Nur al-Din Zengi

Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (نور الدين محمود زنگي; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. 'Light of the Faith' in Arabic), was a member of the

Nur ad-Din sought to make alliances with his Muslim neighbours in northern Iraq and Syria in order to strengthen the Muslim front against their Crusader enemies. In 1147, he signed a bilateral treaty with Mu'in ad-Din Unur, governor of Damascus. As part of this agreement, he also married Mu'in ad-Din's daughter Ismat ad-Din Khatun.^[7] Together Mu'in ad-Din and Nur ad-Din besieged the cities of Bosra and Salkhad, which had been captured by a rebellious vassal of Mu'in ad-Din named Altuntash, but Mu'in ad-Din was always suspicious of Nur ad-Din's intentions and did not want to offend his former crusader allies in Jerusalem, who had helped defend Damascus against Zengi. To reassure Mu'in ad-Din, Nur ad-Din curtailed his stay in Damascus and turned instead towards the Principality of Antioch, where he was able to seize Artah, Kafar Latha, Basarfut, and Bara.^{[citation needed]}

In 1148, the Second Crusade arrived in Syria, led by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. Nur ad-Din's victories and the Crusader's losses in Asia Minor however had made the recovery of Edessa – their original goal – practically impossible. Given that Aleppo was too far off from Jerusalem for an attack and Damascus, recently allied with the Kingdom of Jerusalem against Zengi, had entered into an alliance with Nur ad-Din, the Crusaders decided to attack Damascus, the conquest of which would preclude a combination of Jerusalem's enemies. Mu'in ad-Din threatened to turn the city over to Nur ad-Din if he was unable to defend it, but the crusader siege collapsed after only four days.^[7]

Nur ad-Din took advantage of the failure of the Crusade to prepare another attack against Antioch. In 1149, he launched an offensive against the territories dominated by the castle of Harim, situated on the eastern bank of the

briefly occupying the town.

Unification of sultanate

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It was Nur ad-Din's dream to unite the various Muslim forces between the

As there was now nothing the crusaders could do in Syria, they were forced to look to the south if they wanted to expand their territory. The capture of Ascalon had already succeeded in cutting off Egypt from Syria, and Egypt had been politically weakened by a series of very young

Shawar immediately expelled Shirkuh and allied with Amalric, who arrived to besiege Shirkuh at Bilbeis. Shirkuh agreed to abandon Egypt when Amalric was forced to return home, after Nur ad-Din attacked Antioch and besieged the castle of Harenc. There, Nur ad-Din routed the combined armies of Antioch and Tripoli and captured most of the Crusader armies' leadership, including Raymond III, Joscelin III and Bohemond III, leaving three major principalities of the Crusader states leaderless. However, he refused to attack Antioch itself, fearing reprisals from the Byzantines.^[13] Instead he besieged and captured Banias, and for the next two years continually raided the frontiers of the crusader states. In 1166, Nur ad-Din's Kurdish general Shirkuh was sent again to Egypt. Amalric followed him at the beginning of 1167, and a formal treaty was established between Amalric and Shawar, with the nominal support of the caliph. The crusaders occupied Alexandria and Cairo and made Egypt a tributary state, but due to the unpopularity of the Egyptian alliance with the Crusaders, Shirkuh managed to take Alexandria without bloodshed. The Crusaders besieged Alexandria and famine set in quickly due to the city's limited stores of food. Shirkuh organized a sortie and broke through the enemy lines, leaving command of Alexandria to his nephew, Saladin.^[7] In the same year, Nur ad-Din raided the County of Tripoli, in which he temporarily captured Areimeh Castle, Chastel Blanc and Gibelacar, exploiting the captivity of Raymond III.^[14] Ultimately, Amalric could not hold Egypt while Nur ad-Din still held Syria, and he was forced to return to Jerusalem. The siege of Alexandria was lifted, and Shirkuh's forces withdrew from Egypt as well.^[7]

In 1168, Amalric sought an alliance with Emperor Manuel and invaded Egypt once more. Shawar's son Khalil had had enough, and with support from Caliph al-Adid requested help from Nur ad-Din and Shirkuh. At the beginning of 1169, Shirkuh arrived and the crusaders once more were forced to retreat. This time Nur ad-Din's commander gained full control of Egypt. Shawar was executed and Shirkuh was named vizier of the newly conquered territory. Shirkuh died later that year and was succeeded by his nephew Saladin. One last invasion of Egypt was launched by Amalric and Manuel, but it was disorganized and came to nothing.^[12] Saladin continued to swear nominal fealty to Nur ad-Din until his death in 1174, but their relationship became increasingly tense. Saladin was reluctant to join forces with Nur ad-Din against Crusader armies or holdings, withdrawing his own armies on several occasions when Nur ad-Din's forces arrived to assist him. Nur ad-Din's insistence that Saladin abolish the Shia Caliphate further raised tensions between them. Saladin was reluctant to do so because the authority of the Caliphate in Egypt was a source of legitimacy for his rule. He feared popular backlash, and was bound by friendship and obligation to the Caliph al-Adid. Nonetheless, Saladin capitulated to Nur ad-Din and the Fatimid Caliphate was abolished in 1171.^[7]

Death and succession

During this time Nur ad-Din was busy in the north, fighting the

According to

During Nur ad-Din's reign, forty-two madrasas were built in Syria, of which half he personally sponsored.^[20] Through the construction of these madrasas Nur ad-Din was ensuring the creation of Sunni Islamic qadis and imams.^[20] Nur ad-Din himself enjoyed having specialists read to him from the Hadith, and his professors even awarded him a diploma in Hadith narration. He had bimaristans (hospitals)^[21] constructed in his cities as well, one of them is Nur al-Din Bimaristan and built caravanserais on the roads for travelers and pilgrims. He held court several times a week so that people could seek justice from him against his generals, governors, or other employees who had committed some crime.^{[citation needed]}

Nur ad-Din's Sunni orthodoxy can be seen in his public works.

In the Muslim world he remains a legendary figure of military courage, piety, and modesty. Sir Steven Runciman said that he loved, above all else, justice.[26]

The Damascene chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi generally speaks of Nur ad-Din in majestic terms, although he himself died in 1160, and unfortunately did not witness the later events of Nur ad-Din's reign.

The

References