Yagi Basti (d. c. 1344) was a member of the
Chobanid family and the ruler of
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
for a part of 1343. He was the son of Amir
Chupan
Amir Chūpān ( fa, امیر چوپان; died November 1327), also spelt Choban or Coban, was a Chupanid noble of the Ilkhanate, and nominal general of the Mongol Empire. He was ennobled by Emperor Taiding of Yuan as Duke of Yi (翊國公).
...
by his second wife.
Career
Like most of the other Chobanids, Yagi Basti threw his support behind his nephew
Hasan Kucek
Hasan Kuchak or Ḥasan-i Kūchik (; 1319 – 15 December 1343) was a Chupanid prince during the 14th century. He is credited with setting up a nearly independent Chupanid state in Iran during the struggles taking place in the aftermath of the I ...
when the latter took control of northwestern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 1338. Eventually, however, he had a falling out with Hasan Kucek and fled to the court of the
Jalayirid
The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p.3: ...
Hasan Buzurg
Shaikh Hasan (), also known as "Hasan Buzurg" ("Hasan The Great"), Hassan the Jalair or Hassan-e Uljatâï was the first of several de facto independent Jalayirid rulers of Iraq and central Iran.
Early years
He was born to Amir Husain Jalayir ...
, who controlled
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. I ...
, in 1341. There he met the
Injuid Mas'ud Shah and formed a plan to seize the city of Shiraz from
Pir Hosayn, who was Yagi Basti's cousin.
The two led an army to take Shiraz, only to learn that Pir Hosayn had lost the city to another Injuid, Abu Ishaq. This did not stop Yagi Basti and Mas'ud Shah from entering Shiraz; once the two had gained control, Yagi Basti murdered Mas'ud and seized power for himself. Without his Injuid ally, however, Yagi Basti had little support within the city, and in March 1343 he was forced out by supporters of Abu Ishaq. Yagi Basti had little choice but to again resort to seeking refuge with Hasan Buzurg.
Yagi Basti soon formed an alliance with Hasan Kucek's brother
Malek Asraf, who had also fled to Baghdad. Hasan Kucek, evidently afraid that the two would move against him, was able to convince Hasan Buzurg to abandon any support he planned to give them. Even without Jalayirid support, Yagi Basti and Malek Asraf campaigned in
Fars and were able to sack
Abarquh
Abarkuh ( fa, ابركوه, also Romanized as Abarkūh and Abar Kūh; also known as Abarghoo, Abarkū, Abar Qū, and Abarqūh) is a city and capital of Abarkuh County, Yazd Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 27,524, in 5,880 ...
. They were heading south in an attempt to take Shiraz when they learned that Hasan Kucek had been murdered in December 1343. Malek Asraf, Yagi Basti and his half-brother
Surgan
Surgan ( fa, سورگان, also Romanized as Sūrgān) is a village in Irafshan Rural District, Ashar District, Mehrestan County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also cal ...
gained control of the Chobanid realm after Hasan Kucek's death. Although they at first agreed to split up the Chobanid territories among themselves, civil war soon erupted amongst them. In around 1344 Yagi Basti was secretly murdered in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
by Malek Asraf, who went on to defeat Surgan and take sole possession of the Chobanid realm.
External links
Encyclopædia Iranica - Chobanids
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Chobanids