Abu'l-Maghra ibn Musa ibn Zurara () was the last Zurarid

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

Arzen Arzen (in Syriac ''Arzŏn'' or ''Arzŭn'', Armenian ''Arzn'', ''Ałzn'', Arabic ''Arzan'') was an ancient and medieval city, located on the border zone between Upper Mesopotamia and the Armenian Highlands. The site of the ancient Armenian capita ...

, located on the borders between

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has be ...

(Arabic ''al-Jazira'') and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

, which at the time were provinces of the

Abbasid Caliphate 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-Mutta ...

. He was the son of Musa ibn Zurara, the first known Zurarid lord of Arzen, and the sister of a Christian Armenian prince,

Bagrat II Bagratuni Bagrat II Bagratuni ( hy, Բագրատ Բ Բագրատունի, Arabic: ''Buqrāṭ ibn Ashūṭ''; died after 851) was an Armenian noble of the Bagratid (Bagratuni) family and the presiding prince ("prince of princes") of Arab-ruled Armenia betwe ...

, whose province of Taron bordered Musa's own domain of

. Arzen was the capital of the district of

Arzanene Arzanene ( el, Ἀρζανηνή) or Aghdznik () was a historical region in the southwest of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It was ruled by one of the four ''bdeashkhs'' (''bidakhsh'', ''vitaxa'') of Armenia, the highest ranking nobles below t ...

(Armenian: ''Aghdznik''), and held to belong to the Jaziran sub-province of Diyar Bakr. Abu'l-Maghra succeeded his father after the latter's death. In order to safeguard his domain against the

Shaybanids The Shibanids or Shaybanids ( fa, سلسله شیبانیان) or more accurately the Abu'l-Khayrid-Shibanids were a Persianized''Introduction: The Turko-Persian tradition'', Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, ed. Robert L ...

who dominated the district of

Diyar Bakr Diyar Bakr ( ar, دِيَارُ بَكرٍ, Diyār Bakr, abode of Bakr) is the medieval Arabic name of the northernmost of the three provinces of the Jazira ( Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Mudar and Diyar Rabi'a. According to ...

, he allied himself closely with the other powerful Armenian dynasty, the

Artsruni The Artsruni ( hy, Արծրունի; also transliterated as Ardzruni) were an ancient noble (princely) family of Armenia. Background and history The Artsruni's claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria (705 BC–681 BC). Although ...

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

, marrying an Artsruni princess and even secretly converting to Christianity. At the same time, he remained formally a subordinate of the Shaybanid ruler of Diyar Bakr, Isa ibn al-Shaykh, and had to support him in his conflicts. Thus, when Isa was appointed as governor of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

in December 866, it was Abu'l-Maghra who was sent to

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was ...

to take over the administration as Isa's deputy. In both Isa and Abu'l-Maghra allied with other local potentates, such as the local Kharijites under a certain Ishaq ibn Ayyub and the

Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Najd (central Arabia), but later migrated and inhabited the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) from the late 6th century onward. Their parent tribe was the Rabi' ...

i chieftain

Hamdan ibn Hamdun Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith al-Taghlibi () was a Taghlibi Arab chieftain in the Jazira, and the patriarch of the Hamdanid dynasty. Alongside other Arab chieftains of the area, he resisted the attempts at re-imposition of Abbasid control over t ...

, against the ambitions of the Turk

Ishaq ibn Kundajiq Ishaq ibn Kundaj () or Kundajiq, was a Turkic military leader who played a prominent role in the turbulent politics of the Abbasid Caliphate in the late 9th century. Initially active in lower Iraq in the early 870s, he came to be appointed govern ...

, who ruled

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

and had ambitions to govern all of the Jazira. This coalition managed to defeat Ibn Kundajiq, but the latter's position was soon bolstered by receiving appointment by the Caliph as governor of

Diyar Rabi'a Diyar Rabi'a ( ar, دِيَارُ رَبِيعَةَ, Diyār Rabīʿa, abode of Rabi'a) is the medieval Arabic name of the easternmost and largest of the three provinces of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Bakr and Diya ...

and Armenia (879/80). Isa and Abu'l-Maghra then secured peace by offering a tribute 200,000

gold dinar The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the L ...

s to be confirmed in their possessions. Ibn Kundajiq initially accepted, but in 880/1 the coalition against him was renewed, and open warfare broke out. This time, Ibn Kundajiq was victorious in a battle fought in April/May 881, driving his opponents before him to Amid, which he left under siege. A few inconclusive skirmishes followed, and the situation was not resolved by the time of Isa's death in 882/3, as Ibn Kundajiq became involved in the Abbasid efforts to recover Syria from the

Tulunids The Tulunids (), were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authorit ...

. In he was taken prisoner by the ambitious son of Isa ibn al-Shaykh,

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the v ...

, who imprisoned Abu'l-Maghra and annexed the Zurarid domains.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia 9th-century Arabs 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century rulers in Asia 9th century in Armenia Arminiya History of Siirt Province Arab people of Armenian descent Converts to Christianity from Islam Artsruni dynasty Bagratuni dynasty Abbasid governors of Palestine