Imad al-Din Zengi
Imad al-Din Zengi | |||||
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sharbush fur hat, boots, close-fitting coat.[1] Maqamat by Al-Hariri of Basra (1054–1122), a high government official of the Seljuks. Mesopotamia, possibly Baghdad, 1237 copy.[1] | |||||
Reign | 1124-1127: Seljuk Governor of Wasit and Basra 1126-1127: Seljuk Shihna, Governor of Iraq Nur ad-Din (in Aleppo) | ||||
Born | 1085 | ||||
Died | September 14, 1146 (aged 61) Qal'at Ja'bar, Syria | ||||
Spouse | Zumurrud Khatun[2] Sukmana Khatun[2] Safiya Khatun[2] | ||||
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Dynasty | Zengid dynasty | ||||
Father | Aq Sunqur al-Hajib | ||||
Religion | Islam | ||||
Military career | |||||
Battles/wars |
Imad al-Din Zengi (
Early life
Zengi's father,
Zengi remained in Mosul until 1118, when he entered into the service of the new Seljuk ruler Mahmūd (1118-1119). Upon Sanjar's accession in 1119, Zengid remained loyal to Mahmūd, who became ruler of the Iraqi Seljuk Sultānate (1119-1131).[5]
Seljuk Governor of Iraq
The region of Mesopotamia was under the control of the
Wishing to contain the Arab
In order to counter the ambitions of Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118-1135), who wanted to acquire world dominance, the Seljuks led by Mahmud II now waged a campaign against him.[8] With some decisive leadership from Zengi, the Seljuks managed to take control of Baghdad and the Caliphate, pillaging the Caliph's palace.[8] The Caliph sued for peace and had to pay a huge ramson.[8] In adddition to his possessions in Wasit and Basra, Zengi was promoted and received the Governorship for Baghdad in April 1126, receiveing the title of shihna effectively putting him in control of the whole of Seljuk Iraq.[8][5] In 1227, following the murder of Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Zengi was named Governor of Mosul, where the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed.[5]
Atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo
Following the death in 1128 of
Zengi against Damascus
In 1130 Zengi allied with
Mahmud II died in 1131, setting off a war for the succession. As the Seljuk princes were occupied fighting one another in Persia, Zengi marched on Baghdad to add it to his dominions. He was defeated by the caliph's troops, however, and only escaped thanks to the help of the governor of
In 1134 Zengi became involved in
Zengi was not discouraged by this turn of events and arrived at Damascus anyway, still intending to seize it. The siege lasted for some time with no success on Zengi's part, so a truce was made and Shahib al-Din's brother Bahram-Shah was given as a hostage. At the same time, news of the siege had reached the caliph and Baghdad, and a messenger was sent with orders for Zengi to leave Damascus and take control of the governance of Iraq. The messenger was ignored, but Zengi gave up the siege, as per the terms of the truce with Shihab al-Din. On the way back to Aleppo, Zengi besieged Homs, whose governor had angered him, and Shihab al-Din responded to the city's call for help by sending
Conflict with the Crusaders and Byzantines
In 1137 Zengi besieged Homs again, but Mu'in al-Din successfully defended it. In response, Damascus allied with the Crusader
In May 1138 Zengi came to an agreement with Damascus. He married
After Zengi abandoned his siege of Damascus, Jamal al-Din died of a disease and was succeeded by his son Mujir al-Din, with Mu'in al-Din remaining as regent.Mu'in al-Din signed a new peace treaty with Jerusalem for their mutual protection against Zengi. While Mu'in al-Din and the crusaders joined together to besiege Banias in 1140, Zengi once more laid siege to Damascus, but quickly abandoned it again. There were no major engagements between the crusaders, Damascus, and Zengi for the next few years, but Zengi in the meantime campaigned in the north and captured Ashib and the Armenian fortress of Hizan.
In 1144, Zengi began the siege of Edessa against the crusader County of Edessa, the weakest and least Latinized crusader state, and captured it on December 24, 1144, after a siege of four months. This event led to the Second Crusade, and later Muslim chroniclers noted it as the start of the jihad against the Crusader states.
Death and legacy
Zengi continued his attempts to take Damascus in 1145, but he was assassinated by a Frankish slave named Yarankash in September 1146, after the atabeg drunkenly threatened him with punishment for drinking from his goblet.[15]
Unlike Saladin at Jerusalem in 1187, Zengi did not keep his word to protect his captives at Baalbek in 1139. According to Ibn al-‘Adim, Zengi "had sworn to the people of the citadel with strong oaths and on the Qur’an and divorcing (his wives). When they came down from the citadel he betrayed them, flayed its governor and hanged the rest.”[16]
According to Ibn 'al-Adim:
The atebeg was violent, powerful, awe-inspiring and liable to attack suddenly… When he rode, the troops use to walk behind him as if they were between two threads, out of fear they would trample over crops, and nobody out of fear dared to trample on a single stem (of them) nor march his horse on them… If anyone transgressed, he was crucified. He (Zengi) used to say: "It does not happen that there is more than one tyrant (meaning himself) at one time."[17]
Zengi was the founder of the eponymous
References
- ^ a b Flood, Finbarr Barry (2017). "A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus". Interaction in the Himalayas and Central Asia. Austrian Academy of Science Press: 232.
- ^ a b c Alptekin, C. (1972). The Reign of Zangī (521-541/1127-1146). University of London. pp. 47, 98, 133.
- ^ El-Azhari, Taef (2016). "The early career of Zengi, 1084 to 1127. The Turkmen influence.". Zengi and the Muslim Response to the Crusades. London and New York: Routledge. p. 10.
This chapter is concerned with Zengi's early career and upbringing, his Seldjuk background...
- ^ ALPTEKIN, COJKUN (1972). The Reign of Zangi (PDF). University of London. pp. 33–36.
- ^ doi:10.26650/jos.2020.005.in 1119, which opened the way for Sanjar (1119-1157) to accede to the throne of Great Seljuk Empire, Mahmūd was assigned to the Iraqi Seljuk Sultānate (1119-1131), continuing his rule there. In 1124, Sultān Mahmūd granted the city of Wasit to Imad al-Din Zangi as a ıqta, and conferred him the Military Governorship of Basra together with Baghdad and Iraq in 1127. The reason behind such assignments was to attempt to impede Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid (1118-1135) who then wished to build a worldwide dominance. Indeed, the efforts of Zangi in the fight of Mahmūd, whom Sanjar urgently sent to Baghdad, against the Caliph ensured the Sultān became victorious, and he contributed to the efforts in damaging the sole authority and dominance claims of the Caliph. Following the deaths of Mosul Governor Aq-Sunqur el-Porsuqi and his successor and son Mas'ud in the same year in 1127, Zangi was appointed Governor of Mosul. He was also in charge of al-Jazeera and Northern Syria, and Sultān Mahmūd approved him being assigned as the Atabeg of his two sons, Farrukh shah and Alparsalan. Thus the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed.
Staying in Mosul until the death of Sultān Muhammad Tapar in 1118, Zangi then entered the service of the Sultān's son and the new Seljuk ruler Mahmūd (1118-1119), remaining loyal to him to the end. With the new era introduced with the defeat of Sultān Mahmūd in the Sāveh battle he engaged his uncle Sanjar
- ISBN 978-0-429-89969-0.
- ISBN 978-1-62616-588-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h ALPTEKIN, COJKUN (1972). The Reign of Zangi (PDF). University of London. pp. 38–44.
- ^ Gabrieli 1969: 41
- ^ Gonella 2005, pp. 14–19.
- ^ a b EI (1913), p. 543.
- ISBN 9781849837705.
- ^ Thompson, Henry Yates; Sotheby & Co. (London, England) (1919). Catalogue of twenty-eight illuminated manuscripts and two illuminated printed books, the property of Henry Yates Thompson, which will be sold at auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge ... the 3rd of June, 1919. London : Dryden Press, J. Davy. p. 50, Plate 34, image 1.
- ^ "Copper alloy dirham of Qutb al-Din Mawdud ibn Zengi, al-Mawsil, 556 H. 1917.215.1000". numismatics.org. American Numismatic Society.
- ^ Maalouf, Crusades Through Arab Eyes, pg.138
- ^ Maalouf, Crusades Through Arab Eyes, pg.138. Also, Ibn Wasil, Mufarrij al-Kurub, p. 86
- ^ Ibn al-‘Adim, Zubda, vol. 2, p. 471
- ^ Bosworth 1996, p. 190
"1. The main line in Mosul and Aleppo:
*521/1127 Zangi I b. Qasim al-Dawla Aq Sunqur, 'Imad al-Din
*541/1146 Ghazi I b. Zangi I, Sayf al-Din
*544/1149 Mawdud b. Zangi I, Qutb al-Din (...)
2. The line in Damascus and then Aleppo
*541/1147 Mahmud b. Zangi, Abu ’1-Qasim al-Malik al-'Adil Nur al-Din, in Aleppo and then Damascus (...)"
Sources
- "Baalbek", Encyclopaedia of Islam: A Dictionary of the Geography, Ethnography, and Biography of the Muhammadan Peoples, 1st ed., Vol. I, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1913, pp. 543–544
- Bosworth, C.E. (1996). The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, 1985
- Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
- The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi. H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002).
- Gonella, Julia (2005). Die Zitadelle von Aleppo und der Tempel des Wettergottes. Rhema-Verlag, Münster. ISBN 978-3-930454-44-0.
- William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943.
- An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades; Memoirs of Kitab al i'tibar), trans. Philip K. Hitti. New York, 1929.
- The Second Crusade Scope and Consequences Edited by Jonathan Phillips & Martin Hoch, 2001.
- The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian - (Khtobo D-Makethbonuth Zabne) (finished 1193-1195)
- Taef El-Azhari, Zengi and the Muslim Response to the Crusades, Routledge, Abington, UK, 2006.