Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin, commonly known after his father as Ibn Qaratakin (died 952) was a Turkic military officer of the

Samanids People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownershi ...

in the mid-10th century.

Biography

Mansur is first mentioned in 945, when the rebel

Abu 'Ali Chaghani Abu Ali Ahmad Chaghani ( fa, ابوعلی احمد چغانی; died 955) was the Muhtajid ruler of Chaghaniyan (939–955) and governor of Samanid Khurasan (939–945, 952–953). He was the son of Abu Bakr Muhammad. In 939, Muhammad became ill ...

forced Mansur and another Turkic military officer

Ibrahim ibn Simjur Ibrahim ibn Simjur (died 948) was a Samanid military officer from the Simjurid family. Biography Ibrahim was the son of Simjur al-Dawati, the founder of the Simjurid family. Ibrahim is first mentioned as a deputy of the Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali ...

to leave

Nishapur Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...

. The two then went to

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

, where the Samanid ruler

Nuh I Nuh ibn Nasr, or Nuh I (died 954), was the Amir of the Samanids in 943–954. He was the son of Nasr II. It is rumoured that he married a Chinese princess.Richard N. Frye, ''Bukhara, the Medieval Achievement'', (University of Oklahoma Press, 1965 ...

was preparing a counter-attack against Abu 'Ali Chaghani, who had taken control over the Samanid capital of

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

and put

Ibrahim ibn Ahmad Ibrahim ibn Ahmad (died 10th-century), was the amir of the Samanids briefly in 947. He was the son of Ahmad Samani. Ibrahim had a brother named Nasr II, who succeeded Ahmad as the ruler of the Samanids in 914. In 943, Nasr's son Nuh I succeeded h ...

on the throne. Nuh eventually managed to quell the rebellion and in 948 appointed Mansur as the governor of

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

. In 949, Mansur wrested Ray from the

Buyid The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...

ruler

Rukn al-Dawla Hasan (died September 976), better known by his ''laqab'' as Rukn al-Dawla (Persian: رکن‌الدوله دیلمی), was the first Buyid amir of northern and central Iran (c. 935-976). He was the son of Buya. Struggle for power Hasan was the ...

, who was at that time in

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

and was ensuring his son's succession. Mansur then marched towards

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

, and had the city plundered. However, Rukn al-Dawla then marched towards Mansur, and a battle shortly ensured, which resulted in the rout of Mansur's army. In 951/2, Mansur re-invaded the territories of Rukn al-Dawla, and several battles ensured between him and Rukn al-Dawla. However, during these clashes, Mansur suddenly died. According to

Ibn Miskawayh Ibn Miskawayh ( fa, مُسْکُـوْيَه Muskūyah, 932–1030), full name Abū ʿAlī Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Miskawayh was a Persian chancery official of the Buyid era, and philosopher and historian from Parandak, Iran. As ...

, "he had been drinking incessantly for some days and nights, and one morning was found dead." Mansur was then succeeded by the pardoned Abu 'Ali Chaghani as the governor of Khorasan.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin 952 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century Turkic people Samanid generals Samanid governors of Khorasan