The Medes and Achaemenids belong to ancient imperial history. The Shaddadids, Marwanids and Ayyubids were medieval ruling houses of Kurdish origin. Their different dates, territories and sources make a clearer guide to the past.
The Medes: evidence and uncertainty
The Medes appear in Assyrian records from the late ninth century BCE. Karen Radner’s study for Assyrian Empire Builders describes multiple local rulers in the Zagros, trade routes and the importance of horse supplies to Assyria. Median forces under Cyaxares took Assur in 614 BCE and subsequently joined Babylonian forces against the Assyrian Empire. Radner distinguishes these records from Herodotus’s later narrative of a unified Median state. The earlier Assyrian evidence and excavations at Nush-i Jan and Godin Tepe leave important questions about that state’s formation unresolved. [1]
The Achaemenids: a Persian imperial framework
The Achaemenid Empire’s expansion began with Cyrus’s defeat of the Median king Astyages in 550 BCE. It incorporated territories across western Asia and, under Darius I, developed imperial roads and provincial government by satraps. The Metropolitan Museum’s account also explains how Persepolis reliefs presented peoples of the empire supporting royal authority. [2] These are records of a large Persian empire governing many populations. Its political geography belongs to antiquity, and should be kept distinct from the medieval dynasties discussed below.
The Shaddadids: Dvin, Ganja and Ani
Andrew Peacock identifies the Shaddadids as a dynasty of Kurdish origin ruling in the Caucasus from about 950 to 1200. Their founder is generally identified as Muhammad ibn Shaddad, who established himself in Dvin around 951. Later branches held Ganja and Ani. Peacock discusses Manuchehr’s building activity at Ani, including a mosque, fortifications, a bathhouse and a caravanserai. He also identifies patronage of the Persian poet Asadi Tusi. Inscriptions, coins and fragmentary written accounts help reconstruct this changing dynasty, although gaps and chronological disagreements remain. [3]
The Marwanids: Amid and Mayyafariqin
Carole Hillenbrand’s published chapter summary traces Marwanid rule to a Kurdish family in the cities of Amid, modern Diyarbakır, and Mayyafariqin, modern Silvan. Badh seized power in 983; after his death in 990, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Marwan regained the towns and is treated as the first Marwanid ruler. The dynasty lasted until 1085. Hillenbrand emphasizes the importance of reading inscriptions on buildings and coins for their historical content. Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad’s long reign marked the height of Marwanid power. [4]
The Ayyubids: a wider medieval realm
Saladin, a Kurdish general in Zangid service, established the Ayyubid sultanate in Egypt in 1171. Ayyubid power subsequently extended into Yemen and Syria. The dynasty lost Egypt to the Mamluks in 1250. The Metropolitan Museum’s survey discusses inlaid metalwork, ceramics and architectural patronage, including madrasas in Cairo and Aleppo. It also identifies women as patrons, including Rabia Khatun’s Madrasa al-Sahiba in Damascus. [5] This was a medieval dynasty ruling across different societies; its territory and institutions differed substantially from those of the earlier Caucasian and Upper Mesopotamian houses.
Sources and further reading
- Karen Radner, The Medes, Purveyors of Fine Horses, Assyrian Empire Builders, University College London/ORACC, updated 2024.
- Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.
- Andrew Peacock, Shaddadids, Encyclopaedia Iranica, updated 2013: sources, rulers and architecture.
- Carole Hillenbrand, Marwanid Inscriptions, in Inscriptions of the Medieval Islamic World, Edinburgh University Press, 2023, pp. 264–282: published summary.
- Suzan Yalman, based on original work by Linda Komaroff, The Art of the Ayyubid Period (ca. 1171–1260), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.