FOUNDATION OF THE ATABEG PRINCIPALITY OF AZERBAIJAN AND ATABEG ILDENIZ

Since the Seljuk Sultanate of Iraq was formally established in 1120, the pressure of its commanders on the sultans had reached a level that became intolerable over time, which laid the foundation for the emergence of independent political structures in places like Mosul, Azerbaijan, Arbil, Khuzestan, Shahrizor and Maragha. Among these political structures, Azerbaijan and Ildeniz, who founded an atabeg principality here, had a special place. Ildeniz became the strongest person of the whole region in a short time in Nakhchivan, where he went to administer in 1141, filling the gap created by the deaths of the powerful Seljuk commanders in Azerbaijan. Twenty years later, in 1160, his step son Arslanshah began to rule the state on behalf of the Iraqi Seljuks. For nearly 16 years until his death in the January of 1176, he successfully accomplished this work. On the other hand, he succeeded in establishing a state in Azerbaijan that would be ruled by his sons and his grandchildren half a century after himself