He was one of several kings in the Nuhasse lands, an inland region surrounded by the crumbling nation of Mittani and various vassals of the dominant Hittite and Egyptian empires. Located between the Euphrates to the east and the Orontes river to the west, the several small principalities and kingdoms of Nuhasse had originally been allies with or subjects to Mittani. It has been suggested that Addu-nirari was made king after his predecessor Sharrupshi changed sides, allied with the Hittites, only to get assassinated subsequently by his own family. The multitude of kings and princes in Nuhasse however, paired with the relative anonymity of their proper cities and settlements, make this specific sequence of kings quite uncertain. Whatever the circumstances of Addu-nirari's accession to the throne may have been, and even though his land was located north of the actual Egyptian sphere of influence, he appears to have been on quite friendly terms with the Egyptian King. In EA 51 he reminded the latter of the bond between their distant predecessors: "Manahpiya (Menkheperre Thutmose III), the King of Egypt, your ancestor, made Taku, my ancestor, a king in Nuhasse, he put oil on his head". In the same letter Addu-nirari stated having rejected a Hittite offer of a treaty (perhaps the same, accepted by Sharrupshi earlier on). It is probable that EA 52 and 55 were written in the same period. This would imply that Addu-nirari lived and ruled during the troublesome period when several northern Palestinian rulers (including Aziru of the Amurru) joined Aitukama, the prince of Qidshu (Kadesh), in his Hittite-supported attacks on the southern Palestinian regions. Although outside of the Amarna Letters timeframe, it is possible that Addu-nirari was still alive when the Hittite forces ransacked the Mittani capital Washshuganni. If so, he would have witnessed the Hittites' ultimate conquest of the whole of Mittani and that of Nuhasse soon thereafter.
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