The Al-i Muhtaj ( Persian : آل محتاج ) or Muhtajids (also known as the Chaghanids ) was an Iranian or Iranized Arab ruling family of the small principality of Chaghaniyan . They ruled during the 10th and early 11th centuries.
17-511: The origin of the Muhtajids is unknown; the name has been given by modern historians after their presumed forebear Muhtaj. They may have been descended from the Chaghān Khudās who ruled Chaghaniyan during the early Middle Ages ; another possibility is that their ancestors were Arabs who migrated to the region and were Iranicized. In any case, by the early 10th century Chaghaniyan had become
34-642: A few years later the Seljuks took control of the region. Principality of Chaghaniyan The Principality of Chaghaniyan , known in Arabic sources as al-Saghaniyan , was a part of the Hephthalite Confederation from the 5th to the 7th century CE. After this, it was ruled by a local, presumably Iranian dynasty, which governed the Chaghaniyan region from the late 7th-century to
51-760: A vassal to the Samanids of Bukhara . The first ruler fully attested to by the sources was Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Muzaffar b. Muhtaj. Under the Samanids he was the governor of Ferghana . When in 929 the Samanid amir Nasr II was temporarily expelled from power by his brothers, Muhammad remained loyal to him. As a result, when Nasr managed to restore himself he rewarded Muhammad with the governorship of Balkh , and then in 933 made him governor of Khurasan . During his time as governor of Khurasan, Muhammad battled various Dailamite bands in northern Iran. In 939 he fell ill and
68-794: The Muslim conquest of Persia , the Chaghan Khudah aided the Sasanians , during their struggle against the Rashidun Arabs . However, the Arabs, after having dealt with the Sasanian Empire, began focusing on the local rulers of Khorasan , which included the Chaghan Khudah and many other local rulers. In 652, the Chaghan Khudah, along with the rulers of Talaqan , Guzgan , and Faryab , aided the ruler of southern Tokharistan against
85-629: The Oxus River to meet his ally, the Karakhanid ruler of Kashgar Qadir-khan Yusuf. During the reign of Mahmud's successor Mas'ud , the governor of Chaghaniyan was described as a son-in-law of Mas'ud's named Abu'l-Qasem, who may have been a Muhtajid. Abu'l-Qasem temporarily had to flee from the province in the face of an invasion by the Transoxianan Karakhanids. No more rulers of Chaghaniyan are mentioned after this, and only
102-726: The Zarafshan valley , Chaghaniyan, Khuttal , Termez , Balkh , Badghis , Herat and Kabul . In Chaghaniyan, the local ruler was named Faganish, and he started a dynasty. Circa 648-651 CE, the ruler of Chaghaniyan known as Turantash, sent an embassy under his chancellor Pukarzate to Varkhuman , the Sogdian king of Samarkand . The visit is mentioned in the murals of Afrasiyab , written in Sogdian: When King Varkhuman Unash came to him [the ambassador] opened his mouth [and said thus]: "I am Pukarzate,
119-651: The Arabs. Nevertheless, the principality of Chaghaniyan still aided the Arabs against the Turgesh , and were present at the side of the Arabs during the Battle of the Baggage , where they were defeated and the Chaghan Khudah was killed. After the battle, most of Khorasan except Chaghaniyan remained under Arab control. Under Nasr ibn Sayyar , Chaghaniyan was once again a vassal of the Umayyad Caliphate. After this,
136-603: The Arabs. Nevertheless the Arabs managed to emerge victorious during the battle. However, the Rashidun Caliphate soon fell into civil war, and was conquered by another Arab family, who founded the Umayyad Caliphate . In 705, the Arab general Qutayba ibn Muslim managed to make the Chaghan Khudah, whose name is mentioned as Tish , acknowledge Umayyad authority. The real reason for Tish's submission, however,
153-633: The Chaghan Khudahs begin to fade from the sources. In the late 8th-century Chaghaniyan fell under the direct control of the Abbasid Caliphate , which had succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate in 750. The Muhtajids , an Iranian dynasty which in the 10th-century gained control over Chaghaniyan, may have been descended from the Chaghan Khudahs. ^ a: Also spelled Chaghan Khuda, Chaghan Khoda, and Saghan Khuda, Western Turks Too Many Requests If you report this error to
170-484: The dapirpat (chancellor) of Chach opened his mouth. The King of Chaganian named Turantash may have a been a " Hunnic " Hephthalite ruler, or one of the local Chaghan Khudah, who seem to have coexisted with the Hephthalites. During the late 7th-century CE, Chaghaniyan became independent from Hephthalite rule, and came under the control of presumably Iranian local rulers known as the “Chaghan Khudah”. During
187-445: The dapirpat (chancellor) of Chaganian . I arrived here from Turantash, the lord of Chaganian, to Samarkand, to the king, and with respect [to] the king [now] I am [here]. And with regard to me do not have any misgivings: about the gods of Samarkand, as well as about the writing of Samarkand I am keenly aware, and I also have not done any harm to the king. Let you be quite fortunate!" And King Varkhuman Unash took leave [of him]. And [then]
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#1732791903367204-681: The early 8th-century CE. These rulers were known by their titles of “Chaghan Khudah” ( Middle Iranian ; Čagīnīgān Xvaday , meaning “the lord of Chaghaniyan”). The Hephthalite Empire fragmented around 560 CE under the assault of the Western Turks and the Sasanian Empire . After this time, the area around the Oxus in Bactria contained numerous Hephthalites principalities, remnants of the great Hephthalite Empire. They are reported in
221-647: Was also an enemy of the Simjuris; he therefore took part in the conflicts that marked the end of the Samanids as a power (see Nuh II of Samanid for details). By the end of the century the Muhtajid rulers became vassals of the Ghaznavids , who had supplanted the Samanids in Afghanistan and Khurasan. In 1025 an unnamed Chaghani ruler and other Ghaznavid vassals joined Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna when he crossed
238-510: Was removed from his post; he died in 941. Abu 'Ali Ahmad Chaghani was the most prominent of the Muhtajid rulers. He succeeded his father in his posts in 939 and earnestly fought to maintain a Samanid presence in northern Iran, attempting to stem there the rise of the Buyids , Dailamite officers who had already taken over southwest Iran. He fell out of favor with the Samanid amir Nuh b. Nasr and
255-619: Was removed from the governorship of Khurasan. Refusing to accept this, he revolted and installed in Bukhara another Samanid, but eventually Nuh retook Bukhara. Despite this, he was unable to defeat Abu 'Ali, and in the end he allowed him to retain his rule of Chaghaniyan. In 952 Abu 'Ali was made governor of Khurasan a second time, but only a year later was again dismissed. He fled to the Buyids and died in 955. The Muhtajid rulers succeeding Abu 'Ali are not well recorded. Abu'l Muzaffar (b.?) Muhammad
272-586: Was the ruler of Chaghaniyan toward the end of the 10th century. He was an ally of the Turkish general Fa'iq and together they fought against Abu'l Muzaffar's relative, Abu'l-Hasan Taher b. Fazl b. Muhammad, who had either been the previous ruler of Chaghaniyan or had usurped power there. Taher's army marched to Balkh in 991 but in the ensuing battle he was killed and Abu'l Muzaffar Muhammad established himself in Chaghaniyan. The alliance with Fa'iq meant that he
289-573: Was to gain aid in defeating the local rulers of Akharun and Shuman in northern Tokharistan, who had been making incursions against him. Qutayba shortly defeated the two rulers, and forced them to acknowledge Umayyad authority. However, in 718, Tish, along with Gurak , the king of Samarkand , Narayana, the king of Kumadh, and Tughshada, the Bukhar Khudah of Bukhara , sent an embassy to the Tang dynasty of China , where they asked for aid against
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