Luʾluʾ al-Yaya, also called al-Bābā or al-Khādim ("the Eunuch"), was the regent of the
Seljuk sultanate of Aleppo from
AD 1113 (
AH 507) until his assassination in 1117 (510). He was the ''
atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...
'' (father-lord) of the underage sultans. Previously, he had been a
eunuch
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
in the service of
Aqsunqur al-Bursuqī, the ''atabeg'' of Mosul.
According to
Ibn al-Athīr, Luʾluʾ took charge of affairs in Aleppo after the death of Sultan
Riḍwān in 1113, since his son,
Alp Arslān al-Akhras, was only sixteen years old. In 1114, Alp Arslān was murdered in his own palace by his ''
mamlūk''s at the instigation of Luʾluʾ because the young sultan had sought the help of
Ṭughtakīn, ruler of
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, to establish his personal rule. Luʾluʾ then raised Alp Arslān's six-year-old brother,
Sulṭān Shāh ibn Riḍwān, to the throne and continued to hold the regency. In an effort to solidify his rule, he founded the first ''
khānaqāh'' (
Ṣūfī monastery) in Aleppo, but this generated strong
Shia
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
opposition. He was also opposed by the family of Sāʿid ibn Badīʿ, ''
raʾīs'' (leader) of the ''
aḥdāth'' (militia), whom Alp Arslān had exiled to
Qalʿat Jaʿbar.
In early 1115, threatened by his fellow Seljuk vassals, Ṭughtakīn and
Īlghāzī of Mardin, Luʾluʾ requested assistance from the
Great Seljuk sultan
Muḥammad I Tapar in Baghdad. According to Ibn al-Athīr, the sultan sent the Emir
Bursuq ibn Bursuq to deal first with the rebels and then with the neighbouring
Frankish states. Part of Bursuq's mission was to take charge of Aleppo. When the emir ordered Luʾluʾ to surrender the city, the regent instead sent for help from his erstwhile enemies, Īlghāzī and Ṭughtakīn. Reinforcements of 2,000 cavalry entered the city, and Luʾluʾ went into open defiance of the Great Seljuk sultan. According to
Ibn al-ʿAdīm, Luʾluʾ even passed along intelligence on Bursuq's movements to the Frankish leader
Roger of Salerno, who defeated Bursuq at the
Battle of Sarmin.
Luʾluʾ was assassinated in 1117 at the instigation of the family of Sāʿid ibn Badīʿ while on his way to meet Sālim ibn Mālik, emir of Qalʿat Jaʿbar. During a rest at a place called Qalʿat Nādir, he was shot with arrows by some of his
Turkish retainers who had been pretending to hunt rabbit. Although the assassins plundered the regent's treasure, the people of Aleppo were able to recover it. Luʾluʾ was succeeded as ''atabeg'' by Shams al-Khawāṣṣ Yārūqtāsh, who had been his military commander. Ibn al-Athīr reports the rumour that Luʾluʾ had intended to kill the young sultan and was assassinated before he could by some friends of Sulṭān Shāh.
Āmina Khātūn took ''de facto'' control of the city.
Notes
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{{refend
1117 deaths
Atabegs
Eunuchs from the Abbasid Caliphate