The Salghurids (Persian: سلغُریان), also known as the Atabegs of Fars (اتابکان فارس), were a Persianate[4] dynasty of Salur[5] Turkoman origin[6] that ruled Fars, first as vassals of the Seljuks then for the Khwarazm Shahs in the 13th century.

Salghurids
سلغُریان
1148–1282
Map of the Salghurids in 1180 CE.[1]
Map of the Salghurids in 1180 CE.[1]
StatusAtabegate
CapitalShiraz
Common languagesPersian (official, court literature)[2][3]
Turkic (ruling dynasty)
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Atabeg 
• 1148–1161
Sunqur ibn Mawdud
• 1264–1282
Abish Khatun
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
1148
• Disestablished
1282
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Seljuk Empire
Ilkhanate

History

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The Salghurids were established by Sunqur in 1148, who had profited from the rebellions during the reign of Seljuq sultan Mas'ud ibn Muhammad. Later the Salghurids were able to solidify their position in southern Persia to the point of campaigning against Kurds and involving themselves in the succession of the Kirman Seljuqs,[7] holding Seljuq sultan Malik-Shah III's son Mahmud as a possible claimant to the Seljuq throne.[8] They briefly occupied Isfahan in 1203-4,[6] and later occupied Bahrain taken from the Uyunid dynasty in 1235.[9]

Under Sa'd I ibn Zangi, the Salghurids experienced a significant prosperity, which was marred by his acknowledging the Khwarazm Shahs as his overlord. Saadi Shirazi, the Persian poet, dedicated his Bostan and Gulistan to Sa'd I and Sa'd II.[7] Following Sa'd I's death, his brother Zangi ibn Mawdud took power in 1161. Tekele followed his father, Zangi, only after eliminating Sonqur's son Toghril.[6]

During the closing years of Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd and Sa'd II, Fars fell under the dominion of Mongol empire and later the Ilkhanate of Hulegu. Under the Mongols, Abu Bakr was given the title of Qutlugh Khan. Later Salghurids were powerless figureheads, until the daughter of Sa'd II, Abish Khatun was given the title of Atabegate of Fars. She was the sole ruler of Fars for one year whereupon she married, Mengu Temur, eleventh son of Hulegu.[10] Following their deaths, Fars was ruled directly by the Ilkhanate.[7]

Culture

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During the 13th century, the Salghurids patronized a cultural and intellectual atmosphere which included, Qadi Baydawi, Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, Saadi Shirazi and the historian Wassaf.[10] The Salghurids knowingly promoted themselves as an Iranian and Islamic dynasty, partly through their links to the ruins of the pre-Islamic Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC).[11] Under them, Shiraz became a hub for Persian culture.[12]

List of Atabegs

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  • Sunqur ibn Mawdud (1148–1161)
  • Zangi ibn Mawdud (1161–1178)
  • Tekele ibn Zangi (1178–1198)
  • Sa'd I ibn Zangi (1198–1226)
  • Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd (1226–1260)
  • Sa'd II (1260–1260)
  • Muhammad I ibn Sa'd (1260–1262)
  • Muhammad II ibn Salghur (1263)
  • Saljuk Shah ibn Salghur (1263)
  • Abish Khatun (1263–1282)

References

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  1. ^ Boyle (Ed.), J. A. (1958). The Cambridge History of Iran: Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 188, Map 4. ISBN 9781139054973.
  2. ^ Katouzian 2007, p. 128.
  3. ^ Khanbaghi 2016, p. 205.
  4. ^ de Nicola 2020, p. 281.
  5. ^ Spuler 1987, pp. 894–896.
  6. ^ a b c Bosworth 1995, p. 978.
  7. ^ a b c Bosworth 1996, p. 207.
  8. ^ Bosworth 1968, p. 169.
  9. ^ Curtis E. Larsen, Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society, (University of Chicago Press, 1984), 66.
  10. ^ a b Bosworth 1995, p. 979.
  11. ^ Kamola 2019, p. 69.
  12. ^ Darling 2013, p. 101.

Sources

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