Manṣūr ibn Luʾluʾ (Arabic: منصور بن لؤلؤ), also known by his laqab (honorific epithet) of Murtaḍā ad-Dawla (مرتضى الدولة, 'Approved of the State'), was the ruler of the Emirate of Aleppo between 1008 and 1016.
On the diplomatic front, Mansur balanced ties with both the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate, and maintained the emirate's Shia Muslim orientation.
Mansur fought off two attempts to reinstall Hamdanid rule in the city, critically aided each time by the powerful Banu Kilab tribe.
Afterward, Mansur became a commander of a Byzantine army unit and was in the entourage of Emperor Romanos III during the Battle of Azaz against Salih's son and successor, Shibl al-Dawla Nasr, in 1030.
[2] Both Mansur and Lu'lu' harassed the remaining members of the Hamdanid dynasty in Aleppo, prompting one of them, Abu al-Hayja', to flee the city for Byzantine territory where he received official protection.
[3] Mansur attempted to concentrate further power into his hands at the expense of the Aleppine aʿyān (local elite), though he formally continued his predecessors' policy of separating the Emirate of Aleppo's civil administration from its military command.
[6]With Mansur's rule lacking any strong foundation, his opponents among Aleppine factions or individuals, unnamed in sources, resolved to move against him and install Abu'l-Hayja' to the emirate.
[6] They gained the support of the Banu Kilab tribe, one of the most powerful elements in the emirate, and then appealed for the assistance of the Marwanid ruler of Diyar Bakr, Mumahhid al-Dawla; the latter was Abu'l-Hayja's father-in-law.
[8] Indeed, Mumahhid supplied Abu'l-Hayja' with money and 200 horsemen, and the Hamdanid was further promised the critical support of the Kilabi chieftains, whom he met on his way to Aleppo.
[8] However, once Mansur caught wind of the Kilab's backing for Abu'l-Hayja', he wrote to the tribe's chieftains, promising them a share of the Emirate of Aleppo's revenues and control of some of its rural areas in return for withdrawing their support for the Hamdanid.
[9] Basil II at first refused to once again grant asylum to the Hamdanid, but Mansur persuaded him to keep Abu'l-Hayja' under virtual house arrest in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.
[10] This army made it to Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, in Aleppo's countryside, in 1011, but retreated after encountering resistance by the Kilab, who attempted to kidnap Abu al-Ma'ali Sharif and sell him to Mansur.
"[11] Accordingly, the tribesmen set up their encampments immediately outside of Aleppo and applied pressure against Mansur by grazing their flocks in the city's gardens, orchards and grain fields.
[11] To feign good faith, he held a feast at his palace in Aleppo on 27 May 1012, hosting between 700 and 1,000 Kilabi tribesmen, including many prominent chieftains.
[12] To gain their freedom, Muqallid ibn Za'ida, a Kilabi chieftain who did not attend the banquet, rallied his tribal forces and placed pressure on Mansur by besieging Kafartab, south of Aleppo.
[11] Mansur subsequently decided to show good faith by moving the Kilabi prisoners to better facilities and giving particularly favourable treatment to Muqallid's brothers, Jami' and Hamid.
[13] The contemporary Aleppine historian, Yahya al-Antaki, wrote that Mansur managed to induce some Kilabi chieftains to accept his terms, and released a small group of tribesmen in 1013.
[11] Mansur maintained Aleppo's Shia Muslim orientation, in line with the Fatimids, and had the khuṭba (Friday prayer sermon) made in the name of al-Hakim.
[12] According to Zakkar, it is not clear if Mansur did this solely to humiliate Salih and enjoy his wife, or to form a marital link with part of the Kilab.
[27] Mansur reached Byzantine-held Antioch two days after his flight,[27] and Basil II ordered the catepan of that city to give him an honorable reception;[28] providing refuge to former rulers of Aleppo was a common Byzantine practice because such ex-rulers could be used to pressure or threaten their successors.
[17] According to historian Jean-Claude Cheynet, this fief could not have been the frontier fortress of Loulon, but rather a group of villages from which Mansur received his income during his asylum in Antioch.