Shaddadids of Dvin and Ganja s are lured into a trap and defeated by Aplesphares (
Abu'l-Aswar, the
Kurdish emir of
Dvin. 13th-century ,
Janza (985-1031 CE). In 951,
Muhammad established himself at
Dvin. Unable to hold Dvin against
Musafirid incursion, he fled to the Armenian
Kingdom of Vaspurakan. His son,
Lashkari I, ended Musafirid influence in
Arran by taking
Ganja in 971. He later expanded into Transcaucasia as far north as
Shamkir and as far east as
Barda (present-day Azerbaijan). The reign of his brother,
Marzuban, also lasted only a few years. Muhammad's third son,
Fadl I, expanded his territory during his lengthy reign. He took Dvin from
Armenian Bagratids in 1022, and his campaigns against them met with varying degrees of success. He also raided the
Khazars in 1030, while holding parts of Arran (present-day Azerbaijan). Later that year, while returning from a successful campaign in
Georgia, his army encountered Georgian and Armenian forces and was decisively defeated. Following Fadl I's defeat, the entire region became chaotic, with the
Byzantine Empire pressuring
Armenian princes and the
Seljuk Turks gaining influence over Arran after a resurgent attack by the
Seljuks on Dvin.
Abu'l-Fath Musa succeeded Fadl I in 1031, and reigned until his murder by his son and successor
Lashkari II in 1034. The poet
Qatran Tabrizi praised Lashkari II for his victory over Armenian and Georgian princes during his stay in Ganja. Lashkari II ruled Arran for fifteen years in what is described by the Ottoman historian
Münejjim Bashi as a troubled reign. When he died in 1049,
Anushirvan succeeded him, but he was still underage, and real power lay with the
chamberlain (
hajib) Abu Mansur, who served as
regent. The new regime was quickly opposed by a large faction among the populace. Münejjim Bashi, summarizing a now lost local chronicle, reports that this was because Abu Mansur immediately agreed to surrender several frontier fortresses to the
Kakhetians, the
Georgians and
Byzantines, in order "to restrain their greed for Arran". This decision provoked the leading men to revolt under the leadership of
al-Haytham, chief of the tanners in
Shamkor. According to
Vladimir Minorsky, this movement represented an uprising of the town notables against the senior bureaucratic caste. Abu Mansur, then residing at Shamkor, attempted to arrest al-Haytham, but al-Haytham and his
ghilman (servants) "drew their daggers" and declared for Anushirvan's great-uncle
Abu'l-Aswar Shavur, ruler of
Dvin. Abu'l-Aswar occupied Shamkor, settled the troubled situation there, and went on to take up his residence in the capital, Ganja. He arrested Anushirvan, whose reign ended abruptly after two months, as well as Abu Mansur and his relations. Abu'l-Aswar's long reign (1049–67) would prove to be the zenith of the Shaddadids. He was the last independent ruling Shaddadid emir, when
Tughril I arrived at Ganja and demanded his vassalage. " at
Ani, built around the time of the Shaddadids. On July, 1068 Abu'l-Aswar Shavur's son,
Fadl II invaded Georgia with 33,000 men and ravaged its countryside.
Bagrat IV of Georgia defeated him and forced the Shaddadid troops to flight. On the road through
Kakheti, Fadl was taken prisoner by the local ruler
Aghsartan. At the price of conceding several fortresses on the
Iori River, Bagrat ransomed Fadl and received from him the surrender of
Tbilisi where he reinstated a local emir on the terms of vassalage. During the captivity of Al-Fadl II, his older brother
Ashot ruled Arran for eight months (August 1068 – April 1069), even minting coins in his own name and that of his overlord, the Seljuk Sultan
Alp Arslan. In 1075 Alp Arslan annexed the last of the Shaddadid territories. A cadet branch of Shaddadids continued to rule in
Ani and
Tbilisi as vassals of the Seljuq Empire until 1175, when
Malik-Shah I deposed
Fadl III. In 1085, Fadl III instigated a revolt and gained possession of Ganja. Malik-Shah launched a campaign in 1086 and removed Fadl from power again. A collateral line of Shaddadids, through
Manuchihr, continued to rule in
Ani. The historian
Andrew Peacock notes that the Shaddadids "aspired to a more illustrious origin than that of Kurdish tribesmen". Some members of the Shaddadid family, such as Manuchihr, Anushirvan, Gudarz and Ardashir, were named after the
Sasanian shahanshahs of pre-Islamic Iran (224-651 AD), and the dynasty claimed descent from the Sasanians as well. The notion of claiming links with the pre-Islamic
Iranian past as they "sought to legitimize themselves as heirs to pre-Islamic Iranian traditions" was a feature which the Shaddadids shared with numerous other contemporaneous dynasties. In addition to Iranian influences, there were strong Armenian influences among the Shaddadid ruling house, which is attested in members of the family bearing Armenian names such as Ashot.
Shaddadids of Ani , an 11th-century Shaddadid mosque built among the ruins of Ani. , 1881. In 1072, the Seljuks sold Ani to the Shaddadid emir of
Manuchihr. Manuchihr repaired and enlarged the walls of Ani. The Shaddadids generally pursued a conciliatory policy towards the city's overwhelmingly Armenian and Christian population and actually married several members of the
Bagratid nobility. A son and successor of Manuchihr,
Abu'l-Aswar was accused by the contemporary Armenian historian
Vardan Areveltsi of persecuting Christians and attempting to sell Ani to the emir of
Kars. His rule was terminated by the resurgent King
David IV of Georgia, whom Ani surrendered without a fight in 1124. Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ended his days as a captive of the Georgians, while Ani was given by David IV to his general,
Abuleti. Abu'l-Aswar Shavur's son
Fadl IV would be able to resume the Shaddadid reign in Ani in 1125. In 1130 Georgia was attacked by the
Sultan of Ahlat,
Shah-Armen Sökmen II (1128-1183). This war was started by the passage of Ani into the hands of the Georgians;
Demetrius I had to compromise and give up
Ani to
Fadl IV on terms of
vassalage and inviolability of the Christian churches. Fadl extended his rule to
Dvin and
Ganja, but failed to maintain these cities. He was murdered by his courtiers following the fall of Dvin to the Turkish emir Qurti c. 1030. His brothers, Mahmud and Khushchikr, ruled briefly in quick succession until the emirate was taken over by Fadl's nephew,
Fakr al-Din Shaddad. In 1139, Demetrius raided the city of Ganja in Arran. He brought the
iron gate of the defeated city to Georgia and donated it to
Gelati Monastery at
Kutaisi. Despite this brilliant victory, Demetrius could hold Ganja only for a few years. In reply to this, the sultan of
Eldiguzids attacked Ganja several times, and in 1143 the town again fell to the sultan who appointed his own emir to rule it. Fakr al-Din Shaddad asked for
Saltuk II's daughter's hand, however Saltuk refused him. This caused a deep hatred in Shaddad towards Saltuk. In 1154 he planned a plot and formed a secret alliance with the Demetrius I. While a Georgian army waited in ambush, he offered tribute to
Saltukids, ruler of
Erzerum and asked the latter to accept him as a vassal. In 1153-1154 Emir
Saltuk II marched on Ani, but Shaddad informed his suzerain, the King of Georgia, of this. Demetrius marched to Ani, defeated and captured the emir. At the request of neighbouring Muslim rulers and released him for a ransom of 100,000
dinars, paid by Saltuk's sons in law and Saltuk swore not to fight against the Georgians he returned home. In 1156 the Christian population of Ani rose against the emir
Fakr al-Din Shaddad, and turned the town over to his brother
Fadl V. But Fadl, too, apparently could not satisfy the people of Ani, and this time the town was offered to the
George III of Georgia, who took advantage of this offer and subjugated Ani, appointing his general
Ivane Orbeli as its ruler in 1161. A coalition of
Muslim rulers led by
Shams al-Din Eldiguz, ruler of
Adarbadagan and some other regions, embarked upon a campaign against Georgia in early 1163. He was joined by the Shah-Armen Sökmen II, Ak-Sunkur, ruler of
Maragha, and others. With an army of 50,000 troops they marched on Georgia. The Georgian army was defeated. George had no choice but to make peace.
Eldiguz, a resurgent
atabeg of Azerbaijan handed the city over to
Shahanshah on terms of vassalage. The Shaddadids, ruled the town for about 10 years, but in 1174 King George took the Shahanshah as a prisoner and occupied Ani once again. Ivane Orbeli, was appointed governor of the town. In 1175 the southern provinces of Georgia were again overrun by a united Muslim host. This marked the beginning of another long struggle for Ani. The chronicles do not allow the reconstruction of any coherent picture of this struggle, but we can assume that the town and region frequently changed hands. The Georgians captured Ani four times; 1124, 1161, 1174 and 1199. The first three times, it was recaptured by the Shaddadids. In the year 1199, Georgia's
Queen Tamar captured Ani, she granted the city to the Armeno–Georgian
Mkhargrzeli family. ==Shaddadid rulers==