Şeddâdîler

The Shaddadids (also referred to in sources as Beni Shaddad, Al-i Shaddad, Shaddadiyan, and Shatatik) were a Kurdish state that ruled in the geography of Arran and Armenia from the mid-10th century to the end of the 12th century. It took its name from the father of the dynasty's founder, Muhammed b. Shaddad (Volume 1, p. 101).

Establishment and Rise

The dynasty emerged onto the historical stage with Muhammed b. Shaddad's settlement in Dvin in 951. However, this initial rule was not long-lived, ending when the Musafirid Emir Merzuban b. Muhammed recaptured Dvin in 954. The sons of Muhammed b. Shaddad, who sought a homeland in Armenia and Arran for a while, captured Ganja in 970-971 and made it their center (Volume 1, p. 101).

The Shaddadids, who became an effective power centered in Ganja, served as an important "sughur" (frontier/border) state by forming a buffer between the Muslim world and the Christian Georgian and Armenian states and the non-Muslim peoples north of the Kura River (Volume 1, p. 101).

Source Problem

The writing of Shaddadid history presents serious difficulties due to the loss of many fundamental sources from the period. Among the works thought to contain information about the Shaddadids are a Tarihu Azerbaijan by et-Tabrizi el-Vaiz (d. circa 570/1174-1175) and one by es-Salmasi el-Faqih; both are lost today. Similarly, the loss of the history books of Hovhannes Sakavag (1047-1129), Mkhitar Anetsi (whose work covers events up to 1193), and Vanakan Vardapet (d. 1251), who lived in Ani during the Ani Shaddadids era and from whom later Armenian historians made transmissions, has left many aspects of the history of the Shaddadids, their contemporaries, in the dark (Volume 1, p. 102).

Müneccimbaşı and His Sources

Despite this gap, one of the most important sources for Shaddadid history is Müneccimbaşı's Arabic general history titled Câmi'ü'd-düvel. The author, who began his academic life in the Selanik Mevlevihane, then went to Istanbul to study Islamic sciences as well as medicine and natural sciences, and served as chief astrologer (müneccimbaşı) in the Ottoman palace for many years, gained his true fame with this work. In the work, which is stated in its introduction to have been written using seventy-two sources and covers events from creation up to the year 1081/1670, the histories of states are discussed under separate headings, and a separate heading is also dedicated to the Shaddadids. Although the work was written at a relatively late period compared to the time the Shaddadids ruled, it is one of the most important sources for Shaddadid history (Volume 1, p. 103).

The reason Müneccimbaşı holds this importance is that he transmitted a lost source that preceded him. Only the part of this work, whose full name is Târîhu Bâbi'l-Ebvâb ve Shirvan ve Arran and which is currently lost, that describes the conditions of the rulers of Bab al-Abwab, Shirvan, Arran, and Azerbaijan, has reached us thanks to Müneccimbaşı's transmission. This work holds the distinction of being the only source that provides comprehensive information about the history of the Shaddadid State. In Târîhu Bâbi'l-Ebvâb, which recounts the Ganja branch of the Shaddadids within the context of Müneccimbaşı's transmissions, events from Muhammed b. Shaddad's settlement in Dvin (340/951) to the Seljuk Emir Savtegin's capture of Ganja (468/1075-1076) are narrated chronologically, clarifying the dynasty's lineage. It contains very original information, especially regarding the Shaddadids' emergence onto the historical stage and the end of the Ganja Shaddadids, which is not found in any other source (Volume 1, p. 105).