The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin, which ruled parts of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the

Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...

and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

to Sivas. The dynasty was founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi.

History

Zengi, son of

Aq Sunqur al-Hajib Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib (full name: ''Qasim ad-Dawla Aksungur al-Hajib'') was the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I. He was considered the ''de facto'' ruler of most of Syria from 1087. He was beheaded in 1094 following accu ...

, became the Seljuk atabeg of Mosul in 1127. He quickly became the chief Turkic potentate in Northern Syria and Iraq, taking

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

from the squabbling Artuqids in 1128 and capturing the County of Edessa from the Crusaders after the siege of Edessa in 1144. This latter feat made Zengi a hero in the Muslim world, but he was assassinated by a slave two years later, in 1146. On Zengi's death, his territories were divided, with Mosul and his lands in Iraq going to his eldest son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I, and Aleppo and Edessa falling to his second son, Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo. Nur ad-Din proved to be as competent as his father. In 1149, he defeated Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, at the

battle of Inab The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of Atabeg Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Poitiers and the Assass ...

, and the next year conquered the remnants of the County of Edessa west of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

. In 1154, he capped off these successes by his capture of Damascus from the Burid dynasty that ruled it. Now ruling from Damascus, Nur ad-Din's success continued. Another Prince of Antioch, Raynald of Châtillon was captured, and the territories of the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It exte ...

were greatly reduced. In the 1160s, Nur ad-Din's attention was mostly held by a competition with the

King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of ...

, Amalric of Jerusalem, for control of the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a ...

. From 1163 to 1169 Shirkuh took part in a series of campaigns against Fatimid Egypt, in 1169 he lured the vizier into an ambush and killed him after which he seized Egypt in the name of his master Nur ad-Din therefore bringing Egypt under formal Zengid dominion.Souad, Merah, and Tahraoui Ramdane. 2018. �
INSTITUTIONALIZING EDUCATION AND THE CULTURE OF LEARNING IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM: THE AYYŪBIDS (569/966 AH) (1174/1263 AD) LEARNING PRACTICES IN EGYPT AS A CASE STUDY
��. Al-Shajarah: Journal of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), January, 245-75.Legitimising the Conquest of Egypt: The Frankish Campaign of 1163 Revisited
Eric Böhme. The Expansion of the Faith. Volume 14. January 1, 2022. Pages 269 - 280. Shirkuh's nephew

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...

was appointed vizier by the Fatimid caliph al-Adid and Governor of Egypt, in 1169. Al-Adid died in 1171, and Saladin took advantage of this power vacuum, effectively taking control of the country. Upon seizing power, he switched Egypt's allegiance to the

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

-based Abbasid Caliphate which adhered to Sunni Islam, rather than traditional Fatimid

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

practice. Tripoli,

and the Hejaz were added to the state of Nur ad-Din.Gençtürk, Ç.
SELAHADDİN EYYUBİ VE NUREDDİN MAHMUD ARASINDAKİ MÜNASEBETLER
. Ankara Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 1 (2018 ): 51-61 Nur ad-Din had taken Anatolian lands up to Sivas, his state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas.EYYÛBÎLER
İçindekiler Tablosu. Prof. Dr. Ramazan ŞEŞEN. Mimar Sinan Üniversitesi. Nur ad-Din was preparing to invade

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

when he unexpectedly died in 1174. His son and successor As-Salih Ismail al-Malik was only a child, and was forced to flee to Aleppo, which he ruled until 1181, when he died of illness and was replaced by his cousin Imad al-Din Zengi II. Saladin conquered Aleppo two years later, ending Zengid rule in Syria. Zengid princes continued to rule in Northern Iraq as Emirs of Mosul well into the 13th century, ruling Mosul and Sinjar until 1234; their rule did not finally come to an end until 1250.

Zengid rulers

Arslan_Shah_Nasibin_1197_classical_portrait

Mahmud_II_mint_of_Mossul_female_with_two_winged_victories_1223

Zengid Atabegs and Emirs of Mosul

* Zengi, 1127–1146 *

Sayf al-Din Ghazi I Saif ad-Din Ghazi I (died 1149) was the Emir of Mosul from 1146 to 1149, who fought in the Second Crusade. He was the eldest son of Imad al-Din Zengi of Mosul, and the elder brother of Nur ad-Din. Regaining control In 1146 Imad al-Din Zeng ...

, son of Zengi, 1146–1149 * Qutb al-Din Mawdud, son of Zengi, 1149–1170 * Sayf al-Din Ghazi II, son of Qutb al-Din Mawdud, 1170–1180 * Izz al-Din Mas'ud, son of Qutb al-Din Mawdud, 1180–1193 * Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I, son of Izz al-Din Mas'ud, 1193–1211 * Izz al-Din Mas'ud II, son of Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I, 1211–1218 * Nur al-Din Arslan Shah II, son of Izz al-Din Mas'ud II, 1218–1219 * Nasir ad-Din Mahmud, son of Izz al-Din Mas'ud, 1219–1234. Mosul was taken over by Badr al-Din Lu'lu', atabeg to Nasir ad-Din Mahmud, whom he murdered in 1234.

Zengid Emirs of Aleppo

* Zengi, 1128–1146 *

Nur al-Din Nur al-Din ( ar, translit=nūr ad-dīn, نور الدين) is a male Arabic given name, translating to "light of the religion", ''nūr'' meaning "light" and ''dīn'' meaning "religion". More recently, the name has also been used as a surname. There ...

, son of Zengi, 1146–1174 * As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, son of Nur al-Din, 1174–1182 * Imad al-Din Zengi II,1182 Aleppo was conquered by

in 1183 and ruled by Ayyubids until 1260.

Zengid Emirs of Damascus

, son of Zengi, 1154–1174 * As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, son of Nur al-Din, 1174. Damascus was conquered by

in 1174 and ruled by Ayyubids until 1260.

Zengid Emirs of Sinjar

* Imad al-Din Zengi II, son of Qutb al-Din Mawdud, 1171–1197 * Qutb ad-Din Muhammad, son of Zengi II, 1197–1219 * Imad al-Din Shahanshah, son of Qutb ad-Din Muhammad, 1219–1220 * Jalal al-Din Mahmud (co-ruler), son of Qutb ad-Din Muhammad, 1219–1220 * Fath al-Din Umar (co-ruler), son of Qutb ad-Din Muhammad, 1219–1220. Sinjar was taken by the Ayyubids in 1220 and ruled by al-Ashraf Musa, Ayyubid emir of Diyar Bakr. It later came under the control of Badr al-Din Lu'lu', ruler of Mosul beginning in 1234.

Zengid Emirs of al-Jazira (in Northern Iraq)

* Mu'izz al-Din Sanjar Shah, son of Sayf al-Din Ghazi II, 1180–1208 * Mu'izz al-Din Mahmud, son of Mu'izz al-Din Sanjar Shah, 1208–1241 * Mahmud al-Malik al-Zahir, son of Mu'izz al-Din Mahmud, 1241–1250. In 1250, al-Jazira fell under the domination of

an-Nasir Yusuf An-Nasir Yusuf ( ar, الناصر يوسف; AD 1228–1260), fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy (), was the Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236� ...

, Ayyubid emir of Aleppo.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *Taef El-Azharii (2006). ''Zengi and the Muslim Response to the Crusades'', Routledge, Abington, UK. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zengid Dynasty Medieval Syria Medieval Jordan Seljuk Empire Atabegs Muslims of the Second Crusade Former vassal states States and territories established in 1127 States and territories disestablished in 1250 Syrian people of Turkish descent Iraqi people of Turkish descent 12th-century establishments in the Seljuk Empire 12th-century establishments in Asia 1250 disestablishments in Asia Turkic dynasties