Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Marwan, also known with the
laqab
Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given name, given, middle name, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system ...
Nasr al-Dawla, was the ruler of the
Marwanid Emirate from 1011 to 1061.
Nasr al-Dawla was regarded as the guardian of the Islamic frontier, and as such he was expected to attack Christian territories whenever the opportunity arrived.
Early life and rise to power
Nasr al-Dawla was the third son of Marwan; before his rise to power he lived in semi-exile in
Siirt
Siirt (; ; ; ) is a city in the Siirt District of Siirt Province in Turkey. It had a population of 160,340 in 2021. The city is predominantly inhabited by Kurds.
Neighborhoods
The city is divided into the neighborhoods of Afetevlerı, Alan, ...
. After Mumahhid al-Dawla's assassination by his
gulam Sharwin ibn Muhammad, Nasr al-Dawla was approached by
Kurdish tribal chiefs to take over the Marwanid throne. Sharwin ibn Muhammad surrendered himself to Nasr al-Dawla due to lack of support from the local population, and Nasr al-Dawla had him executed.
reign
During al-Dawla's reign, it was the golden age for
Mayafariqin and surrounding areas. In 1026, he seized
Edessa
Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
from the
Romans, but it was recaptured in 1035. The long rule of Nasr al-Dawla represented the apogee of Marwanid power. He built a new citadel on a hill of Mayyafariqin where the Church of the Virgin stood, constructed bridges and public baths, and restored the observatory. Some libraries were established in the mosques of Mayyafarikin and
Amid. He invited well-known scholars, historians and poets to his royal court, among them Abd Allah al-Kazaruni, and al-Tihami. He sheltered political refugees such as the future
Abbasid caliph
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came ...
al-Muqtadi
Abū'l-Qasim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qa'im (Arabic: أبو القاسم عبد الله بن محمد بن القائم) better known by his regnal name al-Muqtadi (Arabic: المقتدي 'the follower'; 1056 – February 1094) was the ...
(1075–1099). In 1054 he had to acknowledge Toghrul Beg the Seljuq as his own liege, who ruled the largest part of the
Jazira
Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula".
The term may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazir ...
, but he kept his territories. This fine period of peace and good feelings between Kurds and Syriacs was rich in cultural creations. The period enjoyed extensive trade, vibrant arts and crafts, and an impressive history. Nasr al-Dawla left monumental inscriptions in Diyarbakır that still show the artistic brightness of his reign.
Nasr al-Dawla died in November 1061, at the age of 80. He was succeeded by his son, Nizām Al-Dawla.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan
11th-century Kurdish people
Marwanid dynasty
People from Siirt Province
11th-century monarchs in the Middle East