Muhammad II ibn Mahmud (1128–1159) was

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Seljuq Empire The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a High Middle Ages, high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. ...

from 1153 to 1159. He was son of

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

and brother of

Malik-Shah III Mughith al-Dunya wa'l-Din Malik-Shah bin Mahmud ( 1128 – 25 March 1160) known as Malik-Shah III ruled as Sultan of Great Seljuq from 1152–53. He was the son of Mahmud II of Great Seljuq. In 1153, he was deposed and was succeeded by his b ...

. ''

The Cambridge History of Iran ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' is a multi-volume survey of Iranian history published in the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press. The seven volumes cover "the history and historical geography of the land which is present-day Iran, as w ...

'' notes that Sultan Muhammad "tried energetically to restore the slipping authority of his dynasty 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 ...

Biography

He was raised in Fars along with his brother Malik-Shah III. In 1148, their uncle Sultan

Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fath Mas'ud bin Muhammad ( 1107 – 10 October 1152) was the Seljuq Sultan of Iraq and western Persia in 1133–1152. Reign Ghiyath ad-Din Masud was the son of sultan Muhammad I Tapar and his wife Nistandar Jaha ...

, who had no heirs and was in a weak position, appointed Malik-Shah III as heir, and gave his daughter in marriage to him. On 13 September 1152, Mas'ud died at

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

, and Malik-Shah III ascended the throne. In 1153, Muhammad, who was then in

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 ...

, marched towards

and deposed his brother Malik-Shah III from the Seljuq throne, and ascended the throne himself. Meanwhile, the insurgent

Abbasids 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 i ...

under

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

al-Muqtafi Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir (; 9 April 1096 – 12 March 1160), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah (), was the List of Abbasid caliphs#Abbasid Caliphs (25 January 750 – 20 February 1258), Abbasid ca ...

was seizing the Turks of Iraq, and in 1155 supported a rival claimant to the throne,

Suleiman-Shah Mu'izz al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Harith Suleiman-Shah bin Muhammad (October–November 1117 – 13 March 1161; ), was ''sultan'' of the Seljuq Empire from 1159 to 1160. Early life Suleiman-Shah was the son of sultan Muhammad I Tapar. His mother ...

. Furthermore, al-Muqtafi also sent an army to conquer

Jibal Jibāl (), also al-Jabal (), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' ("mountain, hill"), highlight ...

, but the army was defeated by Muhammad. In 1157, Muhammad marched to the Abbasid capital of

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 ...

with an army of 30,000 men, while his ally the

Zangid The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus (Arabic: أتابكة الموصل وحلب ودمشق), or the Zengid State (Old Anatolian Turkish: , Modern Turkish: ; ) was initially an '' Atabegat ...

Qutb ad-Din Mawdud Qutb al-Din Mawdud (died 6 September 1170) was the Zengid Emir of Mosul from 1149 to 1169. He was the son of Imad al-Din Zengi and brother and successor of Sayf al-Din Ghazi I. Biography At the death of Zengi, his possessions were divided betwe ...

marched from

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 ...

to capture the Caliphate's provinces in Central Iraq. On January 12, Muhammad reached the walls of western Baghdad. In response the Caliph gathered all his troops from

Hillah Hillah ( ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq. On the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, it is south of Baghdad. The population was estimated to be about 455,700 in 2018. It is the capital of Babylon Province and is ...

and

Wasit Wasit (, ) was an early Islamic city in Iraq. It was founded in the 8th century by the Umayyad viceroy of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, to serve as the region's seat and as the garrison of the Syrian troops who enforced Umayyad rule there. It was ...

to defend the capital. In February, unable to defend western Baghdad, the caliph abandoned the western side and ordered all the bridges over the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

river, which separates the western side of Baghdad from its eastern side, to be destroyed. Muhammad crossed to the western side and easily captured it, and established his camp while at the same time the caliph fortified the walls of eastern Baghdad. Several catapults and ballistas were installed on the city's walls. The caliph also armed the natives of Baghdad by giving them armour and weapons, and incited them to fight the enemy of the caliphate, whom he called infidels since they waged war against the caliph, the successor of the prophet and the leader of the

ummah ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective com ...

. He also ordered his vizier

Awn ad-Din ibn Hubayra Awn al-Din Abu'l-Muzzafar Yahya ibn Hubayra al-Shaybani al-Duri al-Baghdadi (; 1105-1165), commonly referred to as Ibn Hubayra, was a 12th-century Iraqi Arab official and a Hanbali faqih, jurist, who served for sixteen years as Vizier (Abbasid Cal ...

to give 5 golden dinars to every wounded soldier. On March 4, Sultan Muhammad and his ally Zayn ad-Din, Qutb ad-Din's vizier, attacked eastern Baghdad and bombarded the city. The army of Baghdad repulsed the attack thanks to the courage of the natives of Baghdad and the naffatuns. On March 29, the Seljuks repaired one of the bridges and crossed to the eastern side of the city, where they skirmished with both the Caliph's army and the native militias of Baghdad. The naffatuns destroyed several catapults. The Seljuks tried to breach the gate by a

battering ram A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried ...

but it was destroyed by the

catapults A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of sto ...

on the walls. The result of the battle remained indecisive for both sides. On June 29, Sultan Muhammad ordered his men to climb the walls. He had already made 400 ladders to climb the walls of Baghdad, but the assault was repulsed due to the heavy fire and casualties. In the meantime

Nur ad-Din Zangi Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. 'Light of the Faith' in Arabic), was a Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syria (region), Syrian province ...

blamed his brother Qutb ad-Din for attacking the caliph's realm, which destroyed the Zengid-Seljuq alliance. Zayn ad-Din lifted the siege and returned to Mosul. Muhammad also was forced to lift the siege after his men informed him that his brother Malik-Shah III has captured Hamadan. He eventually realized that the siege was useless, so he preferred to fight for his throne. Thus the Siege of Baghdad came to end on the July 13, 1157. Muhammad shortly managed to repel Malik-Shah III, but became sick during this period, and eventually died in 1159 at Hamadan. The powerful

amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

Ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

Ïnanch Sonqur Ïnanch Sonqur (Turkic) (in ) or Husam al-Din Sunqur Inanj (in ) (died 1169) was the Seljuk ''amir'' of Ray from 1160 at the latest until his death. During his eight years in power he played a major role in the events that occurred in northern Ira ...

, then put Suleiman-Shah on the Seljuq throne.

Family

One of his wives was Gawhar Khatun, the daughter of Sultan

and Gawhar Khatun, the daughter of

Ahmad Sanjar Sanjar (, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (6 November 1086 – 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until 1118, in 1146. She died in 1154–55, and Muhammad mourned her deeply. Another of his wives was Mahd Rafi Khatun, also known as Kirmani Khatun. She was the daughter of Kirman Shah, son of Arslan Shah. They married in 1159. The marriage was performed by Imad al-Din Abd al-Samad Shaybani. She was brought to the capital of Hamadan in July–August 1159, and the Sultan went to receive her. He was, however, unable to consummate the marriage owing to his illness. He died five months after the marriage. Another wife was Kerman Khatun. She was the daughter of Abbasid Caliph

Al-Muqtafi Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir (; 9 April 1096 – 12 March 1160), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah (), was the List of Abbasid caliphs#Abbasid Caliphs (25 January 750 – 20 February 1258), Abbasid ca ...

. They married towards the end of 1158 or in early 1159. He was, however, unable to consummate the marriage owing to his illness. Muhammad had a son, whom he handed for protection to Atabeg Hasbeg bin Ak-Sungur Ahmedili, who took him to

Maragheh Maragheh () is a city in the Central District (Maragheh County), Central District of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Maragheh is on the bank of ...

References

Sources

* {{Seljuk dynasty Seljuk rulers 1159 deaths 1128 births