Eskandar II

Eskandar II (Persian: اسکندر‎‎), was the ruler of the Paduspanid dynasty from 1333 to 1359. He was the son and successor of Taj al-Dawla Ziyar.

Biography

When Eskandar ascended the Paduspanid throne, the Ilkhanate Empire was quickly declining. This gave him a favorable occasion to expand his rule over Alborz, Qazvin, and Semnan.

In 1344, the Sarbadar ruler Wajih ad-Din Mas'ud, sought to increase his territorial domains, and thus in 1344 invaded the domains of the Bavandid Hasan II of Tabaristan and Eskandar II in Mazandaran with several hostile minor dynasties allied against him. When the Sarbadars advanced on Amol, Hasan decided to abandon the city. He then turned around and defeated the Sarbadar garrison at Sari, cutting off Mas'ud's line of retreat. Despite this, Mas'ud decided to press on. When Hasan attacked his rear, however, and Eskandar II met him at his front, Mas'ud was surrounded. The Sarbadars were decimated, and Mas'ud was captured by Eskandar II. He was handed over to the son of one of Togha Temur's former officials who had died fighting the Sarbadars in 1341/1342. Mas'ud was then executed by the latter.

After having secured his kingdom from enemy threat, Eskandar began strengthening his kingdom; he founded the city of Kojur which became his capital. He then began taking various civilians and nobles from the cities he had conquered, and re-settled them in Kojur. In 1349, Hasan was murdered by the two sons of Kiya Afrasiyab, a powerful Afrasiyab nobleman. An unnamed son of Hasan fled to the court of Eskandar, where he warmly received. Eskandar, hoping to restore Bavand rule, invaded the domains of Afrasiyab, he was however, defeated at Amol. Eskandar later died in 1359, after being mistakenly wounded by his own bodyguard. He was succeeded by his brother Fakhr al-Dawla Shah-Ghazi.

Sources

• Madelung, W. (2010). "BADUSPANIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
• Madelung, W. (1975). "The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran". In Frye, R.N. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198–249. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
• Frye, R.N. (1975). "The Saljuq and Mongol periods". In Frye, R.N. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Iranian world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–659. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.