The Sajid dynasty (Persian: ساجیان, *Sâjiyân*; also known as *Banu Sac*) was a Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled from 889/890 to 929. The Sajids governed Azerbaijan and parts of present-day Armenia, initially from Maragha and Barda, and later from Ardabil.[a][1] Originating from the Ushrusana region of Central Asia, the Sajids were of Iranian (Sogdian) descent and had become culturally Arabized.[2][3][b] Muhammad ibn Abu al-Saj Divdad, the first Sajid Shah of Azerbaijan, was appointed governor of the region in 889 or 890. Muhammad's father, Abu al-Saj Divdad, had fought in the troops of the Ushrusana prince Afshin Haydar during the final military campaign against the rebel Babak Khorramdin in Azerbaijan and subsequently served the Caliphs. As the central authority of the Abbasid Caliphate weakened towards the end of the 10th century, Muhammad succeeded in establishing a de facto independent state. Much of the Sajids' efforts were directed toward unifying Azerbaijan. The dynasty's rule over the Kingdom of Azerbaijan came to an end in 929 with the death of Abu al-Musafir al-Fath. The dynasty ended with the death of Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath in 929.
History
At the end of the ninth century (898–900) coins were minted named after Muhammad ibn Abu Saj. Muhammad ibn Abu Saj succeeded in incorporating much of the South Caucasus into the Sajid state. The first capital of Sajids was Maragha though they usually resided in Barda.
Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj came to power in 901 and demolished the walls of Maragha and moved the capital to Ardabil. The eastern borders of the Sajid dynasty extended to the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the western borders to the cities of Ani and Dabil (Dvin). Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj relations with the caliph were not good. In 908, a caliphate army was sent against Yusuf, but al-Muqtafi died and his successor, al-Muqtadir, moved a large army against Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj and forced him to pay a tribute of 120 thousand dinars a year. Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat the vizier of al-Muqtadir, played a key role in establishing peace, and since then Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj considered him his patron in Baghdad and often mentioned him on his coins. Peace allowed Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj to receive investiture of the governorship in Azerbaijan by the caliph in 909.
After the dismissal (in 912) of his protector in Baghdad, vizier ibn al-Furat, Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj stopped annual tax payments to the caliphate’s treasury.
According to the Azerbaijani historian Abbasgulu aga Bakikhanov, from 908–909 to 919, the Sajids made the ShirvanshahMazyadids dependent on them. Thus, at the beginning of the tenth century, the Sajid state included territories from Zanjan in the south to Derbent in the north, the Caspian Sea in the east, to the cities of Ani and Dabil in the west, covering most of the lands of modern Azerbaijan.
During the reign of Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj, Russian raiders attacked the Sajid territory from the north via the Volga in 913–914. Yusuf ibn Abu Saj repaired the Derbent wall to strengthen the northern borders of the state. He also rebuilt the collapsed part of the wall inside the sea.
In 914, Yusuf ibn Abi’l-Saj organized a campaign towards Georgia. Tbilisi was chosen as the center of military operations. He first occupied Kakheti and captured the fortresses of Ujarma and Bochorma, and returned after capturing several territories.
After the death of Yusuf ibn Abu Saj, the last ruler of the Sajid dynasty Fath b. Muhammad b. Abi 'l-Saj was poisoned in Ardabil by one of his slaves, which ended the Sajid dynasty and enabled eventual expansion of the Sallarid dynasty into Azerbaijan in 941.
↑Bosworth, C. E. (1989). "Azerbaijan iv. Islamic History to 1941". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol.III: Ātaš–Bayhaqī, Ẓahīr-al-Dīn. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp.224–231. ISBN978-0-71009-121-5. [...]the caliph Moʿtażed appointed one of his generals, Moḥammad b. Abi'l-Sāj, an Iranian from Central Asia, as governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the family of the Sajids (q.v.) took their place as one of the virtually autonomous lines of provincial governors[...]
↑Muir, William (2004). The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline and Fall from Original Sources. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN1417948892.
↑Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (seconded.). Harlow: Longman. p.190. ISBN978-0582405257.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
↑Madelung, W (1975). The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran. Cambridge University Press. pp.198–249. ISBN0521200938.
12Aliyarli, Suleyman (2009). History of Azerbaijan. Chirag. p.209.
↑Bartold, V. V. (1924). Mesto Prikaspiĭskikh oblasteĭ v istorii musulʹmanskogo mira Место Прикаспийских областей в истории мусульманского мира [The place of the Ciscaspian provinces in the history of the Muslim world] (in Russian). Baku.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
