Sayf al-Din Ghazi I (, died 1149) was the

Emir of Mosul This is a list of the rulers of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Umayyad governors * Muhammad ibn Marwan (ca. 685–705) * Yusuf ibn Yahya ibn al-Hakam (ca. 685–705) * Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik (ca. 685–705) * Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (719–720) ...

from 1146 to 1149, who fought in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

. He was the eldest son of

Imad al-Din Zengi Imad al-Din Zengi (; – 14 September 1146), also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkoman atabeg of the Seljuk Empire, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake and founder of the Zengid dyn ...

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 ...

, and the elder brother of Nur ad-Din.

Regaining control

In 1146

was besieging the fortress of

Qal'at Ja'bar Qal'at Ja'bar (, ) is a castle on the left bank of Lake Assad in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Its site, formerly a prominent hill-top overlooking the Euphrates Valley, is now an island in Lake Assad that can only be reached by an artificial cause ...

when he was assassinated on September 15 by one of his servants who wanted to escape punishment. His forces were scattered, but Imad ad-Din Zengi's two sons were able to regain control and to divide informally the empire: Sayf al-Din succeeded him in Mosul and the Jazirah (northern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

) while Nur al-Din succeeded in

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 ...

. Saif ad-Din had first to fight to secure his position in Mosul. Two years before, the Seljuk sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

had named his cadet son Alp-Arslan as overlord of Zengi, but the latter had neutralized him and carried with him at the siege. At Zengi's death, Alp-Arslan tried to exploit the ensuing disorder to gain the power in

. Two of Zengi's advisors, the head of the diwan al-Din Muhammad Jamal and ''hajib '' Amir Salah al-Din Muhammad al-Yaghsiyani took the side of Saif ad-Din: taking advantage of the inexperience of the young Seljuk, giving Saif ad-Din the time necessary to take control of Mosul. When

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...

appeared in

, he was arrested and imprisoned in the

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

.Grousset 1935, p.194

Damascus

In 1148, together with his brother

Nur al-Din Zengi Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. 'Light of the Faith' in Arabic), was a Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syrian province () of the Seljuk Empire. He reigne ...

, he marched south to help defend

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 ...

during the

(see Siege of Damascus) from the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. The atabeg of the city,

Mu'in ad-Din Unur Mu'in ad-Din Unur (; died August 28, 1149) was the ruler of Damascus from 1140 to 1149. He was a Turkoman slave of Burid emirs. Origins Mu'in ad-Din was originally a Mamluk in the army of Toghtekin, the founder of the Burid Dynasty of Damascus ...

, however refused them entrance, using the presence of Zangi's sons to convince the

to release the siege.

Death

He died in November 1149 and was succeeded by another brother, Qutb al-Din Mawdud.

References

Sources

* 1149 deaths Atabegs Zengid emirs of Mosul Muslims of the Second Crusade Year of birth unknown 12th-century monarchs in the Middle East {{MEast-royal-stub

Regaining control

Damascus

Death

See also

References

Sources