Ildeniz

Who was Ildeniz?

Shams al-Din Ildeniz, Eldigüz or Shamseddin Eldeniz was an atabeg of the Seljuq empire and founder of the dynasty of Eldiguzids, which held sway over Caucasian Albania, Iranian Azerbaijan, and most of northwestern Persia from the second half of the 12th century to the early decades of the 13th.

A Kipchak by origin, he was formerly a freedman of Seljuq sultan Mehmed I's vizier Kamal Din al-Simirumi and attained to the post of governor of Arran under Sultan Mas'ud. His raise as the most powerful peripheral emirs of the Seljuq empire was aided by the necessity of having a large army against the frequent incursions from the neighboring kingdom of Georgia. He made himself virtually independent ruler of Azerbaijan by 1146. His marriage with the widow of Sultan Toghrul II afforded him to intervene in the dynastic strife which erupted upon Mas'ud’s death in 1152. He succeeded, in 1160, in deposing Sulayman Shah and installing his stepson Arslan b. Toghrul as sultan. Conferred with the rank of atabek, Ildeniz now became a chief protector of the sultan’s authority.