Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi

Aḥmad b. Yūsuf b. 'Alī b. al-Azraq (c. 1116/17 – c. 1176/77)[1] was a historian and civil servant of the Artuqids and Georgians. He wrote the chronicle Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn wa Amid in c. 1164/65.[1] His historical chronicle was copied and referenced by contemporary and later writers.

Life

Ibn al-Azraq was born c. 1116/17 in Mayyafariqin. In 1134/35, Ibn al-Azraq was traveling through nearby regions.[1] By 1136/37 he was in the Jazira, and during a stay in Nasibin he encountered Imad al-Din Zengi.[1] Ibn al-Azraq made several trips to Baghdad, including one in 1139/40 where he remained for six months to study with leading scholars of the period.[1]

Ibn al-Azraq held numerous administrative posts.[1] In 1147/48, he was purchasing copper in al-Ma'dan for the Artuqid ruler Timurtash's mint.[1] The next year al-Azraq was mutawalli ishraf al-waqf (supervisor of charitably endowed property).[1] By 1153/54 he was employed by the King of Georgia, Demetrius I of Georgia,[2] possibly as secretary according to Vladimir Minorsky.[3] After visiting a tomb in Ray, al-Azraq returned to Georgia by 1162/63.[3] He returned to Mayyafariqin in 1166/67 and was appointed mutawalli ishraf al-waqf again.[1] By 1167/68, al-Azraq was in Damascus in the same position, which he held for two years.[3]

Ibn al-Azraq indicates through his writing that he was a supporter of the Artuqid dynasty, although his ethnicity was speculated as being Arab, Kurdish, or Turkish.[4] The historian Vladimir Minorsky believed him to be an Alid supporter, while the historian Carole Hillenbrand indicated he was Sunni Muslim.[4] Al-Azraq receives no notice in biographical works, which points to his marginal status in the Muslim world.[3]

Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn

Ibn al-Azraq's employment as a civil servant of Muslim and non-Muslim rulers, gave him access to official documents and chancery records, which he used to write his Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn.[3] Al-Azraq's only historical work appears to have been the Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn wa Amid.[2] He wrote two versions of this text, the first was written in 1164/65 while the second, an extended version of the first text was written in 1176/77.[2]

The Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn was heavily copied and cited by numerous chroniclers namely, Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Khallikan, Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad, and Ibn Wasil.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hillenbrand 1990, p. 5.
  2. ^ a b c Hillenbrand 1990, p. 6.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thomas & Mallett 2011, p. 690.
  4. ^ a b Thomas & Mallett 2011, p. 691.
  5. ^ Hillenbrand 1979, p. 35,36,48-49,61-62.

Sources

  • Hillenbrand, Carole (1979). The History of the Jazīra 1100–1150: the contribution of Ibn Al-Azraq al-Fāriqī (PhD thesis). Vol. 1. University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/7341.
  • Hillenbrand, Carole (1990). A Muslim Principality in Crusader Times: The Early Artuqid State. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-9062580668.
  • Thomas, David; Mallett, Alexander, eds. (2011). "Ibn Al-Azraq". Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Vol. 3: (1050-1200). Brill. ISBN 9789004216167.

See also

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