The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; Turkish: Artuklu Beyliği, Artuklular, pl.Artukoğulları; Turkmen: Artykly begligi, Artykogullary; Azerbaijani: Artuklu bəyliyi, Artıqlılar) was established in 1102 as an Anatolian Beylik (Principality) of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a Turkoman dynasty rooted in the OghuzDöğer tribe, and followed the Sunni Muslim faith.[1][2][3] It ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuqid dynasty took its name from its founder, Artuk Bey, who was of the Döger branch of the Oghuz Turks and ruled one of the Turkmen beyliks of the Seljuk Empire. Artuk's sons and descendants ruled the three branches in the region: Sökmen's descendants ruled the region around Hasankeyf between 1102 and 1231; Ilghazi's branch ruled from Mardin and Mayyafariqin between 1106 and 1186 (until 1409 as vassals) and Aleppo from 1117–1128; and the Harput line starting in 1112 under the Sökmen branch, and was independent between 1185 and 1233.
After pillaging the County of Edessa, Ilghazi made peace with the Crusaders. In 1121, he went north towards Armenia with his son-in-law Mazyad Dubais II ibn Sadaqah and Sultan Malik of Ganja. Ilghazi invaded Georgia and was defeated by David IV of Georgia at the Battle of Didgori of 1121. Ilghazi died in 1122, and although his nephew Belek Ghazi nominally controlled Aleppo, the city was really controlled by ibn al-Khashshab. Ibn al-Kashshab was murdered by Assassins in 1125, and Aleppo fell under the control of Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, in 1128. After the death of Belek Ghazi, the Artuqids were split between Harput, Hasankeyf and Mardin. Sokman's son Rukn al-Dawla Dāʾūd, bey of Hasankeyf, died in 1144, and was succeeded by his son Kara Aslan. Kara Aslan allied with Joscelin II of Edessa against the Zengids, and while Joscelin was away in 1144, Zengi recaptured Edessa, the first of the Crusader states to fall (see Siege of Edessa). The Artuqids became vassals of the Zengids during the reign of Nur al-Din Zengi (r. 1146–1174).[9]
Kara Aslan's son Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad allied with the Ayyubid sultan Saladin against Kilij Arslan II, Seljuk sultan of Rûm, whose daughter had married Nur ad-Din Muhammad. In the peace settlement with Kilij Arslan II, Saladin gained control of the Artuqid territory, even though the Artuqids were still technically vassals of Mosul, which Saladin did not control.[9] The Seljuk Empire completely disintegrated soon after that in 1194.[4]
The Artuqid dynasty remained in nominal command of al-Jazira, but their power declined under Ayyubid rule. The Hasankeyf branch conquered Diyarbakır in 1198 and its center was moved here, but was demolished by the Ayyubids in 1231 when it attempted to form an alliance with the Seljuks. The Harput branch was destroyed by the Sultanate of Rum due to following a slippery policy between the Ayyubids and Seljuqs. The Mardin branch survived for longer, but as a vassal of the Ayyubids, Sultanate of Rûm, Il-Khanate and the Timurids.[9]Qara Arslan (r.1260-1292), ruler of Mardin, submitted to the Mongol Hulegu.[9] The Kara Koyunlu captured Mardin and finally put an end to Artuqid rule in 1409.[4]
Despite their constant preoccupation with war, members of the Artuqid dynasty left many architectural monuments. Artuqid rulers commissioned many public buildings, such as mosques, bazaars, bridges, hospitals and baths for the benefit of their subjects. They left an important cultural heritage by contributing to literature and the art of metalworking. The door and door handles of the great Mosque of Cizre are unique examples of Artuqid metal working craftsmanship, which can be seen in the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
They made the most significant additions to Diyarbakır City Walls. Urfa Gate was rebuilt by Muhammad, son of Kara Arslan. In the same area of the western wall, south of Urfa Gate, two imposing towers, Ulu Beden and Yedi Kardeş were commissioned in 1208 by the Artuqid ruler Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd who designed the Yedi Kardeş tower himself and apposed the Artuqid double-headed eagle on its walls.
The Great Mosques of Mardin and Silvan were possibly but in any case considerably developed over the 12th century by several Artuqid rulers on the basis of existing Seljuk edifices. The congregational mosque of Dunaysir (now Kızıltepe) was commissioned by Yülük Arslan (1184–1203) and completed after his death in 1204 by his brother Artuk Arslan (1203–1239).
Magic Mirror of Abu-l-Fadl Artuq Shah of Harput, Eastern Anatolia, ca. 1220-30, David Collection. It is "representative of medieval Islamic examples of the “Chinese” type".[11]
Basin of Sultan Qara Arslan b. Il-Ghazi, Jazira, Syria, or Egypt, late 13th cen. (1289-92) MIA, Doha.[12]
The Artuqid ruler Nasr al-Din Mahmud (r. 1201–1222) is known to have commisionned an edition of the Al-Jāmi‘ fī ṣinā‘at al-ḥiyalofIbn al-Razzaz al-Jazari, devoted to the depiction of mechanical devices, in April 1206 at the Artuqid court (Ahmet III 3472, Topkapı Sarayı Library).[15][16] The miniatures are thought to reflect various aspects of the Artuqid court at the time.[15]Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari was employed at the Artuqid court during the last quarter of the 12th century, and this is the earliest known manuscript of his opus.[16] Many of the figures in the manuscript wear the characteristic Turkic dress, with long coat and boots, and the sharbush headgear (of a special type seen only in Artuqid manuscripts, with a very tall cap behind the headplate and the limited usage of fur around the rim).[17]
The Artuqid branch that ruled Aleppo was an offshoot of the Mardin branch and included descendants of Ilghazi and his brothers Abd al-Jabar and Bahram ibn Artuk. See also Rulers of Aleppo.
Artuqids coinage was very figural, "with its apparent classical and Byzantine motifs and representations".[4]
Crowned, bearded Byzantine-style bust, with clean-shaven Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan, Hisn Kayfa or Amid mint. Dated AH 559 (1163-4 CE).
Coinage of Kara Arslan, dated AH 562 (1166-7 CE). Artuqid coinage was very figural, "with its apparent classical and Byzantine motifs and representations".[4]
^Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The Mediaeval Islamic Underworld: The Banū Sāsān in Arabic life and lore, (E.J. Brill, 1976), 107, 134;"The Artuqids, descendants of Artuq b. Ekseb, were a Turkmen dynasty established in Diyarbakr..."
^Islamic Desk Reference, ed. E. J. Van Donzel, (Brill, 1994), 39;"Artuqids. Turkmen dynasty which reigned over...."
^Contadini, Anna (2012). A world of beasts: a thirteenth-century illustrated Arabic book on animals (the Kitāb Na't al-Ḥayawān) in the Ibn Bakhtīshū' tradition. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 120, Fig 45. ISBN978-90-04-20100-2.
^ abcdBosworth, C. E. (1 June 2019). The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 195–196. doi:10.1515/9781474464628. ISBN978-1-4744-6462-8. The rise of the Zangids halted the Artuqids' expansionist plans, and they had to become vassals of Nur al-Din. Then the Ayyubids whittled their power down further, and they lost Hisn Kayfa, Amid and Mayyafariqin to them. In the early thirteenth century, they were for a time vassals of the Rum Seljuqs and of the Khwarazm Shah Jalal al-Dln Mengiibirti. Eventually, only the Mardln line survived, with Qara Arslan submitting to the Mongol II Khan Hulegu.
^*Hillenbrand, Carole (1979). The History of the Jazīra 1100-1150: the contribution of Ibn Al-Azraq al-Fāriqī (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. p. 314, 317, 444, 445–447, 500, 549. hdl:1842/7341.
^Topkapı Palace Museum Library, TSMK, A. 3493 in Atbaş, Zeynep (1 August 2019). Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)). Brill. p. 195. doi:10.1163/9789004402508_005.
^Atbaş, Zeynep (1 August 2019). Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II's Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 vols)). Brill. pp. 161–211. doi:10.1163/9789004402508_005. Manuscript "Ahmet III 3493"
^Öztuna, Yılmaz, "Devletler ve Hanedanlar" Cilt:2, Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları, Ankara (1996), s.43
^Spengler, William F.; Sayles, Wayne G. (1992). Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography: The Artuquids. Clio's Cabinet. p. 113. ISBN978-1-879080-02-7. But who was the "Nur al - Din Atabeg" featured on the obverse side of most coins of this type , and why was he also recognized? He is not further identified on the coins , but the most logical candidate would appear to be Nur al - Din Arslan Shah I , the Zengid Atabeg of Mosul ( 589-607 / 1193-1210 ) , the only atabeg with the laqab Nur al - Din known to have been active at that time . This identification was first advanced by Mitchiner in 1977 and was repeated by Hennequin in the Paris catalog.
Whelan, Estelle (1988), "Representations of the Khassakiyah and the Origins of Mamluk Emblems", in Soucek, Priscilla (ed.), Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World, University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press