# Mikalids

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mikalids
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mikalids.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikalids
> Source revision: 1345290360
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

The **Mikalid family** (Persian: آل میکال, *Āl-e Mīkāl*), also known as the **Mikalis**, was a prominent [Iranian](/source/Iranian_peoples) aristocratic family of [Khorasan](/source/Greater_Khorasan) from the 9th century to the 11th century. They were descended from the pre-Islamic nobility of [Samarkand](/source/Samarkand).[1]

## History

The family were descendants of the [Sasanian](/source/Sasanian) king [Bahram V Gur](/source/Bahram_V) (420–438).[1] A descendant of Bahram V bore the title of *sur* and ruled [Sogdia](/source/Sogdia) probably during the sixth century. There were five members of the family bearing the title of *sur*, the fifth of the family was a certain [Divashtich](/source/Divashtich), who according to Sogdian and [Arabic](/source/Arabic) documents found in 1933, bore the titles of "Sogdian king", "ruler of [Samarkand](/source/Samarkand)" and "ruler of [Panjikant](/source/Panjikant)". In 722, Divashtich was defeated and killed by the [Arabs](/source/Arabs) in [Zarafshan](/source/Zarafshan,_Tajikistan),[2] and his son Tarkhun was taken as a prisoner of war to [Iraq](/source/Iraq), where his family lived for three generations.

In the fourth generation, a member of the family named Mikal ibn Abd al-Wahid, settled in Khorasan at the beginning of the ninth century, where his descendants continued to live, using the family name *Mikal*, which is derived from the latter.

Mikal ibn Abd al-Wahid's sons, [Muhammad ibn Mikal](/source/Muhammad_ibn_Mikal) and [Shah ibn Mikal](/source/Shah_ibn_Mikal), served as military commanders for the [Tahirids](/source/Tahirids) in [Baghdad](/source/Baghdad), [Ray](/source/Ray,_Iran) and [Nishapur](/source/Nishapur), where Muhammad resided in, and had a son, named [Abd-Allah Mikali](/source/Abd-Allah_Mikali). The latter served under the [Saffarid](/source/Saffarid) [Amr ibn al-Layth](/source/Amr_ibn_al-Layth) in [Sistan](/source/Sistan), and then under his rebellious general Sebük-eri and finally as governor of [Ahvaz](/source/Ahvaz) under the [caliph](/source/Caliph) [Al-Muqtadir](/source/Al-Muqtadir) (908–932). His son [Abu'l-Abbas Ismail](/source/Abu'l-Abbas_Ismail) served as head of the chancery of the [Samanids](/source/Samanids) and as *[rais](/source/Rais)* of Nishapur. He died in 973.[1] He had three sons; one named [Abu Muhammad Abd-Allah](/source/Abu_Muhammad_Abd-Allah), who would obtain the offices of his father, another one named [Abu Ja'far Mikali](/source/Abu_Ja'far_Mikali), and the last one named [Abu'l-Qasim Ali](/source/Abu'l-Qasim_Ali), a military officer who fought with the [Byzantines](/source/Byzantine_Empire) and the [pagan](/source/Paganism) [Turks](/source/Turkic_people) in their steppes. After the fall of the Samanids, the Mikalids began serving the [Ghaznavids](/source/Ghaznavids), who were the new masters of Khorasan. A certain Mikalid nobleman named [Hasanak Mikali](/source/Hasanak_Mikali), rose to high offices, and by 1024 became the *[vizier](/source/Vizier)* of the Ghaznavid ruler [Mahmud of Ghazni](/source/Mahmud_of_Ghazni).

Mahmud later died in 1030, and a civil war shortly ensured between his two sons, the youngest one being [Muhammad](/source/Muhammad_of_Ghazni), and the oldest one being [Mas'ud I](/source/Mas'ud_I_of_Ghazni). Hasanak, along with a Turkic [magnate](/source/Magnate) named [Ali ibn Il-Arslan](/source/Ali_ibn_Il-Arslan), supported Muhammad, and both expected that they would hold absolute power over the Ghaznavid state, while Muhammad would stay as a [figurehead](/source/Figurehead). However, Ali, including other Ghaznavid statesman, began to become more distant from Hasanak, and changed their adherence to Mas'ud I.

Hasanak, however, continued to support Mohammad, but in the end was defeated and imprisoned by the latter. Through the efforts of Hasanak's opponent [Abu Sahl Zawzani](/source/Abu_Sahl_Zawzani),[3] Mas'ud then had charged Hasanak of infidelity, and had him executed on 14 February 1032. Another Mikalid named [Sahib Husain Mikali](/source/Sahib_Husain_Mikali), served as an administration and military officer under the Ghaznavids, but was captured by the [Seljuq Turks](/source/Seljuq_Empire) during a battle. However, he later became the *vizier* of the Seljuq ruler [Tughril](/source/Tughril).[4]

There were also outstanding scholars, poets, and arts benefactors from the Mikalid family. The family continued to be mentioned at the end of the 11th century, and thereafter disappears from sources.

## List of Mikalids

- [Mikal ibn Abd al-Wahid](/source/Mikal_ibn_Abd_al-Wahid)
- [Muhammad ibn Mikal](/source/Muhammad_ibn_Mikal), [Tahirid](/source/Tahirid) general
- [Shah ibn Mikal](/source/Shah_ibn_Mikal), [Tahirid](/source/Tahirid) general
- [Muhammad ibn Shah](/source/Muhammad_ibn_Shah), [Abbasid](/source/Abbasid) general
- [Abd-Allah Mikali](/source/Abd-Allah_Mikali), [Saffarid](/source/Saffarid) commander and governor of the [Abbasid](/source/Abbasid) province of [Ahvaz](/source/Ahvaz)
- [Abu'l-Abbas Ismail](/source/Abu'l-Abbas_Ismail), [Samanid](/source/Samanid) official and *[rais](/source/Rais)*
- [Abu'l-Qasim Ali](/source/Abu'l-Qasim_Ali), [Abbasid](/source/Abbasid) and [Samanid](/source/Samanid) military officer
- [Abu Muhammad Abd-Allah](/source/Abu_Muhammad_Abd-Allah), Samanid official and *[rais](/source/Rais)*
- [Abu Ja'far Mikali](/source/Abu_Ja'far_Mikali), Samanid official and *[rais](/source/Rais)*
- [Hasanak Mikali](/source/Hasanak_Mikali), *[vizier](/source/Vizier)* of [Mahmud of Ghazni](/source/Mahmud_of_Ghazni) and *[rais](/source/Rais)* of [Nishapur](/source/Nishapur)
- [Khwaja Ali Abu'l-Qasim ibn Abdallah](/source/Khwaja_Ali_Abu'l-Qasim_ibn_Abdallah), *[rais](/source/Rais)* of [Ghazni](/source/Ghazni) in the first half of the 11th century
- [Abu'l-Muzaffar Ali ibn Abu'l-Qasim](/source/Abu'l-Muzaffar_Ali_ibn_Abu'l-Qasim), son of Khwaja, and *[rais](/source/Rais)* of [Ghazni](/source/Ghazni). He died in 1055
- [Sahib Husain Mikali](/source/Sahib_Husain_Mikali), Ghaznavid officer and later [Seljuq](/source/Seljuqs) officer (getting briefly second vizier of [Tughril](/source/Tughril))

## See also

- [Samanids](/source/Samanids)
- [Ghaznavids](/source/Ghaznavids)
- [Bu Halim Shaybani family](/source/Bu_Halim_Shaybani_family)

## References

1. Bulliet 1984, p. 764.

1. Jalilov 1996, p. 460.

1. Nashat & Beck 2003, pp. 87–88.

1. Bosworth 1968, p. 45.

## Sources

- Bosworth, C. E. (1968). ["The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217)"](https://books.google.com/books?id=16yHq5v3QZAC&pg=PA1). *The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol periods*. Frye, R. N. (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–202. ISBN 0-521-06936-X.
- Bosworth, C. Edmund (1985). ["ʿALĪ B. IL-ARSLAN QARĪB"](http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ali-b-34). *Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 8*. London: C. Edmund Bosworth.

- Bulliet, R. W. (1984). ["ĀL-E MĪKĀL"](http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/al-e-mikal). *Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7*
- Hansen, Valerie (2012). [*The Silk Road*](https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195159318). Oxford University Press. pp. [1](https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195159318/page/n44)–304. ISBN 9780195159318. Diwashini.
- Jalilov, A. H. (1996). ["The Arab Conquest of Transoxania"](https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC). *History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750*. UNESCO. ISBN 9789231032110.
- Marshak, Boris (2002). ["PANJIKANT"](http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/panjikant). *Encyclopedia Iranica, Online Edition*
- Marshak, Boris (1994). ["DĒWĀŠTĪČ"](http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dewastic). *Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 3*. pp. 334–335.
- Nashat, Guity & Beck, Lois (2003). [*Women in Iran from the Rise of Islam to 1800*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tLRem_ixfcEC&q=false). University of Illinois Press. pp. 1–253. ISBN 978-0-252-07121-8.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mikalids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikalids) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikalids?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.