Yarankash (or Yaranqash) (died 1146) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

who assassinated his owner Zengi, the

atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...

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 ...

. According to

Damascene Damascene may refer to: * Topics directly associated with the city of Damascus in Syria: ** A native or inhabitant of Damascus ** Damascus Arabic, the local dialect of Damascus ** Damascus steel, developed for swordmaking ** "Damascene moment", the ...

chronicler

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 ...

: Yaranqash stabbed the atabeg numerous times and then fled to 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 ...

, and then from there to

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 ...

, "in the confident belief that he would be secure there, openly putting forward his action as a claim to consideration, and imagining that he would be made welcome." The governor,

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 ...

, instead had him arrested and sent him to Zengi's son

Nur al-Din Nur al-Din () is a male Arabic given name, translating to "light of Faith", ''nūr'' meaning "light" and ''dīn'' meaning "religion". More recently, the name has also been used as a surname. There are many Romanized spelling variants of the name. T ...

. Nur al-Din sent him along to his brother

Sayf al-Din Ghazi I Sayf al-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 Zengi ...

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 ...

, who had him executed.

Sources

{{reflist *

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. II: 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 ...

, 1952. *''The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of

''. H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002). 1146 deaths People from the Seljuk Empire Medieval assassins Year of birth unknown 12th-century executions 12th-century murderers 12th-century slaves Frankish people