Origin Several scholars (Bosworth, Kasravi, W. Madelung, D.McDowall) claim that the origin of the Rawadid dynasty was connected to the name of the tribal leader
Rawwad ibn Muthanna (ca. 200/815), who was the governor of
Tabrīz, whilst
Hugh Kennedy suggest mystery around their origins and not a clear connection to Banu Rawwad and suggest their origins plausibly being linked to Rawaddis
Hadhabani Kurds. The majority scholars hold that Rawadids were originally of
Azdi Arab ancestry, arriving in the region in the mid 8th century, but they had become
Kurdicized by the late 10th century (Kasravi, Bosworth, W. Madelung, J. Boris) and began to use
Kurdish forms like
Mamlan for Muhammad and
Ahmadil for Ahmad as their names. The local poet
Qatran Tabrizi (d. c. 465/1072), praised them for their Arab ancestry. Rawwadid ruler
Wahsudan bin Mamlan also acknowledged his mixed Arab and Iranian descent
Rawadid emirate of Adharbayjan According to
Kasravi, Rawadids conquered the lands of the
Musafirid ruler
Ibrahim I ibn Marzuban I, in Adharbayjan in 979.
Abu Mansur Wahsudan (1019-1054) is the best known Rawwadid ruler, and he is mentioned by
Ibn Athir. According to
Ahmad Kasravi, sixty panegyric
qasidas of the poet
Qatran Tabrizi (11th century) dedicated to Wahsudan have been preserved. After the Oghuz revolt against
Mahmud Ghaznavi (998-1030) in Khorasan in 1028, about 2,000 Oghuz families fled to the West. Wahsudan protected and allowed some of them to settle in the territory of the Rawwadis. He gave them land and made them vassals, intending to use them in the wars against the
Byzantine Empire. The regions of
Tabriz,
Maragha and the strongholds of
Sahand mountain were in his possession. In 1029, he helped the
Hadhbani Kurds in Maragha to defeat the invading
Oghuz Turkish tribes. According to Ibn Athir, Wahsudan formed a marriage alliance with the first group of Oghuz Turks reached Adharbayjan to act against his enemies. This alliance stimulated animosity of the
Shaddadid ruler Abu’l-Ḥasan Laškari. Another group of Turks arrived in Adharbayjan in 1037–1038. After they looted Maragha, Wahsudan and his nephew Abu’l-Hayjā put aside their problems and joined forces against the Ghuzz Turks. Turks were dispelled to
Rayy,
Isfahan, and
Hamadan. A group of Turks remained in
Urmiya. Wahsudan invited their leaders to a dinner and slaughtered them in 1040–1041. Qatran mentioned about several battles between Wahsudan and a group of a Ghuzz reached Adharbayjan in 1041–1042. An intense battle in the desert of Sarāb resulted in the Rawwadids’ defeat on the Turks. After banishing the Oghuz, Wahsudan improved relations with Shaddadids and travelled in person to
Ganja, center of Shaddadids. Wahsudan also sent an expedition to
Ardabil under the command of his son
Mamlan II. The ruler (
sipahbod) of Moghan had to submit to the conqueror. Mamlan also built a fortress in Ardabil. A devastating earthquake in 1042-1043 destroyed much of Tabriz, its walls, houses, markets, and much of the Ravvadis' palace. Although Ibn al-'Asir said that 50,000 people died in Tabriz, Nasir Khosrow, who passed through Tabriz four years later gave the number of dead 40,000 and stated that the city was prospering at the times of his visit. Wahsudan himself was saved because he was in a garden outside the city. The
Seljuks under
Tughril conquered the principality in 1054 CE, and he defeated the prince of Tabriz
Wahsudan ibn Mamlan and brought his son Abu Nasr Mamlan. In 1071, when
Alp Arslan returned from his campaign against the
Byzantine Empire, he deposed Mamlan. Wahsudan's successor,
Ahmad bin Wahsudan, lord of
Maragha, took part in
Malik Shah's campaign against
Syria in 1110 CE. His full title was
Ahmadil bin Ibrahim bin Wahsudan al-Rawwadi al-Kurdi. Ahmadil fought again the
crusaders during the
First Crusade.
Joscelin made a peace treaty with him during the siege of
Tell Bashir (in present-day southern Turkey, south-east of
Gaziantep). He was stabbed to death by the
Ismaili assassins in 1117 in
Baghdad. His descendants continued to rule Maragha and
Tabriz as Atabakane Maragha until the
Mongol invasion in 1227. ==Rawadid Rulers==