Ikhtiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Ghafras
Ikhtiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Ghafras or Ikstiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Gavras (died 1189) was a courtier and long-time vizier of the Seljuk Sultan of Iconium, Kilij Arslan II (reigned 1156–1192).
He was a member of the Byzantine Gabras family, very likely identical with, or possibly the son of, an unnamed member of the family who defected to the Sultan in the late reign of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180), became a leading member of the Seljuk court, and served as the Seljuk ambassador to the Emperor during the Myriokephalon campaign of 1175–76.[1] Hasan ibn Gavras is safely attested from c. 1180 on, when he led negotiations with Saladin. According to historian Anthony Bryer, he was "regarded as a wise statesman and noted for the splendour of his robes and personal jewelry".[1]
In 1189, after Kilij Arslan had divided the Sultanate between his 11 sons and 3 daughters (in 1186), a conflict took place between Gavras and the son who ruled Sebastea. After gaining the suport of the Sultan, Gavras marched to fight him in the region of Caesarea. The men who joined the Sultan's son dispersed and the son returned to Sebastea, without fighting the forces of Gavras and his father. Following the conflict, Kilij Arslan killed 4,000 Turkomans who had joined on his son's side.[2]
The Mengujekid emir Bahramshah of Arzenjan, son-in-law of the Sultan, arrived and mediated peace between him and his son. Using a trick, he obtained a decree from Kilij Arslan to arrest Gavras and confiscate his possessions. Then he sent him to Sebastea.[2] Gavras gathered his sons, relatives, slaves and 200 horsemen and headed torwards the city where he hoped to retire, but was waylaid by Turkoman raiders who killed him and his sons.[3]
[...] the Turkomans attacked Hasan, slaughtered him with his sons and slaves, and cut Hasan into pieces. They carried his limbs to Sebastea on the tip of lances. His death took place on the Festivity of the Cross (September 14, 1189).[2]
After his death, his estates were then claimed by emir Bahramshah.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Bryer (1970), pp. 180–181
- ^ a b c Moosa, Matti (2014). The Syriac Chronicle of Michael Rabo (The Great): A Universal History from the Creation. Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States. Book Twelve p. 732
- ^ Vryonis, Speros (1971). The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamisation from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: California University Press. p. 231
Sources
- Bryer, Anthony M. (1970). "A Byzantine Family: The Gabrades, c. 979 – c. 1653". University of Birmingham Historical Journal. XII. Birmingham: 164–187.