Jabir Bin Merdaw Al-Kaabi (1780 – 1881) ( ar, الشيخ جابر بن مرداو الكعبي) was the Sheikh of

Mohammerah Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also romanized as ''Khurramshahr'', ar, المحمرة, romanized as ''Al-Muhammerah'') is a city and capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 170,976, in ...

during the 19th century.

The reign of Jabir Ibn Merdaw

Sheikh Jabir was troubled by intertribal wars. He therefore confined himself to an attitude of neutrality while maintaining good relations with both the Persian and Ottoman governments, and notably with the Walis of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. The tribe which was most troubling for Jabir was the Rabi'ah. He thus turned to an ancient Arabian diplomatic practice: he married Noura, the daughter of the Sheikh of the Rabi'ah, Talal, in order to appease the opposition of that tribe. One son was born from this union, to become the last ruler of autonomous Arabistan. The constant conflict between the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

and the

Qajars The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic origin ...

, the weakening of these empires, as well as the intelligent diplomacy of Sheikh Jabir would result in the Persian emperor,

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

, recognising Arabistan as the dominion of Sheikh Jabir and his successors. The

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

agreed to not interfere in the internal affairs of the emirate.

Death

Jabir died on 2 November 1881 and was succeeded by his second son

Miz'al Khan ibn Haji Jabir Khan Mazal ibn Jabir (18?? – 1897, styled Muaz us-Sultana) was the son of Haji Jabir Khan Ibn Merdaw and succeeded him as tribal leader of the ''Bani Kaab'' and Sheikh of Mohammerah upon his father's death. This was confirmed by an Imperial ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jabir Ibn Merdaw Iranian governors Iranian Arab politicians 19th-century Arabs 1780s births 1881 deaths People from Khuzestan Province