Al Muhtaj

The Al-i Muhtaj or Muhtajids (also known as the Chaghanids) was an Iranian or Iranicized Arab ruling family of the small principality of Chaghaniyan. They ruled during the 10th and early 11th centuries.

The origin of the Muhtajids is unknown; the name has been given by modern historians after their presumed forebear Muhtaj (Arabic: محتاج‎‎ Muḥtāj). They may have been descended from the Chaghān Khudās who ruled Chaghaniyan during the early Middle Ages; another possibility is that their ancestors were Arabs who migrated to the region and were Iranicized. In any case, by the early 10th century Chaghaniyan had become a vassal to the Samanids of Bukhara.

The first ruler fully attested to by the sources was Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Muzaffar b. Muhtaj. Under the Samanids he was the governor of Ferghana. When in 929 the Samanid amir Nasr b. Ahmad was temporarily expelled from power by his brothers, Muhammad remained loyal to him. As a result, when Nasr managed to restore himself he rewarded Muhammad with the governorship of Balkh, and then in 933 made him governor of Khurasan. During his time as governor of Khurasan, Muhammad battled various Dailamite bands in northern Iran. In 939 he fell ill and was removed from his post; he died in 941.

Abu 'Ali Ahmad Chaghani was the most prominent of the Muhtajid rulers. He succeeded his father in his posts in 939 and earnestly fought to maintain a Samanid presence in northern Iran, attempting to stem there the rise of the Buyids, Dailamite officers who had already taken over southwest Iran. He fell out of favor with the Samanid amir Nuh b. Nasr and was removed from the governorship of Khurasan. Refusing to accept this, he revolted and installed in Bukhara another Samanid, but eventually Nuh retook Bukhara. Despite this, he was unable to defeat Abu 'Ali, and in the end he allowed him to retain his rule of Chaghaniyan. In 952 Abu 'Ali was made governor of Khurasan a second time, but only a year later was again dismissed. He fled to the Buyids and died in 955.

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