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

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

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 capital ...

, located on the borders between

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, 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 regio ...

(Arabic ''al-Jazira'') and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, which at the time were provinces of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

. 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 (, 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 between 830 and 851. He succeeded his father, ...

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

. Arzen was the capital of the district of

Arzanene Arzanene () or Aghdznik () was a historical region in the southwest of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It was ruled by one of the four (''bidakhsh'', ) of Armenia, the highest ranking nobles below the king who ruled over the kingdom's border reg ...

(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, more accurately known as the Abul-Khayrid-Shibanids, were a dynasty of Uzbek ( Turko-Mongol) origin who ruled over the Khanate of Bukhara (from 1505 to 1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (from 1511 to 1695), a ...

who dominated the district of

Diyar Bakr Diyar 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 the medieval geographer al-Baladhuri, all three provinces were ...

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

Artsruni The House of Artsruni (; also Ardzruni or Artsrunid) was an ancient princely and, later, royal dynasty of Armenia. Name The name ''Artsruni'' contains the ending , which is widespread in old Armenian family names. The early Armenian historian ...

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 Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

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

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

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 Jazira. Their parent tribe was the Rabi'a, and they thus traced their descent to the Adnanites. The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive no ...

i chieftain

Hamdan ibn Hamdun Hamdan ( ') is a name of Arab origin of aristocratic descent and many political ties within the middle east and the Arab World, controlling import/export mandates over port authorities. Among people named Hamdan include: Given name * Hamdan Mo ...

, against the ambitions of the Turk Ishaq ibn Kundajiq, who ruled

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

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 () 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 Diyar Mudar. According to the medieval geographer al-Baladhuri, all three prov ...

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

gold dinar The gold dinar () 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 Latin word denarius, which was ...

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 Tulunid State, also known as the Tulunid Emirate or The State of Banu Tulun, and popularly referred to as the Tulunids () was a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin who was the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt in the Middle ...

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

Ahmad Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

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

References

Sources

* * * * * {{The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia 9th-century Arab people 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century monarchs in the Middle East Converts to Christianity from Islam Artsruni dynasty Bagratuni dynasty Abbasid governors of Palestine