Rawadid

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Rawadid (also Rawwadid or Ravvadid), (955-1227), was a Kurdish principality ruling Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 13th centuries, centered around Tabriz and Maragheh(Maragha). It was founded by a Kurdish chief named Muhammad ibn Husain in the mid tenth century[1]. The Rawadids were originally from Arab ancestry (Azd tribe), and arrived in the region in 758 CE, but they had become Kurdicized by the early 10th century and began to use Kurdish forms like Mamlan for Muhammad and Ahmadil for Ahmad as their names [2]. According to Kasravi, Rawwadids conquered the lands of the Musafirid ruler Ibrahim bin Marzuban, in Azarbaijan in 979.

Wahsudan bin Mamlan is the best known Rawwadid ruler, and he is mentioned by Ibn Athir. The regions of Tabriz, Maragheh and the strongholds of Sahand mountain were in his possession. In 1029, he helped the Hadhbani Kurds of Maragheh to defeat the invading ghuz tribes [3].

Toghrul conquered the principality in 1054 CE, and he defeated the Kurdish prince of Tabriz Wahsudan ibn Mamlan [4]. In 1071, when Alp Arslan returned from his campaign against the Byzantine Empire, he deposed Mamlan. Wahsudan's successor, Ahmad bin Wahsudan, lord of Maragheh, took part in the Muhammad Malik Shah's campaign against Syria in 1110 CE [5](see under Turkish Conquest). His full title was Ahmadil bin Ibrahim bin Wahsudan al-Rawwadi al-Kurdi. Ahmadil took part in the crusades on behalf of muslims. Joscelin made a peace treaty with him during the siege of Tell Bashir(in present-day southern Turkey, south-east of Gaziantep). He was stabbed to death by the Ismailis in 1117 in Baghdad. His descendants continued to rule Maragheh and Tabriz until the Mongol invasion in 1227 [6],[7].

[edit] Rawadid Rulers

1. Muhammad Ibn Husain (? -c. 951 ?)
2. Husain I (955-988)
3. Mamlan I (988 -1000)
4. Husain II (1000-1019)
5. Vahsudan (Wahsudan) (1019-1054)
6. Mamlan II (1054-1071)

[edit] References

1. P. Blaum, Diplomacy gone to seed: a history of Byzantine foreign relations, 1047-57 A.D., International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2005, p.15 [8].
2. Minorsky, La Domination des Dailamites, presented in a Conference of the Societé des Etudes Iraniennes, Paris, 28 May, 1931. Also see Minorsky, Daylam in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1962, pp. 189-94 [9].
3. Rawwadids, Encyclopaedia of Islam.
4. Maragha, Encyclopaedia of Islam.
5. A Chronology of World Political History(801 - 1000 C.E.)(see Rawwadid)
6. List of Rawadid Rulers