Makan ibn Kaki
Abu Mansur Makan ibn Kaki (died 25 December 940) was a
Biography
Like his father, Makan served as an officer in the army of the
Makan escaped the defeat and found refuge in a remote fortress in the mountainous region of
Abu Ja'far Husayn was initially re-installed as imam, but was soon removed to the Samanid capital, Bukhara. The Samanid interlude proved brief, as in 930, Makan managed to recover Tabaristan, extend his control over most of Gurgan and even take possession of Nishapur in western Khurasan, which he was forced to abandon in 931, bowing to pressure by the Samanid ruler Nasr II.[1][5] Makan also had to face a rebellion at home, where his relative al-Hasan ibn al-Fairuzan, who governed Tabaristan in his absence, tried to re-install his half-brother Ismail as imam. The revolt failed after Ismail was poisoned at the instigation of Abu Ja'far Husayn's mother.[6] In the meantime, Asfar had lost power in Rayy to the rebellion of his former subordinate, Mardavij, and fled to Quhistan, where he died soon after. Abu Ja'far Husayn, who had managed to escape Samanid captivity, sought Mardavij's aid in recovering his position. Mardavij lent him an army, but Makan defeated Mardavij's forces in a first engagement in 931. Eventually, after Makan's return to Tabaristan from Nishapur, Mardavij launched an attack that conquered Tabaristan.[1][6]
Makan tried to reclaim his domain with aid from Gilan and Khurasan, but failed. He then sought refuge among the Samanids in Khurasan, where Nasr appointed him governor of
Relations between Makan and Vushmgir improved to the point where the former felt secure enough to drop his dependence on the Samanids. As a result, in 939 a Samanid army under Abu Ali ibn Muhtaj attacked him at Gurgan. Following a seven-month siege of his capital, Makan was forced to flee to Rayy. The Samanid army pursued him, and in a battle fought on 25 December 940 at Iskhabad near Rayy, the Samanid forces were victorious. Makan himself was killed by an arrow, and then beheaded by the victors, who sent his head to Nasr in Bukhara.[8][9]
References
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
- Nazim, M. (1987). "Mākān b. Kākī". 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.