Atabeg

Atabeg (or atabek) was the title of an officeholder who acted as regent or guardian to a prince in the Saljuq, Zangid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk dynasties. It is derived from the Turkish words ata (father) and beg/bek (prince). It was first introduced by the Saljuqs of Persia and Syria in the second half of the eleventh century. The Saljuqs who ruled Syria between 1070 and 1154 depended on atabegs in their rule, and the institution was subsequently taken up and developed by other ruling dynasties of Turkish or Kurdish origin.

As early as the eighth century, the Saljuqs, while still in central Asia, used to designate an atabeg as a tutor to a young prince, and continued to employ the office after the foundation of their empire in Persia in the eleventh century. In Saljuq-ruled Syria, the character of the atabegate differed from the original institution, in that the atabeg was selected from a ruler’s most trusted and capable commanders, and had to be a Turk; the ruler would divorce the wife who was the prince’s mother and then marry her to the atabeg, who would thus become stepfather to the young prince and have the authority and proximity to bring him up according to Turkish tradition. The atabeg was supposed to assist the prince in the duties of government, but by the beginning of the twelfth century it was often the atabegs who exercised real power in Saljuq Syria, particularly during minorities. Tutush I, king of Syria (1078-1095), had five sons, and during his quest to gain the sultanate he appointed atabegs for two of his sons to whom he had allocated provinces: Tught-gin for Duqaq in Damascus (1093) and Aytagin for Ridwan in Aleppo (1094). After the death of Duqaq (1104), Tught-gin, who was also commander of the army of Damascus, manipulated and removed two consecutive Saljuq successors, Tutush II and Artash. From 1105 he continued to rule with the title atabeg, but without any recognition by the Great Saljuq sultan, allying himself with the Franks against Saljuq armies sent against him in 1114 and 1115. The sultan finally recognized his independent rule in 1115 and granted his dynasty the right of inheritance. This was the first case of a heritable atabegate in the Saljuq Empire. It set a pattern for others to follow and thus contributed to the decline of the empire.

In 1127 the Turkish commander Zangi was appointed by the Saljuq sultan Muhammad as lord of Mosul and atabeg to his two sons. Zangi expanded his power in Syria, taking Aleppo in 1128 and Edessa in 1144. His own son Nur al-Din succeeded to these dominions and in 1154 took over Damascus from its atabeg. Nur al-Din never granted the title of atabeg to any of his men, but after his death in 1174, three military commanders fought to gain the atabegate for his young son al-Salih (d. 1181). One of them, Saladin, wanted to be regent in order to gain legitimacy for his own rule, but it was Shams al-Din ibn al-Muqaddam who declared himself as atabeg. The atabegate for al-Salih eventually passed to Gumushtagin, who ruled in Aleppo until he was executed on the orders of al-Salih in 1177.

Saladin, who had already conquered Damascus, took Aleppo two years after the death of al-Salih. His Ayyubid successors who ruled Egypt and Syria continued to use the office, though with several changes. The Turkish monopoly on the atabegate was broken, and atabegs of Slavic or Greek origin held office. Atabegs might also be eunuchs or even royal princes, as in the case of al-Afdal, son of Saladin, who in 1199 was appointed atabeg for his nephew al-Mansur in Egypt. The range of their responsibilities varied. Some atabegs were essentially tutors in the manner of the original Saljuq institution, while others exercised considerable power. The last atabeg during Ayyubid rule, the eunuch Tughril (d. 1231/1233), governed Aleppo for sixteen years as regent and eventually handed over power peacefully to the Ayyubid prince al-‘Aziz in 1231. Tughril also created a new subordinate office of atabeg al-‘askar (commander of the army), which became the most powerful position after the sultan during the Mamluk regime that replaced the Ayyubids in Egypt. Its holder could combine the duties of regent and commander of the army, and as the most powerful person in the realm, often became the new ruler on the death of a sultan.

-Taef El-Azhari