defeated and killed Shirzad, along with other members of his tribe. He then marched towards Qazvin, the residence of Asfar, but Asfar managed to flee. Mardavij thus founded the Ziyarid dynasty and became ruler of Asfar's former territories, which included Ray, Qazvin, Zanjan,
Abhar
,
Qom
and
Karaj
.
He is said to have worn a "crown of
Anushirvan
" at his court.
Reign
[
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]
In the same year, Makan managed to defeat Mardavij, and briefly recover Tabaristan. Makan then extended his rule over most of Gurgan and even took possession of
Nishapur
in western Khurasan, which he was forced to abandon in 931, bowing to pressure by the
Samanid
ruler
Nasr II
.
In 931, Mardavij sent an army against Makan, but the latter defeated Mardavij's forces in a first engagement in 931. Eventually, after Makan's return to Tabaristan from Nishapur, Mardavij personally launched an attack that conquered Tabaristan.
Mardavij then aggressively began expanding his domains, by attacking Asfar, who was now residing in Hamadan after his disastrous defeat. In 931, Mardavij managed to defeat and kill Asfar. He then began quickly capturing the
Abbasid
cities of
Hamadan
,
Dinavar
, and
Kashan
, and finally,
Isfahan
,
which became his capital. He then appointed his brother
Vushmgir
as the governor of Amol. Mardavij planned to conquer
Baghdad
, remove the caliphate, be crowned in
Ctesiphon
and restore the
Iranian empire
.
Just after Mardavij's victory,
Ali ibn Buya
, along with his two brothers
Hasan ibn Buya
and
Ahmad ibn Buya
, defected to Mardavij's side just as he was preparing to campaign to the south of the
Alborz
mountains as far as
Qazvin
.
Not long afterwards Mardavij granted Ali administrative rule over
Karaj
, a strategically important town probably situated near modern
Bahramabad
. While making a stop in Ray on his way to Karaj, however, Ali was warned by Mardavij's vizier
al-'Amid
that Mardavij was planning to eliminate him. Hurriedly leaving Ray, he arrived at and took over Karaj.
In 933, Mardavij made peace with the Samanid ruler Nasr II; Mardavij agreed to cede Gurgan to the Samanids and pay tribute for his possession of Ray.
Mardavij then began to focus on western Iran, where his troops managed to conquer as far as
Ahvaz
, and forced Ali, who was now in
Shiraz
, to once again acknowledge his authority.
Mardavij then had a golden throne with jewels, a
tunic
, and a golden crown made. His crown was reportedly the same shape of the crown of the Sasanian king
Khosrow I
. He also had a few silver thrones made for his best generals.
[
citation needed
]
Death
[
edit
]
In January 935, shortly before
Nowruz
festivities, Mardavij was assassinated by his Turkish slaves, whom he had treated badly, while favoring his Daylamite/Gilaki troops.
After his assassination, many of his troops entered the service of the Abbasids, while some others joined Ali, who founded the
Buyid dynasty
, and had taken over Mardavij possessions in central and southern Iran. Mardavij's brother
Vushmgir
succeeded him in northern Iran. Mardavij was buried in Gonbad-e Mardaviz, a place located in the north east of
Amin Abbad Borough
in the city of
Rey
, south of
Tehran
.
[
citation needed
]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Mardavij was one of the most notable figures in northern Iran known for preserving and advocating pre-Islamic Iranian customs.
During the
Pahlavi
era, where interest in pre-Islamic Iran was high, Mardavij appeared as the hero in stories and comic strips of children's magazines in the 1960s.
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Madelung, W.
(1975).
"The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran"
. In
Frye, Richard N.
(ed.).
The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198?249.
ISBN
0-521-20093-8
.
- Bosworth, C. E. (2010).
"ZIYARIDS"
. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition.
- Nazim, M. (1987). "M?k?n b. K?k?". In Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (ed.).
E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913?1936, Volume V: L?Moriscos
. Leiden: BRILL. pp. 164?165.
ISBN
90-04-08265-4
.
- Busse, Heribert (1975).
"Iran under the B?yids"
. In
Frye, Richard N.
(ed.).
The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 250?304.
ISBN
0-521-20093-8
.
- Madelung, W.
"G?L?N iv. History in the Early Islamic Period"
. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition
. Retrieved
27 February
2016
.
- Madelung, W. (1969).
The Assumption of the Title Sh?h?nsh?h by the B?yids and "The Reign of the Daylam (Dawlat Al-Daylam)"
. Vol. 28. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 28, no. 2. pp. 84?108.
doi
:
10.1086/371995
.
ISBN
0857731815
.
JSTOR
543315
.
S2CID
159540778
.
- Bromberger, Christian (2011).
"GIL?N xv. Popular and Literary Perceptions of Identity"
.
Encyclopaedia Iranica
.
External links
[
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]
Preceded by
None
|
Ziyarid king
930?935
|
Succeeded by
|