Career
His raise as the most powerful peripheral emirs of the Seljuq empire was aided by the necessity of having a large army against the frequent incursions from the neighboring Kingdom of Georgia. He made himself virtually independent ruler of Azerbaijan by 1146. Conferred with the rank of atabek, Ildeniz now became a chief protector of the sultan’s authority.
Ildeniz then marched to Isfahan and forced the atabek of Fars, Zangi, into submission. Soon he proceeded northward to recover the city of Dvin from the Georgian attack in 1162. Back at Hamadan, he had to deal with another invasion – this time by the Khwarezmians who planned to annex Khorasan.
The Khwarezminas avoided the confrontation and retreated in the face of the advancing army of Ildeniz. Their ally Inanch was murdered at the request of Ildeniz in 1169. It was not, however, until the death of the Khwarazmshah Il-Arslan in 1172, when the threats on this sector were finally eliminated.
By the time of his death around 1175-1176, Ildeniz was arguably the undisputed de facto master of many parts of the already fragmentized Great Seljuq Empire, centered on Iraq. He was buried at Hamadan, at a madrasa which he had founded.
