emirate · Mesopotamia and Iran

Uqaylid dynasty

990 CE – 1096 CE (approx.) · capital Mosul

A Bedouin Arab dynasty that ruled Mosul and the Jazira for a century between the Buyids and the Seljuks, at times reaching Aleppo.

Origins

The Banu Uqayl were an Arab tribe of the Jazira who served the Hamdanid emirate of Mosul. Around 990, as Hamdanid and Buyid power waned, the Uqaylid chief Muhammad ibn al-Musayyab took Mosul, and his family went on to rule northern Iraq and parts of the upper Euphrates.

Rule and society

The Uqaylids ruled as tribal emirs, relying on Bedouin cavalry and taxing the farmlands and trade of the Jazira. They were Shia. Qirwash ibn al-Muqallad, who reigned for about half a century from 1001, briefly recognised the Fatimid Caliphate in 1010 before returning to the Abbasids. Muslim ibn Quraysh, called Sharaf al-Dawla, extended Uqaylid rule to Aleppo in 1080, making the dynasty a major power in Syria.

Decline and legacy

Muslim ibn Quraysh was killed in 1085 fighting Sulayman ibn Qutalmish of the Sultanate of Rum. The Seljuk Empire took Mosul in 1096, and Uqaylid branches lingered only in a few fortresses such as Qal'at Ja'bar.

Lineage

Hamdanid emirate of Mosul 905 CE – 990 CEUqaylid dynasty

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Uqaylid dynasty. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uqaylid-dynasty
MLA
“Uqaylid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uqaylid-dynasty. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Uqaylid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uqaylid-dynasty.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Uqaylid dynasty’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/uqaylid-dynasty (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻