Annazids

The Annazid or Banu Annaz or Al-Anazis (990–1116) were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim[1] dynasty that ruled a territory on the present-day Iran-Iraq frontier that included Kermanshah, Ilam, Hulwan, Dinawar (all in western Iran), Sharazour, Daquq, Daskara, Bandanijin (Mandali), and No'maniya (in south-eastern Iraq). According to the Kurdish history Sherefname, the title of the dynasty was Ayyar not Annaz,[2] therefore the alternative name Ayyarid is also used.[3]

Annazid rulers

Abul-Fath Mohammad bin Annaz (r. 990–1011) was the founder of the Annazid dynasty and ruled in Hulwan. Political conflicts during his twenty-year rule led to clashes in the west with the Arab clans Banu Oqayl (from whom he temporarily seized Daquq in 998) and the Banu Mazyad, as well as a campaign against Zahman bin Hendi, lord of Khanaqin, whose family he destroyed in 999. In the east, there was fierce competition between him and the Hasanwayhid Kurds (his relatives through marriage). In 1006, Badr bin Hasanuya aided by Abul-Hassan Ali bin Mazyad, sent an army of 10,000 men against Abul-Fath, who was compelled to seek refuge with the Buyid vizier, Amid-al-Joyus Abu Ali Hassan bin Abi Jafar in Baghdad. In a treaty concluded that year between the two Kurdish dynasties, Abul-Fath declared himself a Hasanwayhid vassal.

Hosam-al-Dawla Abul-Shawk (r. 1011–1046) was son of Abul-Fath Annaz. His thirty-six-year rule was filled with internecine strife as well as external conflict. As a result, the extent of his authority grew a great deal, sometimes reaching as far as Hilla and at other times contracting to a narrow region in present-day western Iran. He inaugurated his reign by checking an attack by the forces of the new Buyid vizier, Fakhr-al-molk, but he was compelled to retreat to Hulwan until a reconciliation was achieved. In 1029, he managed to defeat Shams-al-Dawla and stop the Seljuk Turks, after they seized Hamadan and attacked Dinawar and Asadabad. In 1029, Abul-Shawk defeated the Oqayl and took Daquq. In the period 1038–1039, he seized Kermanshah (Qarmisin) and captured its ruler (a Quhid Kurd). In 1040, his son Abul-Fath Abul-Shawk tried to capture territories belonging to Mohalhel but was defeated and captured. Mohalhel secured assistance from Ala-al-Dawla bin Kakuya, the ruler of Hamadan, and then he seized Dinawar, Kermanshah, and other regions. Relations between Abul-Shawk and Mohalhel improved following the intervention of Jalal-al-Dawla, but Mohalhel's refusal to release Abul-Fath bin Shawk led to renewed hostilities in 1040 and 1042, but he failed to release his son, who died in captivity. During the second campaign in 1042, Mohalhel caused great damage in Sanda (Sanandaj).

In 1045, Toghrul Beg sought to capture Annazid territories. During the campaign, the Kurdish governor of Hamadan fled, and Abul-Shawk retreated from Dinawar to Kermanshah and then to the citadel of Sirwan, on the Diyala river, where a large number of Kurds rallied around him. Annazids were unable to stop the march of the Turks, which captured Hulwan and Mahidasht and attacked Khanaqin. Abul-Shawk died in the citadel of Sirwan in April 1046. His followers rallied around Mohalhel.

Mohalhel

The strife between the Annazid chiefs continued during Mohalhel regime, especially when Sa'di bin Abul-Shawk sided with Yenal (he was the half-brother of Toghrul Beg) against his uncle. Yenal seized Hulwan in 1046 in the name of Hasanwayhid Badr bin Taher bin Helal. After four years of reconciliation between the Annazids and the Seljuk, Mohalhel met Toghrul Beg in 1050, who confirmed his rule over Sirwan, Daquq, Sharazor and Samagan and released his brother Sokrab.

Decline of Annazids

A declining Annazid rule can be traced for several generations. The last mention occurs in the second half of 12th century, when Surkhab III ibn Annaz became one of the rulers of Lorestan. According to the Kurdish historian Ali ibn al-Athir and Sharafnama, the Annazid era lasted 130 years.

List of Annazid Rulers

1. Abul-Fath Mohammad bin Annaz.....................991–1011
2. Husam al-Dawla Abu'l Shawk Faris ibn Muhammad... 1011–1046
3. Muhalhil ibn Muhammad (in Shahrazur).............1011–1055
4. Surkhab I ibn Muhammad (in Bandanijin)...........1011–1046
5. Sa'idi ibn Faris (sporadic rule)..................1050–1055
6. Surkhab II ibn Badr.......................... ? – 1107
7. Abu Mansur ibn Surkhab......................1107 – ?
8. Surkhab III ibn Annaz............................late 12th century

See also

• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

References

1. Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow: Longman. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7. The Kurdish dynasties which emerged in the second half of the fourth/tenth century......... and ‘Annazids of the central Zagros.........
2. Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor, ed. (1913–1936). "Kurds and Kurdistan". Encyclopaedia of Islam. 4 (1st ed.). Brill. ISBN 9004097902. OCLC 258059134.
3. "Wayback Machine". web.archive.org. 7 May 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2019.

• Sharf Khan Bedlisi, Sharafnama, edited by V. Veliaminof-Zernof, 2 vols., St.Petersburg, 1860/1862.
• Cheref-namah ou Postes de la nation Kurde, translated by F.B. Charmoy, 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1868/1875. (in French)
• Annazids, Kurdish Dynasty in Encyclopædia Iranica.
• List of Annazid Rulers