emirate · Anatolia and the Levant
Mirdasid Emirate
Origins
Salih ibn Mirdas, chief of the Banu Kilab who dominated the steppe of northern Syria, joined the 1024 Bedouin alliance against the Fatimids and captured Aleppo from its Fatimid governor, becoming its emir.
Rule and society
Salih was killed in 1029 at al-Uqhuwana, but his son Shibl al-Dawla Nasr defeated the Byzantine emperor Romanos III near Azaz in 1030 and then accepted Byzantine protection. The Mirdasids relied on tribal horsemen and the city's Shi'i notables, alternated between Fatimid and Byzantine alliances, and under Thimal ruled a wide area of northern Syria. Family quarrels repeatedly divided the emirate.
Decline and legacy
In 1070 Mahmud ibn Nasr switched allegiance to the Abbasid caliph to placate the Seljuks. Weakened by internal feuds and Turkmen pressure, the dynasty lost Aleppo in 1080 to the Uqaylid Muslim ibn Quraysh, and the city soon passed to the Seljuk Sultanate of Syria.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (4)
- Mirdasid Emirate was a vassal of Fatimid Caliphate1024 CE – 1060 CE
- Mirdasid Emirate paid tribute to Byzantine Empire1031 CE – 1050 CE
- Mirdasid Emirate was a vassal of Seljuk Empire1070 CE – 1080 CE
- Mirdasid Emirate was conquered by Uqaylid dynasty1080 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mirdasid Emirate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mirdasid-emirate
- MLA
- “Mirdasid Emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mirdasid-emirate. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Mirdasid Emirate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mirdasid-emirate.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mirdasid Emirate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/mirdasid-emirate (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻