THE MUHTESHEMS OF QUHISTAN AND THE FUNCTION OF NİZĀRĪ ISMĀʿĪLĪS CASTLES IN QUHISTAN

Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs started to search for new Darü’l Hicres for themselves outside Alamūt and Rudbar both to spread their doctrines within the framework of the invitation in the name of the expected Imām and to settle in different regions. They chose Quhistan which displayed geographical, socio-economic, and denominational similarities to Rudbar in the Horasan region and started to disseminate the new invitation that they named Davet’ül Cedide. Ultimately, they took control of many castles, including mainly Muninabad, Kain, Tun, and Bircend in Quhistan and built a new headquarters for themselves. From the headquarters in Alamūt, they appointed local governors whom they called muhteshem or reis (chief) for the administration of the castles in Quhistan region between 1092 and 1957. These administrators had various duties such as ensuring the security of the castles in the Quhistan region, solving the local political problems, organizing social-cultural activities about Ismaili belief, and controlling the commercial network in their local administrative region. In this article, the functions of the castles in the Quhistan region and concrete data about the castles will be presented. In addition, the political, military, cultural, and doctrinal activities of the rulers such as Reis Muzaffareddin (1202-1221/22), Muhteshem Şihâbeddin Mansûr-ı Ebû’l-feth (1222-1224), Muhteshem Şemdü’d-din Hasan-ı İhtiyar (1224-1128), and Nasıreddin Abdurrahim bin Ebû Mansur (1228-1257), who were administrators in the Quhistan region, in the period they ruled will be examined. Furthermore, issues such as the functioning of the muhteshems’ castles, various duties and responsibilities they assumed, their loyalty to the headquarters in Alamūt their reaction to or adoption of belief changes, military defenses against changing authorities, and their loyalty to Ḥujjat and Imām will be discussed.