Abu'l-Abbas Ma'mun ibn Ma'mun (died March 1017) was the Ma'munid ruler of

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...

from 1009 until his death in 1017, having succeeded his brother

Abu al-Hasan Ali Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (died c. 1009) was ruler of Khwarazm (a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia) from 997 until his death c. 1009. The second member of the Ma'munid dynasty, he was the son of Ma'mun I ibn Muhammad ...

in that post. He was the son of

Ma'mun I ibn Muhammad Abu'l-Ali Ma'mun ibn Muhammad (died 997) was ruler of Khwarazm from 995 until his death in 997. He was the founder of the Ma'munid dynasty, which lasted from 995 until 1017. Ma'mun was originally the Samanid governor of southern Khwarazm, with his ...

. The greatest threat to Ma'mun's rule came in the form of the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

sultan, Mahmud of Ghazni. Mahmud viewed Khwarazm as a strategically important province, as it would allow him to widen the front against his biggest enemy, the

Karakhanids The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

. When the

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

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 ...

sent Ma'mun several awards, including an investiture patent for Khwarazm (confirming him as independent ruler) in 1014, Ma'mun refused to accept the awards in his capital, fearing that personally accepting the symbols of independence would anger Mahmud. He instead sent out a delegation to accept the awards on the steppe. Ma'mun also married Mahmud's sister Hurra-yi Kalji, who had previously been married to his brother, in 1015 or 1016. Despite these efforts to placate Mahmud, the Ghaznavid demanded that Ma'mun put his name in the ''

khutba ''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition. Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic tradition ...

'', in effect acknowledging his suzerainty. Although the nobility and the army were opposed to such measure, Ma'mun had no choice but to give in. He agreed to place Mahmud's name in the ''khutba'' and to fulfil other humiliating demands. In response the army revolted and Ma'mun was killed. The rebels placed his nephew

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

on the throne, but Mahmud used the death of his brother-in-law as a pretext for annexing Khwarazm. During Ma'mun's reign several scholars, such as

al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

, resided in Khwarazm, and in fact one of Mahmud's demands upon the shah was that several of them be sent to him. Ma'mun also was responsible for several building projects; he ordered a minaret to be constructed in Gurganj in 1011.''The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana'', editor Sheila Blair, E.J. Brill, 1992,80

References

Sources

* 1017 deaths Year of birth unknown 11th-century Iranian people Ma'munids {{Iran-royal-stub