Nasr ibn Mahmud

Nasr was the eldest son of Mahmud ibn Nasr, the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo (r. 1065–1075).[1] Nasr’s mother was a daughter of the Buyid emir al-Malik al-Aziz ibn Jalal al-Dawla.[2] His younger brothers, from a different mother(s), were Sabiq, Waththab and Shabib and sister Mani’a.[2]

Mahmud designated his youngest son Shabib as his successor, but upon Mahmud’s death in early 1075, Nasr was recognized as Aleppo’s emir.[1] According to historian Thierry Bianquis, Nasr “showed himself to be more peaceful and more generous than his father”.[1] His Turkmen forces commanded by Ahmad Shah captured Manbij from the Byzantines in September/October 1075.[1] Nasr lost Rafaniyya that same year to the Turkish rulers of Damascus, but Ahmad Shah restored Mirdasid control of the city.[1]

On 8 May 1075, the day of Eid al-Fitr, Nasr became intoxicated and imprisoned Ahmad Shah.[1] He proceeded to attack Ahmad’s Turkmen troops in their base at al-Hadir, on the outskirts of Aleppo.[1] During the fighting, Nasr was killed by a Turkmen archer’s arrow. Afterward, an emir of the Banu Munqidh arranged for Sabiq to succeed Nasr.[1] Sabiq’s succession was actively opposed by Waththab, Shabib and much of the Banu Kilab, the tribe to which the Mirdasids belonged; they supported Waththab’s bid for the emirate.[1]

• Bianquis, Thierry (1993). "Mirdās, Banū or Mirdāsids". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P.; Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 115–123. ISBN 90-04-09419-9.