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49-454: Sanjar was born on 6 November 1086 in Sinjar , a town situated in northwestern Iraq . Although primary sources state that he was named after his birthplace (Rāvandi, p. 185; Ebn al-Jawzi, XVIII, p. 161) Bosworth notes Sanjar is a Turkic name, denoting "he who pierces", "he who thrusts". He was a son of Malik Shah I and participated in wars of succession against his three brothers and

98-650: A Syriac Orthodox Church , Syriac Catholic Church , and Armenian Apostolic Church , all of which were destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant . In the course of their second Northern Iraq offensive in August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took over large areas of Nineveh province . Following the withdrawal of the Kurdish Peshmerga they captured the city of Sinjar on 3 August. During

147-413: A mashhad (shrine) dedicated to Ali ibn Abi Talib and three khanqas (buildings for Sufi gatherings) and Ibn al-Adim (d. 1262) further notes a zawiya (Sufi lodge). A surviving mosque minaret from this era, remarked on by the 19th-century epigraphist Max van Berchem , contains an inscription crediting Qutb ad-Din as the minaret's builder in 1201. The city came under Ayyubid rule during

196-624: A dagger beside him, pinning a note from Hassan-i Sabbah stating that he (Hassan) would like peace. Sanjar, shocked by this event, sent envoys to Hassan and they both agreed to stay out of each other's way. In 1117, he marched against the Ghaznavid Sultan Arslan-Shah , defeating him at Battle of Ghazni and installing Arslan's brother Bahram-Shah in the throne as a Seljuk vassal. On February 26, 1105 Sultan Barkiyaruq died. He chose his younger son, Muizzeddin Malik-Shah, as heir to

245-583: A nephew, namely Mahmud I , Barkiyaruq , Malik Shah II and Muhammad I . In 1096, he was given the province of Khorasan to govern under his brother Muhammad I. Over the next several years Ahmad Sanjar became the ruler of most of Iran with his capital at Nishapur . A number of rulers revolted against Sanjar and continued the split of the Great Seljuq Empire that had started upon dynastic wars. In 1102, he repulsed an invasion from Kashgaria , killing Jibrail Arslan Khan near Termez . In 1107, he invaded

294-633: Is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains . Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023, and is predominantly Yazidi . In the 2nd century AD, Sinjar became a military base called Singara and part of the Roman limes . It remained part of the Roman Empire until it was sacked by the Sasanians in 360. Starting in the late 5th century, the mountains around Sinjar became an abode of

343-764: The Aral Sea the "Sea of Sïr," or Sïr Tengizi . The important evidence is the etymology of the name of the Syr-Darya River mentioned by the Ancient authors – '''Yaksart''', established by V. A. Livshits (2003: 10). It means ‘'''flowing’, ‘streaming’.''' The word belongs to the Sogdian dialect that had emerged from the Saka language group. When the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great reached

392-529: The Banu Taghlib , an Arab tribe. At the beginning of 6th century, a tribe called Qadišaiē (Kαδίσηνοι), who were of either Kurdish or Arab origin, dwelt there. The Qadišaye practiced idolatry . According to the early Islamic literary sources, Singara had long been a bone of contention between the Sasanian and Byzantine empires and several times switched hands between the two empires. A 6th-century source describes

441-682: The Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor water-management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. In 2012, the Syrdarya–Turkestan State Regional Natural Park was opened in the Kazakhstan, in hopes of protecting the river plain ecosystems, archaeological sites, and historical-cultural monuments, as well as plants and animal species, some of which are rare or endangered. The river rises in two headstreams in

490-682: The Operations Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger , Turkey threatened Yazidi families who attempted to return to their homes in the town. Turkey rejected the claims. In 2021 the Iraqi government called for the local Yazidi protection forces (who had fought ISIS ), in Sinjar to withdraw, which was rejected by the Yazidi administration. This has led to international calls for the Iraqi army to de-escalate and withdraw from

539-563: The Soviet era, a resource-sharing system was instituted in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan shared water originating from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers with Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan in summer. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, and electricity in winter. After the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union , this system disintegrated and

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588-693: The Syr Darya (Jaxartes). Sanjar's as well as the Seljuks' rule collapsed as a consequence of yet another unexpected defeat, this time at the hands of the Seljuks’ own tribe, the Ghuzz Turks , in 1153. Sanjar was captured during the battle and held in captivity until 1156. It brought chaos to the Empire - situation later exploited by the victorious Turkmens, whose hordes would overrun Khorasan unopposed, wreaking colossal damage on

637-887: The Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan —the Naryn River and the Kara Darya which come together in the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley —and flows for some 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. The Syr Darya drains an area of over 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 sq mi), but no more than 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) actually contribute significant flow to

686-467: The northern remnants of the Aral Sea . It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya (Jayhun, also known by its classical name the Oxus ). In the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing, during the post-Soviet era, the virtual disappearance of

735-570: The 17th and early 18th century, but the Khanate of Kokand rebuilt many in the 19th century, primarily along the Upper and Middle Syr Darya. Massive expansion of irrigation canals in Middle and Lower Syr Darya during the Soviet period to water cotton and rice fields caused ecological damage to the area. The amount of water taken from the river was such that in some periods of the year, no water at all reached

784-583: The Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake. The point at which the river flows from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan is, at 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, the lowest elevation in Tajikistan. The second part of the name ( darya , دریا ) means "lake" or "sea" in Persian and "river" in the Central Asian Persian . The current name dates only from the 18th century. The earliest recorded name

833-639: The ISIL offensive, which left the Yazidis defenseless. On the night of 20 December 2014, in the course of a first offensive to retake Sinjar from ISIL militants, Kurdish forces pushed into the city. However, the Kurdish advance into Sinjar was stalled, as they faced stiff resistance from ISIL militants inside the southern half of the city. On 13 November 2015, a day after launching a major second offensive , Kurdish forces and Yazidi militias backed by US airstrikes, entered

882-617: The Jaxartes in 329 BC, after travelling through Bactria and Sogdia without encountering any opposition, they met with the first instances of native resistance to their presence. In October 329 BC the Macedonians fought the Battle of Jaxartes against the Saka , killing some 1,200 combatants including the leader of the nomads. Alexander was forced to retire south to deal with a revolt in Sogdia . Alexander

931-509: The Sinjar District in 2013, the city of Sinjar had a population of 77,926. The ethnic composition of the city consisted of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and Assyrians and the religious composition consisted of Yazidis, Sunni Muslims, and Christians. There were 23 primary schools, three intermediate schools and seven secondary schools, a hospital, two other health care facilities, three public parks and two sports fields. The town had three churches,

980-525: The Yazidis and the Yazidi revolts of 1850–1864 were ended after the diplomatic efforts of the Ottoman statesman Midhat Pasha enabled the authorities to tax and impose customs in the area. In 1974–1975, five neighborhoods in the city of Sinjar were Arabized during a campaign by the Iraqi government of President Saddam Hussein dubbed as a "modernization drive"; the neighborhoods were Bar Barozh, Saraeye, Kalhey, Burj and Barshey, whose inhabitants were relocated to

1029-713: The Yazidis of Sinjar declared their government autonomous at a press conference. Peshmerga forces withdrew from Sinjar on 17 October 2017, allowing the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) to enter the town. The control of the town was handed over to the PMU-backed Yazidi group called "Lalesh Brigades" after Peshmerga's withdrawal. In June 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom accused Turkey that during

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1078-438: The city and fully regained its control from ISIL. Following the recapture, in the nearby hamlet of Solagh, east of Sinjar city, Kurdish forces found a mass grave with the remains of at least 78 Yazidi women from Kocho village believed to be executed by ISIL militants. Following the recapture of Sinjar, Yazidi groups engaged in revenge looting and burnings targeting Sunni Muslims, as well as reprisal killings. In August 2017,

1127-554: The domains of Garshasp II. Ahmad then marched as far as Baghdad, where he agreed with Mahmud that he should marry one of his daughters, and that he should give up strategic territories in northern Persia. In 1141, Ahmad, along with Garshasp II, marched to confront the Kara Khitan threat and engaged them near Samarkand at the Battle of Qatwan . He suffered an astounding defeat, and Garshasp was killed. Ahmad escaped with only fifteen of his elite horsemen, losing all Seljuq territory east of

1176-701: The domains of Mahmud in Central Iran and gave him information on how to march to Central Iran, and the ways to combat Mahmud. Ahmad accepted and advanced with an army to the west in 1119, where he together with "five kings" defeated Mahmud at Saveh . The kings who aided Ahmad during the battle were Garshasp himself, the Emir of Sistan and the Khwarazmshah , including two other unnamed kings. Nizari forces were also present in Sanjar's army. After being victorious, Ahmad then restored

1225-612: The domains of the Ghurid ruler Izz al-Din Husayn and captured him, but later released him in return for tribute. Sanjar undertook a campaign to eliminate the Nizari Ismailis within Persia and successfully drove them from a number of their strongholds, including Quhistan and Tabas . However, an anecdote indicates that en route to their chief stronghold at Alamut , Sanjar woke up one day to find

1274-623: The end of the century, another Arab dynasty, the Uqaylids captured the city and erected a citadel there. Beginning with the rule of the Turkmen atabeg Jikirmish in 1106/07, Sinjar entered its most prosperous historical period lasting through the mid-13th century. The Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din conquered the area in 1169 and 1171; in the latter year, a cadet branch of the Zengids was established in Sinjar under Zengi II ( r.  1171–1197 ), whose court

1323-463: The following days, IS militants perpetrated the Sinjar massacre , killing 2,000 Yazidi men and taking Yazidi women into slavery, leading to a mass exodus of Yazidi residents. According to a United Nations report, 5,000 Yazidi civilians were killed during ISIL's August offensive. It is also known as the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL . The genocide was enabled partly as a result of the Peshmerga flight from

1372-687: The furthest"—in 329 BC. For most of its history since at least the Muslim conquest of Central Asia in the 7th to 8th centuries AD, the name of this city (in present-day Tajikistan ) has been Khujand . In the mid-19th century, during the Russian conquest of Turkestan , the Russian Empire introduced steam navigation to the Syr Darya, initially from Fort Raim but with an important river port at Kazalinsk ( Kazaly ) from 1847 to 1882, when service ceased. During

1421-758: The new towns or elsewhere in Iraq and replaced by Arabs. The majority of the Arabs resettled in the Sinjar Mountains have remained in the region as of 2010. On 13 August 2009, a suicide bombing killed 21 people and wounded 32 in a cafe in the Kalaa neighborhood of Sinjar. On 14 August 2010, a series of truck bombings by al-Qaeda in Iraq in the towns of Qahtaniya and al-Jazira, both in the Sinjar District , killed 326 Yazidis and injured 530 more. According to statistical survey of

1470-475: The polymath Ibn al-Akfani (d. 1348). The geographer Zakariya al-Qazwini (d. 1283) referred to Sinjar as "little Damascus ", noting in particular the similarities of Sinjar's ornate bathhouses with their mosaic-laced floors and walls and octagonal stone pools. During his visit of the city, Ibn Battuta (d. 1369) mentioned that the inhabitants of the city were Kurds, whom he describes as "brave and generous". He also remarked that Sinjar's congregational mosque

1519-686: The population of Singara as being composed of Pagans, Christians and Jews. There are few visible traces of the ancient town of Singara. Sinjar was conquered in the 630s–640s by the Arab Muslims led by the commander Iyad ibn Ghanm and thereafter incorporated into the Diyar Rabi'a district of the Jazira province. In 970, the city was conquered by the Hamdanid dynasty , a branch of the Banu Taghlib tribe. Toward

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1568-589: The province and prestige of Sanjar. Sanjar eventually escaped from captivity in the fall of 1156, but soon died in Merv (present-day Turkmenistan), in 1157. After his death, Turkic rulers, Turkmen tribal forces, and other secondary powers competed for Khorasan, and after a long period of confrontations, the province was finally conquered by the Ghurids in 1192, and by the Khwarazmians in the early 1200s. Sanjar died in 1157 and

1617-685: The region. Syr Darya The Syr Darya / ˌ s ɪər ˈ d ɑːr j ə / SEER - DAR -yə , historically known as the Jaxartes ( / dʒ æ k ˈ s ɑːr t iː z / jak- SAR -teez , Ancient Greek : Ἰαξάρτης ), is a river in Central Asia . The name, which is Persian , literally means Syr Sea or Syr River . It originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan and flows for 2,256.25 kilometres (1,401.97 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan, Sughd province of Tajikistan, and southern Kazakhstan to

1666-773: The reign of Saladin and was controlled by the Ayyubid ruler of the Diyar Bakr district of the Jazira, al-Ashraf Muzaffar al-Din ( r.  1210–1220 ). It later was controlled by the ruler of Mosul , Badr al-Din Lu'lu' . The Ilkhanid Mongols destroyed the double wall of Sinjar and the mashhad of Ali in 1262; the mashhad was rebuilt afterward by the Ilkhanid's Persian governor of the area Muhammad al-Yazdi. Ibn al-Adim and al-Dhahabi (d. 1348) list several Islamic scholars who hailed from Sinjar, including

1715-631: The river: indeed, two of the largest rivers in its basin, the Talas and the Chu , dry up before reaching it. Its annual flow is a very modest 37 cubic kilometres (30,000,000  acre⋅ft ) per year—half that of its sister river, the Amu Darya . Along its course, the Syr Darya irrigates the most productive agricultural regions in all of Central Asia , together with the towns of Kokand , Khujand , Kyzylorda and Turkestan . Various local governments throughout history have built and maintained an extensive system of canals . These canals are of central importance in this arid region. Many fell into disuse in

1764-448: The throne, Emir of Yazd Garshasp II fell into disgrace; slander about him spread to the court that made him lose confidence, and made Mahmud send a military force to Yazd where Garshasp was arrested and jailed in Jibal , while Yazd was granted to the royal cupbearer. Garshasp, however, escaped and returned to Yazd, where he requested protection from Ahmad Sanjar (Garshasp's wife was the sister of Ahmad). Garshasp urged Ahmad to invade

1813-408: The throne. Malikshah took the name Malik-Shah II after being proclaimed the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. However, the true power was in the hands of his uncle, Muhammad Tapar . In the same year, Muhammad Tapar dethroned his nephew and started to rule the State himself as sultan. When Muhammad died on April 4, 1118, his son Mahmud II was declared as new sultan. When Muhammad's son Mahmud II ascended

1862-415: The time of the Arab conquest, the Yinçü , or "Pearl river", from Middle Chinese 眞珠 * t͡ɕiɪn-t͡ɕɨo . Tang Chinese also recorded this name as Yaosha River 藥殺水 ( MC : * jɨɐk-ʃˠɛt ) and later Ye River 葉河 (MC: * jiɛp ). The current local name of the river, Syr ( Sïr ), does not appear before the 16th century. In the 17th century, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan, historian and ruler of Khiva , called

1911-415: Was Jaxartes or Iaxartes ( Ἰαξάρτης ) in Ancient Greek , consist of two morpheme Iaxa and artes , found in several sources, including those relating to Alexander the Great . The Greek name hearkens back to the Old Persian name Yakhsha Arta ("True Pearl"), perhaps a reference to the color of its glacially-fed water. More evidence for the Persian etymology comes from the river's Turkic name up to

1960-519: Was Mah-i Mulk Khatun. She was born in 1105. In probably 1119, Sanjar married her to his nephew Mahmud II . When she died aged seventeen in 1122, Sanjar sent another daughter, Amir Sitti Khatun, to be his wife. Melik Shah III and Gawhar Nasab Khatun were the children of this union. She died in 1129. Amira Khatun , another of Sanjar's daughters married Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustarshid in 1124. Another daughter of Sanjar, Gawhar Khatun, married his nephew, Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud in 1134. A daughter of this union

2009-410: Was Turkan Khatun. She was the daughter of Muhammad Arslan Khan, the ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate . She died in April 1156, and was buried in Yusuf Hamadani Mausoleum Complex in Merv. Another wife was Abkhaziyya Khatun . She was the daughter of King Demetrius I of Georgia , and the widow of his nephew Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud . They married after Mas'ud's death in 1152. One of Sanjar's daughters

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2058-425: Was buried in Merv . His tomb was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, during their invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire . The death of Sanjar meant the end of the Seljuq dynasty as an empire, since they controlled only Iraq and Azerbaijan afterwards. Sanjar is considered one of the most prominent Seljuq sultans and was the longest reigning Muslim ruler until the Mongols arrived . Although of Turkic origin, Sanjar

2107-401: Was captured by the Constantinople (Istanbul)-based Ottoman Empire in 1534. The city became the center of its own sanjak (district) within Diyarbekir Eyalet (province of Diyarbakir ). It was later reduced to being the administrative center of its own nahiya (subdistrict) of the Mardin Sanjak . Writing in the 17th century, Evliya Çelebi noted that the population of the city of Sinjar

2156-408: Was composed of Kurds and Arabs from the Banu Tayy tribe, while the Sinjar Mountains were inhabited by 45,000 Yazidi and Baburi Kurds. After 1830, the nahiya of Sinjar became part of the Mosul Sanjak . During the 19th century, the Yazidis of the Sinjar Mountains often posed a threat to travelers in the region. The governor Dawud Pasha of Baghdad (in office in 1816–1831) was unable to suppress

2205-407: Was encircled by a perennial stream. The Timurid successors of the Ilkhanids captured Sinjar after a seven-month siege according to oral traditions cited by Evliya Çelebi (d. 1682). The city was later conquered successively by the Turkmen tribes of Ak Koyunlu and Kara Koyunlu before being taken by the Safavid dynasty of Iran in 1507/08. During the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555) , Sinjar

2254-420: Was highly Iranized, and due to his feats, even became a legendary figure like some of the mythological characters in the Shahnameh . Indeed, medieval sources described Sanjar as having "the majesty of the Khosrows and the glory of the Kayanids ". Persian poetry flourished under Sanjar, and his court included some of the greatest Persian poets, such as Mu'izzi , Nizami Aruzi , and Anvari . One of his wives

2303-440: Was married by Mas'ud to his nephew Dawud, son of Mahmud II. They failed to get on together, and Ma'sud gave his daughter to Dawud's brother, Muhammad II . Sinjar Sinjar ( Arabic : سنجار , romanized :  Sinjār ; Kurdish : شنگال , romanized :  Şingal , Syriac : ܫܝܓܪ , romanized :  Shingar ) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq . It

2352-419: Was noted for its high culture. The scholar Ibn Shaddad (d. 1186) noted that Sinjar was protected by a double wall, the first being the original wall built by the Uqaylids and the newer wall built by the local Zengid ruler Qutb ad-Din Muhammad ( r.  1197–1219 ). Also noted by Ibn Shaddad were two mosques, six madrasas (schools of Islamic law) for the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence ,

2401-503: Was wounded in the fighting that ensued and the native tribes took to attacking the Macedonian garrisons stationed in their towns. As the revolt against Alexander intensified it spread through Sogdia, plunging it into two years of warfare, the intensity of which surpassed any other conflict of the Anabasis Alexandri . On the shores of the Syr Darya, Alexander placed a garrison in the City of Cyrus ( Cyropolis in Greek), which he then renamed after himself Alexandria Eschate —"Alexandria

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