Al al-Din (, the name presumably representing

Ala-ud-din Aladdin ( ar, علاء الدين, commonly ) (various spellings and transliterations) is a male given name which means "nobility of faith" or "nobility of creed/religion". It is one of a large class of names ending with ad-Din. The name may refer ...

, d. 1312) was a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

counterweight mangonel (or counterweight trebuchet) expert who served in

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

’s army in the conquest of the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. In 1271 Kublai Khan dispatched envoys to obtain persons skilled in the management of mangonels rebuchetsfrom his kinsman

Abaqa Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulag ...

, the

Ilkhan The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The latter sent Al al-Din and

Ismail Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

, together with their families, by post route to

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, where they began by building large mangonels which they erected in front of the city gates. Al al-Din was subsequently attached to the staff of the general Alihaya, with whom he crossed the

Yangtse River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

, being present at the capture of many towns. He died in 1312, loaded with honors, and was succeeded in his dignities by his son Mahasha (). He is often referred to as the founder of the

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran, in Kokani Muslim Family. He started his film career with th ...

Kurdish tribe as during the rule of the Turkmens (ninth century AH) and at the beginning of the Darbas or Daryas region liberation from the control of one of the Turkmen tribes, he became the owner of that region. Later Him, Dei Barik, and Akhtachi annexed the Timurid and Selduz tribes to their possessions. Gradually, he formed a strong and powerful government and named his government and tribes "Mukri" and ruled for a long time without a war. Akhtachi, or Akhtasi, and Timur, the Khans of Khans, were the Mongol rulers who once ruled over the emirate of

Mukriyan Mukriyan () or 'Deryaz' was a Kurdish principality from the late 14th century to the 19th century centered around Mahabad. Mukriyan was a neighbor to the Emirate of Bradost. Geography and tribes Mukriyan encompassed the area south of Lake Ur ...

. محمدصمدی (۱۳۸۱). تاریخچهٔ مهاباد، ص. ۱۵

References

This article incorporates material from

Herbert Giles Herbert Allen Giles (, 8 December 184513 February 1935) was a British diplomat and sinologist who was the professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge for 35 years. Giles was educated at Charterhouse School before becoming a British dip ...

's ''A Chinese Biographical Dictionary'' (London: Arthur Probsthain, 1898), which is now in the public domain. Year of birth unknown 1312 deaths Yuan dynasty people Military history of the Mongol Empire Iranian military personnel {{china-mil-bio-stub