Qirwash ibn al-Muqallad ( ar, قرواش بن المقلد, Qirwāsh ibn al-Muqallad), also known by the

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

Muʿtamid al-Dawla ( ar, معتمد الدولة, lit=Trusted of the State), was the third

Uqaylid The Uqaylid dynasty () was a Shia Arab dynasty with several lines that ruled in various parts of Al-Jazira, northern Syria and Iraq in the late tenth and eleventh centuries. The main line, centered in Mosul, ruled from 990 to 1096. History Rise ...

emir of Mosul This is a list of the rulers of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Umayyad governors * Muhammad ibn Marwan (ca. 685–705) * Yusuf ibn Yahya ibn al-Hakam (ca. 685–705) * Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik (ca. 685–705) * Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (719–720) * M ...

, and ruler of other towns in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, from 1001 to 1050. An ambitious ruler, like the other petty rulers of the region he was engaged in a constant struggle of shifting alliances and enmities to keep and extend his domains. This involved his nominal overlords 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. Co ...

emirs 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 ...

, other Bedouin tribes, local warlords and administrators, and even members of his own tribe and family who begrudged his position. In 1010, Qirwash even briefly defected from the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

allegiance and recognized the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

instead. He was eventually defeated, imprisoned and deposed by his brother,

Baraka Baraka or Barakah may refer to: * Berakhah or Baraka, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony * Barakah or Baraka, in Islam, the beneficent force from God that flows through the physical and spiritual spheres * Baraka, full ''ḥ ...

, and died on 27 October 1052.

Life

Clashes with the Buyids

Qirwash was the oldest son of

al-Muqallad ibn al-Musayyab Abu Hassan al-Muqallad ibn al-Musayyab ( ar, أبو حسن المقلد بن المسيب, Abū Ḥassān al-Muqallad ibn al-Musayyab), known with the honorific Husam al-Dawla ( ar, حسام الدولة, Ḥusām al-Dawla, lit=Sword of the State), ...

, the

Emir of Mosul This is a list of the rulers of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Umayyad governors * Muhammad ibn Marwan (ca. 685–705) * Yusuf ibn Yahya ibn al-Hakam (ca. 685–705) * Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik (ca. 685–705) * Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (719–720) * ...

, who was assassinated in 1001, while plotting to seize

from the

Buyids 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. Coup ...

. During his brief reign (996–1001), al-Muqallad had managed to take over a number of towns in Iraq, including Anbar and

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...

, and other settlements almost to the gates of Baghdad. The Uqaylid institutions were tribal, depending on the Bedouin for military support rather than a salaried, standing army. As a result, al-Muqallad's unexpected death threw the loose tribal confederation into turmoil, as Qirwash and his uncle, al-Hasan, both claimed the tribe's leadership. The two were soon forced to come to a compromise, however, and make common cause against the claims of another tribesman, Qarrad ibn Ladid. As a result, the revenue of Mosul was split between them, while Qirwash inherited his father's rule over

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...

. There he had to force out the

Khafaja Khafaja or Khafajah ( ar, خفاجة, also known as Al-Khafaji and Khafaji) is one of the major Arab tribes (especially in Iraq and Egypt) as well Saudi Arabia , Syria and Jordan .Syrian Desert. In 1002, Qirwash allied with the

Banu Asad Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...

tribe against the Buyids, and moved to capture al-Mada'in. The Buyid army moved against the allies, but was defeated near Kufa on 22 July 1002. The Buyid commander

al-Hajjaj ibn Ustadh Hurmuz Abu Ja'far al-Hajjaj ibn Ustadh Hurmuz was a Buyid general and governor. Hajjaj's father had served the Buyid emir Adud al-Dawla as a high official, while his brother Hasan initially served Adud al-Dawla's son Samsam al-Dawla. Hajjaj himself enter ...

then called upon the Khafaja and the Kurdish Annazids for assistance, and this time scored a major victory at Baziqiya. The Uqaylid–Asadid alliance broke, and the two armies were defeated again separately. The women of the Khafaja were able to loot the Uqayl camp in the aftermath, a major humiliation according to traditional Bedouin mores. Even worse, al-Hajjaj's politically astute brother, al-Hasan, was appointed governor of Iraq, and soon adopted a

divide and rule Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their ter ...

approach that left the Uqaylids isolated: the Banu Asad were conciliated and their leader,

Ali ibn Mazyad ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, given the position Qirwash had held, while the Khafaja likely received back control of Kufa. The revival of Buyid fortunes left Qirwash trying to reassert control over the towns his father had claimed in Iraq. The most the Uqaylids could achieve during the next years were raids and kidnappings. The situation changed when the Khafaja joined the uprising of Abu'l-Abbas ibn Wasil in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

. To counter them, in 1005/6 the Buyids again assigned Kufa to Qirwash, and awarded him the title (). At the same time, the death of the last of Qirwash's uncles in 1006/7, left him the undisputed leader of his tribe. His campaign against Kufa in 1006/7 failed, and the Buyids were forced to a rapprochement with Ibn Mazyad, but Qirwash was still able to extend his influence in Iraq. In 1008/9, the Uqaylids even seized

Rahba Al-Rahba (/ALA-LC: ''al-Raḥba'', sometimes spelled ''Raḥabah''), also known as Qal'at al-Rahba, which translates as the "Citadel of al-Rahba", is a medieval Arab fortress on the west bank of the Euphrates River, adjacent to the city of Ma ...

from its pro-

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

governor, the Khafaji leader Abu Ali ibn Thimal.

Brief defection to the Fatimids

It was this complex political situation that drove Qirwash to switch his allegiance from the Sunni Abbasid caliph

al-Qadir Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن إسحاق, Abu'l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq; 947/8 – 29 November 1031), better known by his regnal name al-Qadir ( ar, القادر بالله, al-Qādir bi’llāh, Made po ...

, a puppet of the Buyids, to the Shi'a

Fatimid caliph This is a list of an Arab dynasty, the Shi'ite caliphs of the Fatimid dynasty (909–1171). The Shi'ite caliphs were also regarded at the same time as the imams of the Isma'ili branch of Shi'a Islam. Family tree of Fatimid caliphs ...

, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. On 18 August 1010, Qirwash had the

Friday sermon In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day accordin ...

read in the name of al-Hakim in Mosul, followed on 14 October by Anbar, and on 21 October in Anbar and al-Mada'in. Whether meant as a genuine shift in allegiance, or merely as an assertion of his independence, this move backfired. The Buyids mobilized money and men against him under al-Hasan ibn Ustadh Hurmuz, and even before the gifts sent from Cairo arrived, Qirwash had returned to the Abbasid allegiance. The whole affair left his position in Iraq severely weakened. At the same time, this episode resulted in the proclamation of al-Qadir's anti-Fatimid

Baghdad Manifesto The Baghdad Manifesto was a polemical tract issued in 1011 on behalf of the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir against the rival Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate. Background The manifesto was the result of the steady expansion of the Fatimid Caliphate since its ...

Under Sultan al-Dawla and Musharrif al-Dawla

The Buyid chief emir

Baha al-Dawla Abu Nasr Firuz Kharshadh ( ar, أبو نصر فيروز خوارشاذ; died December 22, 1012), better known by his ''laqab'' of Baha al-Dawla ( ar, بهاء الدوله, Bahaʾ al-Dawla, Splendour of the State) was the Buyid amir of Iraq (988– ...

died in December 1012, and was succeeded by his son Sultan al-Dawla. Faced with opposition to his rule by powerful local warlords and the Bedouin tribes, he allied with Qirwash, taking his sister Jibara as wife. With their backing, he was able to take control of Baghdad itself, neutralize the other Bedouin tribes and finally subdue the Iraqi marshlands, that had been autonomous for decades, to the authority of Baghdad. Nevertheless, the decline of Buyid power was evident during this time, not least due to the infighting of the Buyid emirs. This further destabilized the political situation in Iraq, as various Arab and Kurdish groups felt free to pursue their own aims against their local rivals. Thus in 1018, Ibn Mazyad's grandson Dubays allied with the Uqaylid sheikh of Samarra, Gharib ibn Maqan, against the latter's cousin, Rafi ibn al-Husayn. The Buyids joined the former, while Qirwash assisted Rafi, hoping thus to extend his own influence over central Iraq. As a result, in 1020, the Banu Asad together with the Buyid troops defeated Qirwash, who was taken prisoner. Rafi immediately joined Gharib and, with Buyid assistance, captured Tikrit. Qirwash was able to escape and sought the assistance of the Khafaja, only to be defeated again by Buyid troops west of the Euphrates. Qirwash was able to quickly reconcile himself with the Buyids, however, possibly aided by the replacement of Sultan al-Dawla by his younger brother,

Musharrif al-Dawla Abu 'Ali ( fa, ابو علی), better known by his ''laqab'' of Musharrif al-Dawla (1003 – May 1025), was the Buyid amir of Iraq (1021–1025). He was the youngest son of Baha' al-Dawla. Biography In 1021 the Turkish establishment in Baghdad, ...

, in March 1021. Musharrif al-Dawla maintained good relations with the Uqaylids, but after his unexpected death in 1025, the struggle between the Buyid emirs

Jalal al-Dawla Abu Tahir Firuz Khusrau ( fa, ابوطاهر فیروزخسرو), better known by his ''laqab'' of Jalal al-Dawla (993 or 994 – March 1044), was the Buyid amir of Iraq (1027–1044). He was the son of Baha' al-Dawla. Biography In 1012 Jalal A ...

and Abu Kalijar again destabilized the political situation in Iraq.

Under Jalal al-Dawla

In 1024, the Buyid

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi (; Aleppo, May 981 – Mayyafariqin, 1027), also called ''al-wazir al-Maghribi'' ("the Western Vizier") and by the surname ''al-Kamil Dhu'l-Wizaratayn'' ("Perfect Possessor of the Two Vizierates"), was the ...

, fled Baghdad and entered Qirwash's service, but was expelled in 1026 on the insistence of the Abbasid caliph,

. In 1026/7, the Khafaja invaded Uqaylid lands in central Iraq, and allied with the Banu Asad and the Buyids. Qirwash's vanguard was defeated near Kufa, forcing the Uqaylid emir to flee, while the allies occupied Anbar. Qirwash was also confronted by a league of Uqaylid rivals: Abu Mansur Kamil—a son of Qarrad ibn Ladid, who had tried to take over the rule of the Uqayl when Qirwash's father died, and Qirwash's deputy in the town of Sindiya—Rafi ibn al-Husayn of Tikrit, and his own brother and governor of

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, Badran. During the battle between the two armies, a reconciliation was achieved, allowing Badran to retain Nisibis. In the meantime, the Khafaja and Asad had fallen out, as the former had plundered the town of al-Jami'yan, held by the latter. The Asad concluded a peace with Qirwash, who helped the inhabitants of Anbar to refortify their town. At the same time the Khafaja leader, Mani ibn al-Hasan, submitted to the Buyids. While Qirwash in the end managed to retain Anbar, these events spelled the definite end of Uqaylid rule in the territories south of Baghdad. In the contest between Jalal al-Dawla and Abu Kalijar, Qirwash initially supported the latter, even launching an abortive attack on Baghdad in 1029/30. When Jalal al-Dawla established himself in Baghdad, however, Qirwash accommodated himself to the new situation and during the 1030s supported the Buyid emir politically and militarily. Thus, in 1036 Qirwash took custody of the former Buyid vizier, Ibn Makula, and kept him imprisoned until he ordered him strangled in February 1039. In 1036/7, Qirwash helped Jalal al-Dawla against the mutiny of the Turk Barstoghan. In 1040, Qirwash tried to seize Tikrit back from the successors of Rafi ibn al-Husayn. The latter bribed Jalal al-Dawla with a large sum into attacking the Uqaylid emir's possessions, Sindiya and Anbar, forcing Qirwash to back down and recognize the loss of Tikrit. At the same time, Iraq faced the first attacks by the Oghuz Turks. On 21 April 1044, Qirwash, leading the Uqaylids and allied with Dubays, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Turks at Ra's al-Ayil, driving them back to Adharbayjan.

Downfall and death

By 1048/9, another rival had emerged, his brother Abu Kamil Baraka. Qirwash was supported by Quraysh, the son of Badran, who forced Baraka to flee, but in June 1049 the armies of the two brothers clashed openly, and several of Qirwash's followers defected. Baraka captured Qirwash and brought him to Mosul. For a while, Qirwash remained the nominal emir of the Uqaylids, but ''de facto'' rule passed to Baraka, who imprisoned Qirwash in 1050. When Baraka died in 1052, he was succeeded by his own son, Quraysh. Shortly after, on 27 October 1052, Qirwash died at the fortress of al-Jarrahiya; according to at least one report, assassinated at his nephew's orders.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qirwash ibn Muqallad 10th-century births 1052 deaths 11th-century Arabs Uqaylid dynasty Emirs of Mosul Prisoners and detainees in Asia