Najm al-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq (; died November 8, 1122) was the Turkoman Artukid ruler of

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer.

Biography

His father Artuk Bey was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had been appointed governor of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

by the Seljuq emir Tutush. When Artuk died, Ilghazi and his brother Sökmen succeeded him as governors of Jerusalem. In 1096, Ilghazi allied with Duqaq of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and Yaghi-Siyan of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

against

Radwan of Aleppo Ridwan ( – 10 December 1113) was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death. Ridwan was born to the Seljuk prince Tutush, who had established a principality in Syria after his brother, Sultan Malik-Shah I granted him the regi ...

; Duqaq and Radwan were fighting for control of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

after the death of Tutush. Ilghazi and Duqaq eventually quarrelled and Ilghazi was imprisoned, leading to the capture of Jerusalem by his brother Sökmen, but Ilgazi recovered the city when he was released. He held it until the city was captured by the Fatimid vizier of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, al-Afdal Shahanshah, in 1098. After this he sought to make a name for himself in the Jezirah, where his brothers had also established themselves. He then entered the service of the Seljuq sultan Mahmud I, who granted him Hulwan and made him '' shihna'' of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, an office which oversaw the affairs of the

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

on behalf of the sultan. Ilghazi was dismissed as ''shihna'' in 1104 and became leader of the Artukid family after the death of Sökmen that year. This was disputed by Sökmen's son Ibrahim, but Ilghazi took Mardin from him in 1108. As head of the Artukids he made no lasting alliances and frequently switched sides, allying with both fellow Muslims and Christian crusaders whenever he saw fit. In 1110, he participated in an unsuccessful siege of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. In 1114, he and his nephew Balak (future emir of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

) defeated the Seljuq governor of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi Qasīm al-Dawla Sayf al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd Āqsunqur al-Bursuqī (), also known as Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Aqsonqor il-Bursuqi, Aksunkur al-Bursuki, Aksungur or al-Borsoki, was the Seljuk Turkoman atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 112 ...

, and captured Mas'ud, son of the Seljuq sultan. In 1115, Ilghazi besieged

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

, but was captured briefly by its governor Khir-Khan. Later that year, Roger of Antioch,

Baldwin I of Jerusalem Baldwin I (1060s – 2 April 1118) was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblew ...

, Pons of Tripoli, and Baldwin II of Edessa defended

against the Seljuq general

Bursuq ibn Bursuq Bursuq ibn Bursuq, also known as Bursuk ibn Bursuk (died in 1116 or 1117), was the emir (or lord) of Hamadan. General He was the most notable son of Bursuq the Elder. Bursuq ibn Bursuq was a Turkic general in the service of the Seljuq Sultan ...

(not to be confused with al-Bursuki), with the aid of Ilghazi,

Toghtekin Zahir al-Din Toghtekin or Tughtekin (Modern ; Arabicised epithet: ''Zahir ad-Din Tughtikin''; died February 12, 1128), also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkoman military leader, who was ''emir'' of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder ...

, and Lulu of Aleppo, all enemies of Bursuk. These two armies did not come to battle, although Bursuk was later defeated by Roger at the

Battle of Sarmin The Battle of Sarmin, also known as the Battle of Tell Danith, took place on September 14, 1115 with Roger of Salerno's Crusader army surprising and routing the Seljuk Turkish army of Bursuq ibn Bursuq of Hamadan. It is also known as the Fir ...

. Ilghazi gained control of Aleppo after the assassination of Lulu in 1117. He was invited to take control by princess Amina Khatun.El-Azhari, Taef. Queens, Eunuchs and feijão com arroz Concubines in Islamic History, 661–1257. Edinburgh University Press, 2019 In 1118, he took control of Mayyafiriqin and pacified the surrounding countryside. In 1119, Ilghazi defeated and killed Roger at the

Battle of Ager Sanguinis In the Battle of ''Ager Sanguinis'', also known as the Battle of the Field of Blood, the Battle of Sarmada, or the Battle of Balat, Roger of Salerno's Crusader army of the Principality of Antioch was annihilated by the army of Ilghazi of Mard ...

;

Ibn al-Qalanisi Abū Yaʿlā Ḥamzah ibn al-Asad ibn al-Qalānisī (; c. 1071 – 18 March 1160) was an Arab politician and chronicler in 12th-century Damascus. Biography Abu Ya'la ('father of Ya'la'), whose surname was al-Qalanisi ('the Hatter'), descended fro ...

describes the victory as "one of the finest of victories, and such plenitude of divine aid was never granted to Islam in all its past ages." The Antiochene towns of Atharib, Zerdana,

Sarmin Sarmin ( also spelled Sarmeen) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities include Binnish to the north, Tal ...

, Ma'arrat al-Numan and Kafartab fell to his army. "Il Ghazi, however, was unable to extract full profit from his victory. His prolonged drunkenness deprived his army of leadership, and left the Turkmens free to ... scatter after plunder."Smail, p 30 Baldwin II (now Baldwin II of Jerusalem) soon arrived to drive Ilghazi back, inflicting heavy losses on the Turks in the hard-fought Battle of Hab on August 14, 1119. The next year Ilghazi took Nisibin, and then pillaged the

County of Edessa The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey). In the late Byzantine period, Edessa became the centre of intellec ...

before turning north towards

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. In 1121, he made peace with the crusaders, and with supposedly up to 250,000–350,000 troops, including men led by his son-in-law Sadaqah and Sultan Malik of

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

, he invaded

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

David IV of Georgia David IV, also known as David IV the Builder ( ka, დავით IV აღმაშენებელი, tr; 1073 – 24 January 1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king ('' mepe'') of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1089 until his d ...

met him at the

Battle of Didgori The Battle of Didgori ( ka, დიდგორის ბრძოლა, tr) was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire at the narrow place of Didgori, 40 km west of Tbilisi, on August 12, 1121. The large ...

and Ilgazi was defeated. According to

Matthew of Edessa Matthew of Edessa (; late 11th century – 1144) was an Armenian historian in the 12th century from the city of Edessa. Matthew was the superior abbot of Karmir Vank, near the town of Kaysun, east of Marash (Germanicia), the former seat of ...

400 000 Seljuks were killed. Among the various leaders, only Ilghazi and his son-in-law Dubais escaped. In 1122, Ilghazi and Balak defeated

Joscelin I of Edessa Joscelin I (died 1131) was a Frankish nobleman of the House of Courtenay who ruled as the lord of Turbessel, prince of Galilee (1112–1119) and count of Edessa (1118–1131). The County of Edessa reached its zenith during his rule. Captured ...

and took him prisoner, but Ilgazi died in November of that year at Diyarbekir. He was buried at Mayyafariqin ( Silvan today). Balak succeeded him in Aleppo and his sons Suleiman and Timurtash succeeded him in Mardin. Ibn al-Qalanisi is generally neutral on the character of Ilghazi, and describes only one "disgraceful habit" of the emir: "Now when Ilghazi drank wine and it got the better of him, he habitually remained for several days in a state of intoxication, without recovering his senses sufficiently to take control or to be consulted on any matter or decision." The Antiochene chronicler Walter the Chancellor was at first also neutral towards Ilghazi, until the Battle of Ager Sanguinis, in which Walter himself was captured; Ilghazi (written as "Algazi" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) is then described as a "tyrant" and the "prince of the delusion and dissent of the Turcomans." Walter also remarks on Ilghazi's drunkenness.

Family and issue

Ilghazi married first Farkhunda Khatun, the daughter of Ridwan of

, but he never actually met her and the marriage was never consummated. He then married the daughter of

and had the following children: * Ayaz * Guhar Khatun, married Dubais * al-Bazm * Shams ad-Daula Sulaiman * Safra Khatun, married Husam ad-Din Qurti ibn Toghlan Arslan * Yumna Khatun, married Sa'd ad-Daula Il-aldi of Amid * al-Sa'id Husam ad-Din Timurtash He also had a son, Umar, by a concubine, and Nasr, by a slave; another possible son was named Kirzil.

Notes

Sources

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume '' A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popula ...

, ''A History of the Crusades, vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1951. * Kenneth Setton, ed. ''A History of the Crusades, vol. I''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958
available online
. *

William of Tyre William of Tyre (; 29 September 1186) was a Middle Ages, medieval prelate and chronicler. As Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I of Tyr ...

. ''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea''. Edited and translated by E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943. * ''Armenia and the Crusades, Tenth to Twelfth Centuries: The Chronicle of

''. Translated by Ara Edmond Dostourian. National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, 1993. * ''The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades: Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of

''. H.A.R. Gibb, London, 1932. * '' Walter the Chancellor's "The Antiochene Wars": A Translation and Commentary'', trans. Thomas S. Asbridge and Susan B. Edgington, Ashgate, 1999. * Carole Hillenbrand, "The career of Najm al-Din Il-Ghazi", Der Islam 58 (1981). * Carole Hillenbrand, ''A Muslim Principality in Crusader Times: The Early Artuqid State''. Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut, 1990. * Carole Hillenbrand, ''The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives''. Routledge, 2000. * Smail, R. C. ''Crusading Warfare 1097–1193.'' New York: Barnes & Noble Books, (1956) 1995. {{Authority control 12th-century Artuqid rulers Muslims of the First Crusade 1122 deaths Year of birth unknown History of Mardin Province People from the Seljuk Empire Nizari Ismaili–Seljuk relations People of the Nizari–Seljuk wars

Biography

Family and issue

See also

Notes

Sources