Kings of Hanigalbat After conquering the Mitanni kingdom in the 13th century BC and establishing administrative districts there, the
Middle Assyrian king Shalmaneser I named his brother,
Ibashi-ili, as
grand vizier (''sukallu rabi'u
) and king of Hanigalbat. The title šar māt Ḫanigalbat'' was identical to the title used for the Mitanni kings by the Assyrians. The title might intentionally have implied that the conquered Mitanni territories had vassal-like status (rather than being fully incorporated) as a way to appease the locals. The Assyriologist Masamichi Yamada wrote in 2011 that he believed that the kings of Hanigalbat were relatively autonomous, their realm, which he designated as "Assyrian Hanigalbat" (as opposed to the earlier Mitanni kingdom, "Hurrian Hanigalbat"), being a
satellite state rather than a full vassal kingdom. The role of Ibashshi-ili and his successors was comparable to that of a
viceroy, being tasked with acting as the local legal authority, hosting passing-by officials, collecting taxes and supplying them to the Assyrian capital as well as overseeing certain military and policing duties. From their seat at
Dur-Katlimmu, their authority extended throughout multiple districts within the territory of the former Mitanni kingdom, covering the entire western part of the Middle Assyrian Empire, from the
Khabur in the east to the
Euphrates in the west, and from
Terqa in the south to the mountains in the north. All of Ibašši-ilī's successors descended from his own dynastic line and continued to carry both the title of king of Hanigalbat and the title of grand vizier. Though they are often ignored in historiography, it is possible that the line of kings in Hanigalbat constituted a junior line of Assyrian co-rulers, with authority and prestige beyond simply being viceroys. A Middle Assyrian-age letter from the Babylonian king
Adad-shuma-usur is addressed to the "
kings of Assyria" rather than the "
king of Assyria, a possible reference to there being two simultaneous kings. Another Babylonian letter, this one to Ibašši-ilī, explicitly referred to him as the "king of Assyria".
Abolition It is unclear when the office of king of Hanigalbat was abolished. In 2015, the Assyriologist Rafał Koliński wrote that the title fell into disuse already when
Ninurta-apal-Ekur, a great-great-grandson of Ibašši-ilī, usurped the Assyrian throne in the 12th century BC. In 2008, the historian Jeffrey J. Szuchman wrote that the title, and the administrative system surrounding it, probably lasted throughout the Middle Assyrian Empire and possibly to as late as the 10th century BC. In 2003, the Assyriologist
Stephanie Dalley wrote that the title and position lasted until near the end of the Assyrian Empire and that the vassal rulers of Hanigalbat were influential in the Assyrian succession. When the Neo-Assyrian king
Sennacherib was murdered, his son and intended successor
Esarhaddon was in the west and only successfully took the Assyrian throne in
Nineveh with the help of an army raised in Hanigalbat. Dalley believes the line of kings in Hanigalbat came to an end at some point during
the war between
Sinsharishkun and
Nabopolassar, which also resulted in the collapse of the Assyrian Empire as a whole, as during the late stage of the war the only royal seats mentioned are Nineveh and Babylon. In 622 BC, Assyrian records tell that a "general" in the empire's western provinces, whose name is not recorded, took advantage of the war and seized Nineveh, ruling there for a hundred days before Sinsharishkun returned and defeated him. The general had taken the city without fighting since the Assyrian army had surrendered before him, indicating that he might have been a member of the royal family, or at least a person that would be acceptable as king.'''' == Known kings and grand viziers ==