Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi

Aḥmad b. Yūsuf b. 'Alī b. al-Azraq (c. 1116/17 – c. 1176/77)^[1] was a historian and civil servant of the Artuqids and Georgians. He wrote the chronicle Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn wa Amid in c. 1164/65.^[1] His historical chronicle was copied and referenced by contemporary and later writers.

Life

Ibn al-Azraq was born c. 1116/17 in Mayyafariqin. In 1134/35, Ibn al-Azraq was traveling through nearby regions.^[1] By 1136/37 he was in the Jazira, and during a stay in Nasibin he encountered Imad al-Din Zengi.^[1] Ibn al-Azraq made several trips to Baghdad, including one in 1139/40 where he remained for six months to study with leading scholars of the period.^[1]

Ibn al-Azraq held numerous administrative posts.^[1] In 1147/48, he was purchasing copper in al-Ma'dan for the Artuqid ruler Timurtash's mint.^[1] The next year al-Azraq was mutawalli ishraf al-waqf (supervisor of charitably endowed property).^[1] By 1153/54 he was employed by the King of Georgia, Demetrius I of Georgia,^[2] possibly as secretary according to Vladimir Minorsky.^[3] After visiting a tomb in Ray, al-Azraq returned to Georgia by 1162/63.^[3] He returned to Mayyafariqin in 1166/67 and was appointed mutawalli ishraf al-waqf again.^[1] By 1167/68, al-Azraq was in Damascus in the same position, which he held for two years.^[3]

Ibn al-Azraq indicates through his writing that he was a supporter of the Artuqid dynasty, although his ethnicity was speculated as being Arab, Kurdish, or Turkish.^[4] The historian Vladimir Minorsky believed him to be an Alid supporter, while the historian Carole Hillenbrand indicated he was Sunni Muslim.^[4] Al-Azraq receives no notice in biographical works, which points to his marginal status in the Muslim world.^[3]

Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn

Ibn al-Azraq's employment as a civil servant of Muslim and non-Muslim rulers, gave him access to official documents and chancery records, which he used to write his Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn.^[3] Al-Azraq's only historical work appears to have been the Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn wa Amid.^[2] He wrote two versions of this text, the first was written in 1164/65 while the second, an extended version of the first text was written in 1176/77.^[2]

The Tarīkh Mayyāfāriqīn was heavily copied and cited by numerous chroniclers namely, Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Khallikan, Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad, and Ibn Wasil.^[5]