Ai-Toghdï, also known as Shumla (شملة; died 1174/5) was the ruler of

Khuzestan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

from 1155 until his death. Shumla was a member of the

Afshar tribe Afshar ( ; , ; ; ) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Afshar means "obedient". According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz ...

of the

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

. In the mid-1150s he took advantage of the decline of the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

and established his rule over Khuzestan. His authority was at first contested by the Seljuk prince Malik-Shah ibn Mahmud,Bosworth, p. 172 names this prince as "Malik-Shah b. Muhammad," but given the lack of any other mention of this person, as well as Bosworth's text in p. 176 ("Some amirs favoured Malik-Shah b. Mahmud, to whom Muhammad had latterly allocated the province of Fars; and though he managed to conquer part of this from Shumla...") I believed that Malik-Shah b. Mahmud was the correct name. who seized part of Khuzestan between 1158 and 1161, but Shumla was eventually able to restore his authority over the entire province.Bosworth, p. 172 During his reign Shumla frequently dealt with his neighbors. Besides being active in Seljuk affairs, he invaded 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 ...

in 1167 and 1173/4 in an attempt to gain territory in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, but was expelled both times by the caliph's forces. He also invaded and temporarily occupied Fars in 1169 after the discontented army of the

Salghurid The Salghurids (), also known as the Atabegs of Fars (), were a Persianate society, Persianate dynasty of Salur tribe, Salur Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman origin that ruled Fars province, Fars, first as vassals of the Seljuks then for the Khwara ...

amir Muzaffar al-Din Zangi invited him to do so. Upon his death in 1174 or 1175, one of Shumla's sons succeeded him in Khuzestan. This son ruled until his death in 1195; after he died the caliph Al-Nasir's vizier Mu'ayyaid al-Din Ibn Qassib invaded. He annexed the province and sent Shumla's grandsons to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Khuzestan remained in the hands of the Abbasids until the Mongol invasion of 1258.

Notes

References

*Bosworth, C.E. "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217)." ''The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods.'' Edited by J.A. Boyle. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1968.

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