Muflih al-Saji () was a Muslim commander and governor of Adharbayjan (

Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republ ...

) from c. 929 to c. 935.

Biography

As his ''

nisba The Arabic language, Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to: * Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation **c ...

'' indicates, he was a military slave of the Sajid ruler of Adharbayjan,

Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj Yusuf ibn Abi'l Saj (died, d. 928) was the Sajids, Sajid Emir of Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan from 901 until his death. He was the son of Abi'l-Saj Devdad. War with Armenians and Georgians Yusuf came to power in 901 by overthrowing his nephew, ...

. After Yusuf died in 928, he was succeeded briefly as ruler by his nephew, and then by Wasif al-Shirvani in 929 as governor of Adharbayjan for 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 in turn was followed, likely in the same year, by Muflih. Muflih is first mentioned by Ibn al-Athir in office in 931, and held the post at least until 935, when the last coins struck in his name appear. After him the province was taken over by the

Khariji The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...

Daysam ibn Ibrahim, likewise a former officer of Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj, in 937/8. In 929, Muflih defeated 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 ...

Domestic of the Schools The office of the Domestic of the Schools () was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the '' Scholai'', the senior of the elite '' tag ...

John Kourkouas John Kourkouas (, ), also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the East reversed the course of the centuries-long Arab–Byzant ...

, in battle. The victorious Muflih then pursued the Byzantines into their own territory. In 931, the Byzantines were engaged in southern Armenia, aiding the ruler of

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 ...

, Gagik I, who had rallied the local Armenian princes and allied himself with the Byzantines against the local Muslim emirates; the Christian forces raided the Kaysite emirate and razed Khliat and Berkri to the ground, before marching into

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 ...

and capturing

Samosata Samsat (, Ottoman Turkish صمصاد ''Semisat''), formerly Samosata () is a small town in the Adıyaman Province of Turkey, situated on the upper Euphrates river. It is the seat of Samsat District.Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

and sought refuge with the local autonomous ruler,

Abu Tahir Yazid Abu Tahir Yazid () or Yazid I was sixth Shah of Shirvan and third Shah of Layzan. Reign He was reigning as Layzanshah as heir of his father Muhammad. He attacked Shirvan and captured its ruler Ali I alongside his son Abbas and grandson Abu B ...

, but the latter handed him over to Daysam to avoid trouble.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{s-end 10th-century Arab people Ghilman Azerbaijan under the Abbasid Caliphate People under the Sajid dynasty Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate