Pre-Islamic history It has been long suggested that Maragheh is identical with Phraaspa/Phraata, the winter capital of
Atropatene. The 9th-century Muslim historian
al-Baladhuri (died 892) reports that the town was originally known as Akra-rudh (called "Afrah-rudh" by
Ibn al-Faqih, and "Afrazah-rudh" by
Yaqut al-Hamawi) a Persian name which means "river of Afrah", and which the Russian
orientalist Vladimir Minorsky considered to seem reminiscent of the name of Phraata. He added that it is unlikely that Maragheh did not exist during the
Roman era, due to its favorable location.
Rule under the caliphate and Sajids During the
Arab conquest of Iran, the towns of
Adharbayjan (which also must have included Maragheh) were captured by
al-Mughira. The
Umayyad prince
Marwan ibn Muhammad briefly stayed at Maragheh following his expedition to
Muqan and
Gilan in 740. It was during this period that the settlement was given the name of "Maragheh" (meaning "place where an animal rolls") due to the large quantity of dung there (Minorsky considers this to be an Arabic
folk etymology of pre-existing local name). Marwan also engaged in some building activities in the town. Control over the town was later handed to the daughters of the Abbasid caliph
Harun al-Rashid (). Due to the rebellion of the lord of
Tabriz, Wajna ibn Rawwad, a wall was erected around Maragheh and a garrison was also established there. This was done under the orders of
Khuzayma ibn Khazim, the governor of Adharbayjan and
Arminiya (Armenia), a position he had probably reached in 803. Following the launch of the rebellion of
Babak Khorramdin in 816/17, the people sought shelter in Maragheh. The caliph
al-Mam'un () soon had the walls of the town was restored, followed by the re-population of the place. In 836, Maragheh served as the winter quarters of
Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin during his expedition against Babak. In an attempt to reduce the unstable autonomy of the Arab chieftains of Adharbayjan and partly to curb the dominance of the
Bagratid kings of Armenia, the caliph al-Mu'tamid installed
Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj as the governor of Adharbayjan and Armenia in 889/90, or more likely, in 892. The latter belonged to the
Sajid family, native to
Ushrusana and most likely of
Sogdian origin. Muhammad's first challenge came in the form of 'Abd-Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hamdani, a rebel who had taken control of Maragheh. Muhammad convinced him to surrender in 893 by promising his safety, but once 'Abd-Allah did so he was executed by the Sajid. Maragheh was afterwards made Muhammad's capital, though he usually resided in
Barda'a. Muhammad amassed so much authority that he briefly declared independence from the caliphate. Following Muhammad's death to an
epidemic in 901, his troops installed his son
Devdad ibn Muhammad on the throne. Five months after, however, the latter was removed from power by his uncle
Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj, who destroyed the walls of Maragheh and moved his capital to
Ardabil. In 909, Yusuf was officially acknowledged as the ruler of Adharbayjan and Armenia by the newly ascended caliph
al-Muqtadir. A
dirham struck by Yusuf at Maragheh from the same year has been found. The last Sajid ruler,
Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath, was killed at Maragheh in 929.
Daylamite rule Following the collapse of the Sajid kingdom, the
Kurdish commander
Daysam ibn Ibrahim al-Kurdi attempted to establish his rule over Azerbaijan, but he was eventually defeated in 941/42 by
Marzuban ibn Muhammad (), who gained control over the region, expanding his realm as far as
Dvin in Armenia. The latter belonged to the
Sallarid dynasty, of
Daylamite stock and originally centered in the
Tarum district of
Daylam. In 948, Azerbaijan was briefly controlled by the
Buyid dynasty, as demonstrated by a coin struck at Maragheh by
Abu Mansur Muhammad, a general of the Buyid ruler
Rukn al-Dawla ().
Rawadid and Seljuk rule , built under Seljuk rule in 1147 Following the death of the Sallarid
Ibrahim I ibn Marzuban I in 983, Azerbaijan (excluding a small part, possibly
Miyana) was conquered by the Kurdish
Rawadids, former vassals of the Sallarids. In 1039, Maragheh was sacked by a wave of immigrating
Oghuz Turks, who destroyed its mosque and killed many of its inhabitants. In 1054, the Rawadid ruler
Abu Mansur Wahsudan () was forced to submit to the
Seljuk ruler
Tughril (). In 1070, Tughril arrested Wahsudan's son and successor
Abu Nasr Mamlan II () and incorporated Azerbaijan into his domain, thus marking the end of the Rawadid dynasty. In 1104, the Seljuk brothers and rivals
Berkyaruq () and
Muhammad I Tapar () had their peace treaty signed near Maragheh. A year later, Muhammad I visited Maragheh. In 1111/12, a certain Ahmadil ibn Ibrahim ibn Wahsudan was appointed as the ruler of Maragheh. The background of the latter is obscure, but some modern historians consider him to be from the Rawadid dynasty.
Ahmadili rule ''. Maqama 06, BNF Arabe 3929 (painted circa 1200-1210). Following Ahmadil's death on 16 May 1116, he was reportedly succeeded by his slave Aq Sunqur, who by 1122 had emerged as a semi-independent subject of the Seljuks. This marked the start of the
Ahmadili dynasty, a name they are commonly referred as due to their connection to Ahmadil. Aq Sunqur secretly conspired with the rebel prince Tughril ibn Muhammad, encouraging the latter to invade Maragheh in return for soldiers and aid. The rebellion failed in 1122/23, and led to the dismissal of Aq Sunqur by the Seljuk ruler
Mahmud II (). However, Aq Sunqur was soon re-appointed as the governor of Maragheh. In 1150, the Seljuk ruler
Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud () besieged Maragheh, due to a conflict between Aq Sunqur's son and successor Arslan Aba and another local ruler. The town was captured after two days, but a resolution was soon reached through the mediation of various military leaders. In 1174/75, the
Eldiguzid prince (and subsequent ruler)
Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan () besieged Maragheh, but was unsuccessful in capturing it. The last Ahmadili ruler of Maragheh was
Sulafa Khatun (). She was at
Ru'in Dez during the
Mongol conquest of Maragheh in 1221, led by generals
Jebe and
Subutai.
Khwarazmian rule In 1225, the
Khwarazmshah of the
Anushtegin dynasty,
Jalal al-Din Mangburni (), reached Maragheh, which he was able to enter without any trouble, due the discontentment of the locals towards the raids and oppression by the
Kingdom of Georgia. Mangburni attempted to restore Maragheh to its previous successful state.
Mongol rule , who lived in Maragheh from about 1306 until his death in 1338. In 1231, Mongol rule over Maragheh was made definite. After the Mongol ruler
Hulagu Khan () had
captured Baghdad in 1258, he established his residence in Maragheh. He also had an
observatory built under the directorship of
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Other buildings from this period are lacking, since the first Mongol
Ilkhanate rulers lived a semi-nomadic life.
Zakariya al-Qazwini, who wrote a geographical dictionary around 1275, seems to have known Maragheh well. He described its mineral springs, a cave which probably corresponds to the later Chay-Baghi, a mountain called Zanjaqan with its
calcareous spring, and the "impregnable" fortress of Ru'in Dez. In 1304, the Ilkhanate ruler
Öljaitü () appointed Nasir al-Din Tusi's son as the new head of the observatory. In 1306, the prominent Sufi poet
Awhadi Maraghai settled in Maragheh, living there until his death on 6 April 1338. In 1312, Qara-Sunqur, the former
amir al-umara of Aleppo, was appointed ruler of Maragheh by Öljaitü. This event is described by the 14th-century
Maghrebi scholar
Ibn Battuta, who also reports that Maragheh was called "Little Damascus". Qara-Sunqur died in 1328. Writing 1340,
Hamdallah Mustawfi described Maragheh as the capital of a
tuman which included all the southern portion of Azerbaijan. It bordered the
tumans of Tabriz on the north and
Khoy on the west; to the east was
Iraq-e Ajam and to the south was Kurdistan. Among the cities underneath Maragheh were
Dih-i Khwaraqan,
Leylan, and
Pasveh. He also described six districts that belonged to Maragheh, some of whose readings are uncertain: Sarajun, Niyajun, Duzakhrud,
Gavdul (at the confluence of the Leylan and Jaghatu rivers), Behestan, and
Hashtrud. He also mentioned
Anguran as a dependency of Maragheh. Mustawfi reports that inhabitants of Maragheh spoke
pahlavī-e moḡayyar ("modified Pahlavi"), i.e. the vernacular of northwestern and central Iran.
Modern era The 17th century
Ottoman Turkish traveler
Evliya Çelebi mentioned that the women or the "female society" in Maragheh mostly conversed in Pahlavi. According to Mortaza Firuzi, Hossein Hassanpashaei, and Sanaz Rahkarfarshi, some sources either falsely disregard this language or deem it as the dominant language of Maragheh, which was most likely
Turkman based on the account of Evliya Çelebi. Between the 18th and 20th centuries, Maragheh was governed by the
Moqaddam family. ==Demographics==