Sajid dynasty

Sajid dynasty
ساجیان
889–929
Map of the Sajid dynasty at its greatest extent
Map of the Sajid dynasty at its greatest extent
CapitalMaragha
(889–901)
Ardabil
(901–929)
Common languagesPersian
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Afshin 
• 889–901
Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj
• 928–929
Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath (last)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
889
• Disestablished
929
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Abbasid Caliphate
Sallarid dynasty

The Sajid dynasty (Persian: ساجیان, romanizedsâjiyân, also known as Banu Saj) was an Iranian Muslim dynasty that ruled from 889/890 until 929. The Sajids ruled Azerbaijan and parts of Armenia first from Maragha and Barda and then from Ardabil.[a][1] The Sajids originated from the Central Asian province of Ushrusana and were of Iranian (Sogdian)[2][3][b] descent. Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj Diwdad the son of Diwdad, the first Sajid ruler of Azerbaijan, was appointed as its ruler in 889 or 890. Muhammad's father Abu'l-Saj Devdad had fought under the Ushrusanan prince Afshin Khaydar during the latter's final campaign against the rebel Babak Khorramdin in Azerbaijan, and later served the caliphs. Toward the end of the tenth century, as the central authority of the Abbasid Caliphate weakened, Muhammad was able to form a virtually independent state. Much of the Sajids' energies were spent in attempting to take control of neighboring Armenia. The dynasty ended with the death of Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath in 929.

  1. ^ a b c Bosworth, C. E. (1989). "Azerbaijan iv. Islamic History to 1941". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III: Ātaš–Bayhaqī, Ẓahīr-al-Dīn. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 224–231. ISBN 978-0-71009-121-5. [...]the caliph Moʿtażed appointed one of his generals, Moḥammad b. Abi'l-Sāj, an Iranian from Central Asia, as governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the family of the Sajids (q.v.) took their place as one of the virtually autonomous lines of provincial governors[...]
  2. ^ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1996). The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 147. The Sajids were a line of caliphal governors in north-western Persia, the family of a commander in the 'Abbasid service of Soghdian descent which became culturally Arabised.
  3. ^ Minorsky, V. (1957). Studies in Caucasian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 111.


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