Zengi
Encyclopedia
Imad ad-Din Zengi (also Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, or Zanki / / ) was the atabeg
Atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince...

of Mosul, Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

, Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...

 and Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...

 and founder of the Zengid dynasty
Zengid dynasty
The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin, which ruled parts of Syria and northern Iraq on behalf of the Seljuk Empire.-History:...

, to which he gave his name.

Early life

Zengi's father, Aq Sunqur al-Hajib
Aq Sunqur al-Hajib
Qasim ad-Dawla Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib was the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I. He probably enjoyed some independence from his lord and was from 1087 the de-facto ruler of most of Syria...

, governor of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

 under Malik Shah I
Malik Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh was born in 1055, succeeded Alp Arslan as the Seljuq Sultan in 1072, and reigned until his death in 1092....

, was beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

 for treason in 1094, and Zengi was brought up by Kerbogha
Kerbogha
Kerbogha was Atabeg of Mosul during the First Crusade and was renowned as a soldier. He was a Turk who owed his success to his military talent. In 1098, when he heard that the Crusaders had besieged Antioch, he gathered his troops and marched to relieve the city. By the time he arrived, around...

, the governor of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

.

Zengi against Damascus

Following the death in 1128 of Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, a power vacuum
Power vacuum
A power vacuum is, in its broadest sense, an expression for a condition that exists when someone has lost control of something and no one has replaced them. It is usually used to refer to a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority...

 threatened to open Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....

 to renewed Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

 aggression.

Zengi became atabeg of Mosul in 1127, and of Aleppo in 1128, uniting the two cities under his personal rule, and was formally invested as their ruler by the Sultan Mahmud II of Great Seljuk
Mahmud II of Great Seljuk
Mahmud II was the Seljuq sultan of Baghdad in 1118 following the death of his father Mehmed I. At the time Mahmud was fourteen, and ruled over Iraq and Persia....

. Zengi had supported the young sultan against his rival, the caliph Al-Mustarshid
Al-Mustarshid
Al-Mustarshid was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1118 to 1135.Son of the preceding Caliph, he achieved more independence as a ruler while the Seljuq sultan Mahmud II was engaged in war in the East....

.

In 1130 he allied with Taj al-Mulk Buri of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 against the crusaders, but this was only a ruse to extend his power; he had Buri's son taken prisoner and seized Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...

 from him. He also besieged Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...

, the governor of which was accompanying him at the time, but could not capture it, so he returned to Mosul, where Buri's son and the other prisoners from Damascus were ransomed for 50,000 dinar
Dinar
The dinar is the official currency of several countries.The history of the dinar dates to the gold dinar, an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri...

s. In 1131 Zengi agreed to return the 50,000 dinars if Buri would deliver to him Dubays ibn Sadaqa, emir of al-Hilla in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, who had fled to Damascus to escape al-Mustarshid. When an ambassador from the caliph arrived to bring Dubais back, Zengi attacked him and killed some of his retinue; the ambassador returned to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 without Dubais.

In 1134 Zengi became involved in Artuqid affairs, allying with the emir Timurtash (son of Ilghazi
Ilghazi
Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq was the Turkish Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122.- Biography :His father Artuk was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had been appointed governor of Jerusalem by the Seljuq emir Tutush. When Artuk died, Ilghazi and his brother Sökmen succeeded him as...

) against Timurtash's cousin Da'ud. Zengi's real desires, however, lay to the south, in Damascus. In 1135 Zengi received an appeal for help from Ismail, who had succeeded his father Buri as emir of Damascus, and who was in fear for his life from his own citizenry who considered him a cruel tyrant. Ismail was willing to surrender the city to Zengi in order to restore peace. None of Ismail's family or advisors wanted this, however, and Ismail was murdered by his own mother, Zumurrud, to prevent him from turning over the city to Zengi's control. Ismail was succeeded by his brother Shihab ad-Din Mahmud.

Zengi was not discouraged by this turn of events and arrived at Damascus anyway, still intending to seize it. The siege lasted for some time with no success on Zengi's part, so a truce was made and Shahib ad-Din's brother Bahram-Shah was given as a hostage. At the same time, news of the siege had reached the caliph and Baghdad, and a messenger was sent with orders for Zengi to leave Damascus and take control of the governance of Iraq. The messenger was ignored but Zengi gave up the siege, as per the terms of the truce with Shahib ad-Din. On the way back to Aleppo, Zengi besieged Homs, whose governor had angered him, and Shahib ad-Din responded to the city's call for help by sending Mu'in ad-Din Unur
Mu'in ad-Din Unur
Mu'in ad-Din Unur al-Atabeki was the ruler of Damascus in the mid-12th century.-Origins:Mu'in ad-Din was originally a Mameluk in the army of Toghtekin, the founder of the Burid Dynasty of Damascus. When Zengi, the atabeg of Aleppo, besieged Damascus in 1135, Mu'in ad-Din was at the head of army...

 to govern it.

Conflict with the crusaders and Byzantines

In 1137 Zengi besieged Homs again but Mu'in ad-Din successfully defended it; in response to Zengi's renewed attack, Damascus allied with the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....

 against him. Zengi laid siege to the Crusader fortress of Ba'rin
Battle of Ba'rin
In the Battle of Ba'rin in 1137, a Crusader force commanded by King Fulk of Jerusalem was scattered and defeated by Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. This setback resulted in the permanent loss of the Crusader castle of Ba'rin....

 and quickly crushed the army of Jerusalem. King Fulk of Jerusalem
Fulk of Jerusalem
Fulk , also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death...

 agreed to surrender and was allowed to flee with his surviving troops. Zengi, realizing that this new expedition against Damascus was bound to fail, made peace with Shahib ad-Din, just in time to be confronted at Aleppo by an army sent by the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus. The Emperor had recently brought the Crusader Principality of Antioch
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...

 under Byzantine control, and allied himself with Joscelin II of Edessa and Raymond of Antioch
Raymond of Antioch
Raymond of Poitiers was Prince of Antioch 1136–1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his infamous liaison with Dangereuse de Chatelherault.-Assumes control:Following the...

. Facing a combined Byzantine/crusader threat, Zengi mobilized his forces and recruited assistance from other Muslim leaders. In April 1138 the armies of the Byzantine emperor and the crusader princes laid siege to Shaizar
Shaizar
Shaizar, Shayzar or Saijar was a medieval town and fortress in Syria, ruled by the Banu Munqidh dynasty, which played an important part in the Christian and Muslim politics of the crusades.- Early history :...

, but were turned back by Zengi's forces a month later.

In May 1138 Zengi came to an agreement with Damascus. He married Zumurrud, the same woman who had murdered her son Ismail, and received Homs as her dowry. In July 1139 Zumurrud's surviving son, Shihab ad-Din, was assassinated and Zengi marched on Damascus to take possession of the city. The Damascenes, united under Mu'in ad-Din Unur, acting as regent for Shihab ad-Din's successor Jamal ad-Din, once again allied with Jerusalem to repel Zengi. Zengi also besieged Jamal ad-Din's former possession of Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...

, and Mu'in ad-Din was in charge of its defenses as well. After Zengi abandoned his siege of Damascus, Jamal ad-Din died of a disease, and was succeeded by his son Mujir ad-Din, with Mu'in ad-Din remaining as regent.

Mu'in ad-Din signed a new peace treaty with Jerusalem for their mutual protection against Zengi. While Mu'in ad-Din and the crusaders joined together to besiege Banias
Banias
Banias is an archaeological site by the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi, located at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights...

, Zengi once more laid siege to Damascus, but quickly abandoned it again. There were no major engagements between the crusaders, Damascus, and Zengi for the next few years, but Zengi in the meantime campaigned in the north and captured Ashib and the Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n fortress of Hizan.

In 1144 Zengi besieged the crusader County of Edessa
County of Edessa
The County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around Edessa, a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity....

 (see Siege of Edessa
Siege of Edessa
The Siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.- Background :...

). Edessa was the weakest and least Latinized crusader state, and Zengi captured it on December 24, 1144. This event led to the Second Crusade
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

, and later Muslim chroniclers noted it as the start of the jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

against the Crusader states.

Death

Zengi was assassinated in 1146 by a conspiracy of foreign slaves who sought revenge for castration and sexual mistreatment.
His sudden death threw his forces into a panic. His army disintegrated, the treasury was looted, and the crusader princes, made bold by Zengi's demise, plotted to attack Aleppo and Edessa. Mu'in ad-Din immediately recaptured Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...

, Homs, and other territories lost to Zengi over the years.

Legacy

He was the founder of the eponymous Zengid dynasty
Zengid dynasty
The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin, which ruled parts of Syria and northern Iraq on behalf of the Seljuk Empire.-History:...

. In Mosul he was succeeded by his eldest son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I
Saif ad-Din Ghazi I
Saif ad-Din Ghazi I was the Emir of Mosul from 1146 to 1149He was the eldest son of Zengi of Mosul, and the elder brother of Nur ad-Din....

 and in Aleppo he was succeeded by his second son Nur ad-Din. The Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi
Ibn al-Qalanisi
Hamza ibn Asad abu Ya'la ibn al-Qalanisi was an Arab politician and chronicler in Damascus in the 12th century.He descended from the Banu Tamim tribe, and was among the well-educated nobility of the city of Damascus...

 gives his full name and title as:
The emir, the general, the great, the just, the aid of God, the triumphant, the unique, the pillar of religion, the cornerstone of Islam, ornament of Islam, protector of God's creatures, associate of the dynasty, auxiliary of doctrine, grandeur of the nation, honour of kings, supporter of sultans, victor over the infidels, rebels, and atheists, commander of the Muslim armies, the victorious king, the king of princes, the sun of the deserving, emir of the two Iraqs and Syria, conqueror of Iran, Bahlawan, Jihan Alp Inassaj Kotlogh Toghrulbeg atabeg Abu Sa'id Zangi Ibn Aq Sunqur, protector of the prince of the faithful.


According to Crusader legend, Zengi's mother was Ida of Austria
Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg
Ida of Austria , daughter of Rapoto IV of Cham, also known as Itha, was the wife of Leopold II of Austria, and the mother of Leopold III. She was known as one of the great beauties of her day....

 (mother of Leopold III of Austria), who had supposedly been captured during the Crusade of 1101
Crusade of 1101
The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First...

 and placed in a harem. She was 46 in 1101, Zengi was born in 1085, and his father died in 1094 so this is not feasible.

Zengi was courageous, strong in leadership and a very skilled warrior according to all of the Islam chroniclers of his day. These same chroniclers however, also relate Zengi as being a very violent, cruel, and brutal man. Muslims, Byzantines, and Franks all suffered at his hands.

Unlike Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...

 at Jerusalem in 1187, Zengi did not keep his word to protect his captives at Baalbek in 1139. According to Ibn al-‘Adim, “He (Zengi) had sworn to the people of the citadel with strong oaths and on the Qur’an and divorcing (his wives). When they came down from the citadel he betrayed them, flayed its governor and hanged the rest.”

According to Ibn 'al-Adim:

Sources

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    Amin Maalouf
    Amin Maalouf , born 25 February 1949 in Beirut, is a Lebanese-born French author. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into many languages. He received the Prix Goncourt in 1993 for his novel The Rock of Tanios...

    , The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, 1985
  • Steven Runciman
    Steven Runciman
    The Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...

    , A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

    , 1952.
  • The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi
    Ibn al-Qalanisi
    Hamza ibn Asad abu Ya'la ibn al-Qalanisi was an Arab politician and chronicler in Damascus in the 12th century.He descended from the Banu Tamim tribe, and was among the well-educated nobility of the city of Damascus...

    . H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002).
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    William of Tyre
    William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...

    , A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey. Columbia University Press
    Columbia University Press
    Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...

    , 1943.
  • An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades; Memoirs of Usamah ibn-Munqidh (Kitab al i'tibar), trans. Philip K. Hitti. New York, 1929.
  • The Second Crusade Scope and Consequences Edited by Jonathan Phillips & Martin Hoch, 2001.
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