Ikhtiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Ghafras or Ikstiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Gavras (died 1192) was a courtier and long-time

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of the

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

Sultan of Iconium,

Kilij Arslan II Kilij Arslan II () or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd () ( Modern Turkish ''Kılıç Arslan'', meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1156 until his death in 1192. Reign In 1159, Kilij Arslan attacked Byzantine emperor Ma ...

(reigned 1156–1192). He was a member of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Gabras family, very likely identical with, or possibly the son of, an unnamed member of the family who defected to the Sultan in the late reign of Emperor

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

(), became a leading member of the Seljuk court, and served as the Seljuk ambassador to the Emperor during the Myriokephalon campaign of 1175–76.Bryer (1970), pp. 180–181 Ikthyar himself is safely attested from on, when he led negotiations with

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

. He held the post of vizier until Kilij Arslan's death in 1192. According to historian

Anthony Bryer Anthony Applemore Mornington Bryer (31 October 1937 – 22 October 2016) was a British historian of the Byzantine Empire who founded the journal ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' and the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studie ...

, he was "regarded as a wise statesman and noted for the splendour of his robes and personal jewelry". Nevertheless, it is possible that he (or a possible son) is the "Ghawras" who was accused of poisoning the Sultan and his heir,

Kaykhusraw I Kaykhusraw I ( or Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw ibn Kilij Arslān; ), the eleventh and youngest son of Kilij Arslan II, was Seljuk Sultan of Rûm. He succeeded his father in 1192, but had to fight his brothers for control of the Sultanate, losing t ...

, in 1192. After Kilij Arslan's death, he was dismissed from his office and made for his estates near

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

, where he intended to retire, but was waylaid and killed on the way by Turkmen raiders. His estates were then claimed by the Mengujekid emir Bahramshah.

References

Sources

* {{cite journal , last = Bryer , first = Anthony M. , title = A Byzantine Family: The Gabrades, c. 979 – c. 1653 , journal = University of Birmingham Historical Journal , volume = XII , location = Birmingham , year = 1970 , pages = 164–187 1192 deaths 12th-century Byzantine people Byzantine defectors Viziers of the Sultanate of Rum Gabras family Year of birth unknown Converts to Sunni Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy