The High Middle Ages, or Classic Feudalism Period in what constitutes the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, lasted from around the 11th century to the 15th century AD. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around the 15th century AD. Key historical trends of the High Middle Ages include the incorporation of the territories that constitute present-day Azerbaijan into the Seljuk Empire, the establishment of the Eldiguzids, the Mongol invasions and the rule of the Ilkhanate, the invasions of Timur and the establishment of the Turkoman Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu tribal confederations.

Seljuk dynasty In the 11th century, the Seljuk dynasty of the Oghuz Turkic origin, which emerged in Central Asia, crossed the Araz River while marching to Gilan and then reached Arran. In 1048, the Seljuk dynasty, together with local feudal lords, defeated the Christian bloc (Byzantine and Christian states of the South Caucasus). When the Seljuk ruler Toghrul Beg came to Azerbaijan and Arran to assert his authority, Rawwadid ruler Vahsudan in 1054, and then in 1062 his son and successor Mamlan II was forced to accept the rule of Toghrul Beg in Tebriz. After Rawwadid Vahsudan, Togrul Bey came to Ganja and Abulasvar Shavur accepted his rule in 1054.

After the death of Toghrul, Alp Arslan and his vizier Nizam ul-Mulk visited Ganja during the reign of Fazl Muhammad II, who came to power after Abulasvar Shavur. In return for Alp Arslan's promised expedition to the Alans, he demands 1,000 camels, 50 horses, finely decorated robes, and a mysterious “garden” (bostān) that had trees of gold and blossoms of precious stones weighing 100,000 meṯqāls, however, the march does not take place because of winter.In 1075, Alp Arslan annexed the last of the Shaddadid territories. A cadet branch of Shaddadids continued to rule in Ani and Tbilisi as vassals of the Seljuq Empire until 1175 when Malik-Shah I deposed Fadl III. In 1085, Fadl III instigated a revolt and gained possession of Ganja. Malik-Shah launched a campaign in 1086 and removed Fadl from power again. A collateral line of Shaddadids, through Manuchihr, continued to rule in Ani.

Referring to the work of Minorsky, Azerbaijani historian Sara Ashurbeyli states that in 1066–067, during the reign of Shah Fariborz b. Sallār (1063–1096), ruler of Shirvanshahs,  Seljuk Turks headed by commander Qarategin made great marches to Shamakhi and Baku, and then Shah I Fariburz accepted to be dependent on the Seljuks by paying 40,000 dinars a year.

It is clear from the coins minted by Manuchohr II (1096–1106), who came to power after Shah I, in the name of Mahmud, the Seljuk sultan of Iraq, that the Shirvanshahs were dependent on the Iraqi Seljuks at that time.

In 1117, Demetrius I was sent by David IV of Georgia at the head of the Georgian army to Shirvan, where Demetrius took down the Agdash fortress. In 1120, David entered Shirvan and took the city of Qabala. During this time, the Shirvanshahs had a power shift between the rising Georgian and Seljuk states.

During the reign of Shirvanshah III Manuchehr (1120–1160), the Shirvanshah state gave up paying 40,000 dinars a year to the Seljuk Empire, and in return, Sultan Mahmud attacked Shirvan in 1123.

However, Sultan Mahmud retreated in front of the combined troops of the Shirvanshahs, Kipchak Turks and David IV. In 1123–1124, David IV invaded Azerbaijan and captured the fortresses of Gulustan and Bugurd, but after David's death in 1125, his army was forced to leave Shirvan. During the reign of Demeter I, there was no military conflict with the Shirvanshahs.

Coins from the reign of Manuchohr III also show that the state of the Shirvanshahs at that time depended on the Iraqi Seljuk sultan Malik Shah.

In 1160, after the death of Manuchehr III, Tamar joined the power struggle between her sons and tried to unite Shirvan with Georgia with the help of Kipchak mercenaries. Manuchehr's older son, Akhsitan I (1160–1197), won the battle for the throne, forcing Tamar and his younger brother to flee to Georgia with the support of the Eldeniz dynasty.

The absence of the sultan's name on the coins minted during the reign of his son Akhsitan I indicates that the Seljuk state was already weakened and the Shirvanshahs were independent.

Management During the Seljuk rule, emirs were given "igta" lands in exchange for military service. It was one of the lands given by the sultans in Aran, Shirvan and Derbent as "igta". Various taxes were collected from the population, such as ushr (Usura), jizya and tribute taxes, as well as the expense of gun, and the expense of wine.

Atabegs of Azerbaijan (1137–1225)

The meaning of the word Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a heritable title of nobility of Turkic Origin indicating a governor of a nation or province, who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince.It is a combination of two Turkish words – “ata”-father and “bey”-lord, leader.They were known as “Great Atabaks” (atābakān-e aʿẓam) of Sultan of Iraqi Seljuks and controlled the sultans from 1160 to 1181.

History

Shams ad-Din Eldiguz (1136–1175) According to Minorsky, the Sultan of Iraqi Seljuks, Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud, gave Seljuq province of Arran (amongst others) to Kipchak slave Shamseddin Eldeniz (Eldiguz) as iqta in 1137. Eldegiz chose Barda as his residence, and attracted the local emirs to his camp.

The state's power base was centered around Nakhchivan and would focus on Georgia. It expanded to Arran and took control of from Baylagan to Shamkir. He made himself virtually independent ruler of what is the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan by 1146. His marriage to the Mumine Khatun enabled him to intervene in the dynasty dispute between the Seljuk sultans of Iraq, which began after Masud's death in 1152. Eldiguz, in alliance with Ahmadili atabeg (Ahmadilis) Arslan Aba, waged war against Sultan Muhammad II and maintained this alliance until 1156.

Eldeniz had married the widow of the Seljuq ruler Toghrïl II and proclaimed Great Atabeg (guardian) of his stepson, Arslanshah in 1161 and became the main protector of the Sultan's government. He obtained Arran amongst others, and turned numerous local rulers into his vassals.

Eldeniz appointed his eldest son Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan as the sultan's emir-hajib and his second son Gizil Arslan as the supreme commander of the sultan's army.

In 1161, during the reign of King George, Georgian troops captured the city of Ani ruled by Shaddadids, and then attacked the city of Ganja in the territory of Arran. In 1163, Eldeniz defeated Georgian troops and Shaddadids became a vassal of Eldeniz about 10 years. Campaigns against Georgians continued in 1174–1175. After the death of Shamsaddin Eldaniz in Nakhchivan in 1175, his son Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan succeeded him.

Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan (1175–1186) Pahlavan transferred the capital from Nakhchivan to Hamadan in western Iran and made his younger brother, Qizil Arslan Uthman, the ruler of the political entity. In 1174, Qizil Arslan captured Tabriz, which subsequently became his capital.

Arslanshah marched to Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan) together with the emirs against the Eldaniz government, but Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan eliminated his rival and replaced him with his son Togrul III and proclaimed himself as Toghrul's atabeg.

According to Ravandi, during the ten years of Atabeg Jahan Pahlavan's rule, the state was not subjected to any foreign aggression. “During his rule, Georgians made peace with him and accepted his demands”. After a while, Atabeg established friendly relations with Khwarazm Shah Tekish (1172–1200). During his reign, Caliph al-Mustadi and Caliph al-Nasir were unable to interfere in the internal affairs of the state.

Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan entrusted the management of Arran to his son Nusrat al-Din Abu Bakr and made Qizil Arslan his governor.

Qizil Arslan (1186–1191) After Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan's death, his brother Qizil Arslan (1186–1191) ascended the throne. He continued his successful struggle against the Seljuq rulers. At the same time, the central power began to get weaker as mamluks, who had strengthened their dominance in their areas, did not want to obey the Sultan. Even Shirvanshah Akhsitan I who used to be Atabegs’ liegeman attempted to intervene the interior affairs of the Eldiguzids and opposed Qizil Arslans aspiration to the throne. In the response to this, Qizil Arslan invaded Shirvan in 1191, reached to Derbent and subordinated the whole Shirvan to his authority. In 1191 Toghrul III, the last Seljuq ruler was overthrown by Qizil Arslan. Then, by Khalif’s leave, he proclaimed himself a Sultan, married Innach Khatun, his brother’s widow, and then he was poisoned by Innach Khatun in September, 1191.

The collapse of the state After the death of Qizil Arslan, the power was divided among Jahan Pahlavan’s sons, however, soon they started to fight for the throne. Abu Bakr came to the fortress of Alinja. The fortress, along with all the treasures, was at the disposal of Jahan Pahlavan's other widow, Zahida Khatun. Abu Bakr captures the fortress and the treasury. Qizil Arslan’s nephews began to rule independently, and one of the Mamluks of Jahan Pahlavan, Mahmud Anas Oglu, freed Toghrul III from his prison and regains the sultanate throne in May 1192. However, soon after, in 1194, after a long war with theKhwarazm Shahs, Sultan Togrul III was defeated and the existence of the Iraqi Seljuk Sultanate came to an end.

After defeated by Abu Bakr, Amir Amiran Omar went to gain a support from Shirvanshah Akhsitan I and Georgian Tsarina Tamar. In 1994, the united Georgian-Shirvan and Amir Amiran Omar’s troops defeated Abu Bakr in the battles of Shamkir and Beylagan. Later, the Georgians trying to capture Ganja, temporarily occupied it, but soon Abu Bakr’s troops drove the Georgians out of Ganja. After the death of Abu Bakr, Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek came to power. He was the fifth and last ruler of the Eldiguzids from 1210 to 1225. During his reign, the country was attacked by Mongols and Georgians. In 1225, Khwarazm Shah Jalal-ad-din dethroned the Ildegizid Uzbek Muzaffar al-Din and set himself up in the capital of Tabriz on the 25 of July in 1225.

Culture

Architecture Ajami Abubakr oglu Nakhchivani is one of the architects who lived and created in Azerbaijan during the Atabegs of Azerbaijan. Ajami, also known as “Sheikh al-Muhandis”, was the architect of the several famous architectural monumentssuch as Yusif ibn Kuseyir Mausoleum, Momine Khatun Mausoleum and Juma Mosque and the founder of the Nakhichivan School of architecture. The mausoleums of Nakhichivan was nominated for the List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO in 1998.

The Mausoleum of Yusif ibn Kuseyir was built in 1161–1162 and was decorated with geometric patterns of baked brick in Karabaglar village of Nakchivan city, the capital of the Atabegs state.

Momine Khatun Mausoleum was built in the west part of Nakhchivan in 1186. Mausoleum was erected on the grave of Shams ad-Din Eldiguz’s wife Momine Khatun, and its construction was finished by Mahammad Jahan Pahlavan. It is the only monumentthat has survived. There are four circular medallions on the perpendicular arrows (diameter 1.5 m) in the interior of the dome's brick rows. The ornaments made of the mix of gypsum and clay, consist of Kufi-style compositions. The essence of all the compositions is the word "Allah". Omar, Osman, Ali words intersect with each other, forming 6, 8 and 10 pointed stars and surround the word “Allah”.

Gulistan Mausoleum, built of red sandstone near Julfa. This building is 12-sided and covered with rich and intricate, but delicate geometric ornaments. The Gulustan mausoleum is one of the remarkable architectural monuments of the early 13th century, which demonstrates the genetic commonality of the tombs in Azerbaijan and Anatolia.

Literature