Maragheh

It has been long suggested that Maragheh was identical with Phraaspa/Phraata,[8] the winter capital of Atropatene.[9] The 9th-century Muslim historian al-Baladhuri (died 892) reports that the town was originally known as Akra-rudh (called "Afrah-rudh" by Ibn al-Faqih, and "Afrazah-rudh" by Yaqut al-Hamawi) a Persian name which means "river of Afrah", and which the Russian orientalist Vladimir Minorsky considered to seem reminiscent of the name of Phraata.[10] He added that it is unlikely that Maragheh did not exist during the Roman era, due to its favorable location.[11]

Map of Adharbayjan and its surroundings in the 9th-century

During the Arab conquest of Iran, the towns of Adharbayjan (which also must have included Maragheh) were captured by al-Mughira. The Umayyad prince Marwan ibn Muhammad briefly stayed at Maragheh following his expedition to Muqan and Gilan in 740. It was during this period that the settlement was given the name of "Maragheh" (meaning "place where an animal rolls") due to the large quantity of dung there. Marwan also engaged in some building activities in the town. Control over the town was later handed to the daughters of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809).[11]

Due to the rebellion of the lord of Tabriz, Wajna ibn Rawwad, a wall was erected around Maragheh and a garrison was also established there. This was done under the orders of Khuzayma ibn Khazim, the governor of Adharbayjan and Arminiya (Armenia), a position he had probably reached in 803. Following the launch of the rebellion of Babak Khorramdin in 816/17, the people sought shelter in Maragheh. The caliph al-Mam'un (r. 813–833) soon had the walls of the town was restored, followed by the re-population of the place. In 836, Maragheh served as the winter quarters of Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin during his expedition against Babak.[11]

In an attempt to reduce the unstable autonomy of the Arab chieftains of Adharbayjan and partly to curb the dominance of the Bagratid kings of Armenia, the caliph al-Mu'tamid installed Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj as the governor of Adharbayjan and Armenia in 889/90, or more likely, in 892. The latter belonged to the Sajid family, native to Ushrusana and most likely of Sogdian origin. Muhammad's first challenge came in the form of 'Abd-Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hamdani, a rebel who had taken control of Maragheh. Muhammad convinced him to surrender in 893 by promising his safety, but once 'Abd-Allah did so he was executed by the Sajid. Maragheh was afterwards made Muhammad's capital, though he usually resided in Barda'a.[12] Muhammad amassed so much authority that he briefly declared independence from the caliphate.[13]

Following Muhammad's death to an epidemic in 901, his troops installed his son Devdad ibn Muhammad on the throne. Five months after, however, the latter was removed from power by his uncle Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj, who destroyed the walls of Maragheh and moved his capital to Ardabil.[13] In 909, Yusuf was officially acknowledged as the ruler of Adharbayjan and Armenia by the newly ascended caliph al-Muqtadir.[14] A dirham struck by Yusuf at Maragheh from the same year has been found. The last Sajid ruler, Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath, was killed at Maragheh in 929.[11]

Following the collapse of the Sajid kingdom, the Kurdish commander Daysam ibn Ibrahim al-Kurdi attempted to establish his rule over Azerbaijan, but he was eventually defeated in 941/42 by Marzuban ibn Muhammad (r. 941/42–957), who gained control over the region, expanding his realm as far as Dvin in Armenia.[15] The latter belonged to the Sallarid dynasty, of Daylamite stock and originally centered in the Tarum district of Daylam.[16] In 948, Azerbaijan was briefly controlled by the Buyid dynasty, as demonstrated by a coin struck at Maragheh by Abu Mansur Muhammad, a general of the Buyid ruler Rukn al-Dawla (r. 935–976).[11]

The Gonbad-e Sorkh, built under Seljuk rule in 1147

Following the death of the Sallarid Ibrahim I ibn Marzuban I in 983, Azerbaijan (excluding a small part, possibly Miyana) was conquered by the Kurdish Rawadids, former vassals of the Sallarids.[17] In 1039, Maragheh was sacked by a wave of immigrating Oghuz Turks, who destroyed its mosque and killed many of its inhabitants.[18] In 1054, the Rawadid ruler Abu Mansur Wahsudan (r. 1019–1058/9) was forced to submit to the Seljuk ruler Tughril (r. 1037–1063).[19][20] In 1070, Tughril arrested Wahsudan's son and successor Abu Nasr Mamlan II (r. 1058/9–1070) and incorporated Azerbaijan into his domain, thus marking the end of the Rawadid dynasty.[19] In 1104, the Seljuk brothers and rivals Berkyaruq (r. 1094–1105) and Muhammad I Tapar (r. 1105–1118) had their peace treaty signed near Maragheh. A year later, Muhammad I visited Maragheh.[11] In 1111/12, a certain Ahmadil ibn Ibrahim ibn Wahsudan was appointed as the ruler of Maragheh. The background of the latter is obscure, but some modern historians consider him to be from the Rawadid dynasty.[21][22]

Following Ahmadil's death on 16 May 1116, he was reportedly succeeded by his slave Aq Sunqur, who by 1122 had emerged as a semi-independent subject of the Seljuks.[22] This marked the start of the Ahmadili dynasty, a name they are commonly referred as due to their connection to Ahmadil.[21] Aq Sunqur secretly conspired with the rebel prince Tughril ibn Muhammad, encouraging the latter to invade Maragheh in return for soldiers and aid. The rebellion failed in 1122/23, and led to the dismissal of Aq Sunqur by the Seljuk ruler Mahmud II (r. 1118–1131). However, Aq Sunqur was soon re-appointed as the governor of Maragheh. In 1150, the Seljuk ruler Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud (r. 1133–1152) besieged Maragheh, due to a conflict between Aq Sunqur's son and successor Arslan Aba and another local ruler. The town was captured after two days, but a resolution was soon reached through the mediation of various military leaders.[22]

In 1174/75, the Eldiguzid prince (and subsequent ruler) Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan (r. 1175–1186) besieged Maragheh, but was unsuccessful in capturing it. The last Ahmadili ruler of Maragheh was Sulafa Khatun (r. 1209–1225). She was at Ru'in Dez during the Mongol conquest of Maragheh in 1221.[21] The Mongols "stormed" the city on 30 March 1221 and burned it and killed its inhabitants.[23]

In 1225, the Khwarazmshah of the Anushtegin dynasty, Jalal al-Din Mangburni (r. 1220–1231), reached Maragheh, which he was able to enter without any trouble, due the discontentment of the locals towards the raids and oppression by the Kingdom of Georgia. Mangburni attempted to restore Maragheh to its previous successful state.[23]

Tomb of the poet Awhadi Maraghai, who lived in Maragheh from about 1306 until his death in 1338.

In 1231, Mongol rule over Maragheh was made definite. After the Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan (r. 1256–1265) had captured Baghdad in 1258, he established his residence in Maragheh. He also had an observatory built under the directorship of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Other buildings from this period are lacking, since the first Mongol Ilkhanate rulers lived a semi-nomadic life. Zakariya al-Qazwini, who wrote a geographical dictionary around 1275, seems to have known Maragheh well.[24] He described its mineral springs, a cave which probably corresponds to the later Chay-Baghi, a mountain called Zanjaqan with its calcareous spring, and the "impregnable" fortress of Ru'in Dez.[24] In 1304, the Ilkhanate ruler Öljaitü (r. 1304–1316) appointed Nasir al-Din Tusi's son as the new head of the observatory.[24] In 1306, the prominent Sufi poet Awhadi Maraghai settled in Maragheh, living there until his death on 6 April 1338.[25] In 1312, Qara-Sunqur, the former amir al-umara of Aleppo, was appointed ruler of Maragheh by Öljaitü. This event is described by the 14th-century Maghrebi scholar Ibn Battuta, who also reports that Maragheh was called "Little Damascus". Qara-Sunqur died in 1328.[24]

Writing c. 1340, Hamdallah Mustawfi described Maragheh as the capital of a tuman which included all the southern portion of Azerbaijan.[26] It bordered the tumans of Tabriz on the north and Khoy on the west; to the east was Iraq-e Ajam and to the south was Kurdistan.[26] Among the cities underneath Maragheh were Dih-i Khwaraqan, Leylan, and Pasveh.[26] He also described six districts that belonged to Maragheh, some of whose readings are uncertain: Sarajun, Niyajun, Duzakhrud, Gavdul (at the confluence of the Leylan and Jaghatu rivers), Behestan, and Hashtrud.[26] He also mentioned Anguran as a dependency of Maragheh.[26] Mustawfi reports that inhabitants of Maragheh spoke pahlavī-e moḡayyar ("modified Pahlavi"), i.e. the vernacular of northwestern and central Iran.[27]

The 17th century Ottoman Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi mentioned that the women or the "female society"[28] in Maragheh mostly conversed in Pahlavi.[29] According to Mortaza Firuzi, Hossein Hassanpashaei, and Sanaz Rahkarfarshi, some sources either falsely disregard this language or deem it as the dominant language of Maragheh, which was most likely Turkman based on the account of Evliya Çelebi.[28] According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the current inhabitants speak Azeri Turkish, but in the 14th century, they still spoke “arabicized Pahlawi," an Iranian dialect of the north western group.[30]

Maragheh around the turn of the 20th century

Between the 18th and 20th centuries, Maragheh was governed by the Moqaddam family.[31]