Ahmad ibn Isa al-Shaybani
Ahmad ibn Isa al-Shaybani | |
---|---|
أحمد بن عيسى الشيباني | |
Died | 898 |
Occupation | Arab leader |
Ahmad ibn Isa al-Shaybani (
Life
Ahmad was the son of
At Isa's death in 882/3, Ahmad succeeded his father. An ambitious man, he used his position as the virtually independent governor of Diyar Bakr to extend his influence in both the rest of the Jazira and northwards into Armenia.
In the Jazira, like his father before him, Ahmad was opposed by the Turkish ruler of
In the direction of Armenia, Ahmed began expanding in c. 890: he imprisoned
As the princes of Taron were members of the royal Bagratid house, this action embroiled Ahmad in a direct conflict with King Smbat I, who now requested of the Shaybanid emir to vacate Taron, in exchange for securing his nomination as the Caliph's representative governor in Armenia.[4][6] Ahmad refused, and Smbat assembled a huge army (reportedly 60,000 or even 100,000 men according to medieval sources) to march against him. Smbat's campaign failed, however, due to the treachery of Gagik Apumrvan Artsruni, regent of Vaspurakan: Smbat's army relied on Gagik as their guide, and he led them deliberately along difficult roads over the mountains, so that when they arrived in Taron, the Armenian army was exhausted. With Gagik working to undermine the soldiers' morale, the royal army was almost destroyed in the following battle, and King Smbat himself barely managed to escape.[4][7]
Ahmad died in 898, and was succeeded by his son, Muhammad, who ruled briefly until, in the next year, al-Mu'tadid put an end to Shaybanid power and placed Diyar Bakr under his direct administration.[2][4] In Taron, power was taken over by a cousin of the murdered prince Gurgen, Grigor.[8]
Legacy
As "rulers by usurpation" (ʿalā sabīl al-taghallub), Ahmad and his father are judged harshly by contemporary Muslim historians, but according to M. Canard, "in the disturbed period in which these Mesopotamian Arabs lived, they were no worse in their behaviour than the other soldiers of fortune of the Abbasid regime".
References
- ^ Canard (1978), pp. 88–90
- ^ a b c d Kennedy (2004), p. 182
- ^ Ter-Ghevondyan (1976), pp. 25–26, 29, 56–57
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Canard (1978), p. 90
- ^ Canard (1978), pp. 89–90
- ^ a b c Ter-Ghevondyan (1976), p. 63
- ^ Ter-Ghevondyan (1976), pp. 63–64
- ^ Ter-Ghevondyan (1976), p. 66
- ^ Bianquis (1997), pp. 391–392
Sources
- ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
- OCLC 758278456.
- ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
- OCLC 490638192.