Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud

Rashid al-Dawla Mahmud, full name Mahmud bin Shibl al-Dawla Nasr bin Salih bin Mirdas, also known as Abu Salama Mahmud bin Nasr bin Salih, (died 1075) was the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo from 1060 to 1061 and again from 1065 until his death.

Mahmud's mother was the Numayri princess Mani'a al-Sayyida al-'Alawiyya.

He rose to power as a young prince when the Kilab tribe entrusted him and his cousin, Mani, to regain possession of Aleppo after it was given to the Fatimids by his uncle, Thimal. Their first attempt proved unsuccessful; however, in 1060 they succeeded. In 1061, Mahmud's first reign came to an end when Thimal was given Aleppo, in an agreement imposed by the Kilab shaykhs.

After Thimal's death in late 1062, Mahmud opposed Thimal's nomination of 'Atiyya (Thimal's brother) as his successor. Clashes followed between Mahmud and his uncle; 'Atiyya decided to call 1,000 Turcoman archers from Diyarbakır to aid him—the first free Turks to enter Syria. Mahmud was forced into a truce. After 'Atiyya's supporters pillaged the Turcoman camp, their chief, Ibn Khan, decided to serve Mahmud—which proved decisive. After a victory at Marj Dabiq, Mahmud was able to take possession of Aleppo, in August 1065, following a three-month siege. The Kilab principality was then divided between Mahmud and his uncle into western (including Aleppo) and eastern (including Raqqa) domains, respectively. In 1070 Mahmud appealed to Alp Arslan, the Seljuk Sultan, to control the Turcomans who were constantly increasing in number and were creating disorder in and around Aleppo. To gain Alp Arslan's support Mahmud abandoned the Shia adhan and pro-Fatimid khutbah and switched his allegiance from Shia to Sunni Islam and to the Abbasid caliph and Alp Arslan. After pledging allegiance to him, Mahmud was entrusted by Alp Arslan to drive the Fatimids out of central Syria—the first step in Alp Arslan's plan of destroying the Isma'ili state.

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