Ali I () was
shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
of
Shirvan (located in the modern day
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
).
Reign
He succeeded his father
Haytham II. Later, making an alliance with Muhammad b. Hashim -
Emir of Derbent, he marched on Shandān (in modern
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
) to
Islamize
The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...
the country . However, the attack was a disaster for muslim side as about 10,000 soldiers were captured were divided into three groups to be enslaved by
Sarir,
Khazars
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
and Shandān. Ali was among the captured as well, but he was freed three months later without ransom.
According to
al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
,
the Rus raided Caucasus during his reign. Ali built boats to fight off the invasion, but it was no match for 500-ship strong Rus fleet. The Rus army plundered the region starting from
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
to as far as
Arran.
''Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, Volume 35, Number 4''
Mouton, 1994. (originally from the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
, digitalised on 9 March 2010)
Vladimir Minorsky
Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...
argued that the reason for Ali I's downfall was loss of prestige and continuous defeats. He was attacked by Abu Tahir Yazid
Abu Tahir Yazid was sixth independent Shah of Shirvan and third Shah of Layzan. He was subjugated to Sajids and Sallarids. He fought against Derbent based Hashimids.Дepбeнднaмe, c.592-594
Family
Abu Tahir Yazid had at least two sons:
* ...
, his 2nd cousin-once-removed . He was captured near Marzūqiya (near modern Derbent
Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is ...
) alongside his son Abbas and grandson Abu-Bakr. While he and his son were executed, Abu-Bakr managed to escape. Abu Tahir Yazid, who was Layzanshah succeeded him as next Shirvanshah
''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
, uniting two principalities.
References
Sources
*
{{Shirvanshahs