Part I - Introduction

Summary

The System of Autonomous Lordships in Syria

Writing 30 years ago, Michael Köhler coined the phrase ‘the Syrian system of autonomous lordships (des systems syrischer Staatswesen)’, to describe how political power was dispersed among a small collection of minor potentates in bilad al-sham during the three decades that preceded the First Crusade. Although Köhler did not explicitly define the ‘system of autonomous lordships’, beyond a shared prioritisation of independent power by minor rulers in Syria, their development was triggered by the advent of Seljuq rule from 463/1071. The following chapters present a new chronology for the development of what should rather be called the system of autonomous lordships in Syria – as this phenomenon was not unique to bilad al-sham, with comparable potentates and minor dynasties emerging in the regions across the Mediterranean during this period – with an earlier date, 454/1062, proposed for the formation of the first autonomous lordship in Syria.

It is first necessary to explain what is meant by the term ‘autonomous lordship’, at least in the context of this book. Simply put, it describes urban-based political elites who were able to pursue their own political agendas, without ceding military or financial resources to regional rivals or the ruling hierarchies in Constantinople, Cairo or Isfahan.

The ‘system’ refers to the coexistence of multiple ‘autonomous lordships’ in Syria. Set definitions are difficult to apply universally, and ultimately each autonomous lordship developed in a unique political and temporal context. It is perhaps best to conceive of each individual polity as existing on a constantly fluctuating continuum, with annexation at one end and autonomy at the other. Individual events, such as the death of a ruler or military defeat, could severely alter a lordship's ‘autonomous’ status.

For much of the early fifth/eleventh century, Byzantine emperors and Fatimid caliphs had been able to directly appoint rulers or governors (wali) to rule over key settlements in Syria. However, as the fifth/eleventh century progressed, it become increasingly more difficult for those in Cairo or Constantinople to remotely assign governors to bilad al-sham, whilst Seljuq appointees were nearly always accompanied by large armies led in person by the sultan or a coalition of prominent amirs.