The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh. Part 1

The Years 491–541/1097–1146: The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response

D.S. Richards

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780754640776
• eBook ISBN: 9781351892872
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233AD), entitled 'al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh', is one of the outstanding sources for the history of the mediaeval world. It covers the whole sweep of Islamic history almost up to the death of its author and, with the sources available to him, he attempted to embrace the widest geographical spread; events in Iraq, Iran and further East run in counterpoint with those involving North Africa and Spain. From the time of the arrival of the Crusaders in the Levant, their activities and the Muslim response become the focus of the work. This part covers the establishment of the Crusader states and the initial weak and divided response of Muslim regimes in the area, the moribund Fatimid caliphate in Egypt and competing emirs in Syria and Mesopotamia. The strengthening of the Muslim reaction is typified by the career of Zanki, which also illustrates the important links with events in the orbit of the Abbasid caliphate and the Saljuq sultanate.

The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr

The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response

[272] The Year 491 [1097-1098]

How the Franks took the city of Antioch

The power of the Franks and their increased importance were first manifested by their invasion of the lands of Islam and their conquest of part of them in the year 478 [1085-6], for [that was when] they took the city of Toledo and other cities of Spain, as we have already mentioned.¹

Then in the year 484 [1091-2] they attacked and conquered the island of Sicily, as we have also mentioned.² They descended on the coasts of Ifrīqiya³ and seized some part, which was then taken back from them. Later they took other parts, as you shall see.

When it was the year 490 [1096-7] they invaded Syria. The reason for their invasion was that their ruler, Baldwin, a relative of Roger the Frank who had conquered Sicily, gathered a great host of Franks and sent to Roger saying, ‘I have gathered a great host and I am coming to you. I shall proceed to Ifrīqiya to take it and I shall be a neighbour of yours.’ Roger assembled his men and consulted them about this. They said, ‘By the truth of the Gospel, this is excellent for us and them. The lands will become Christian lands.’ Roger raised his leg and gave a loud fart. ‘By the truth of my religion,’ he said, ‘there is more use in that than in what you have to say!’ ‘How so?’ they asked. ‘If they come to me,’ he replied, ‘I shall require vast expenditure and ships to convey them to Ifrīqiya and troops [273] of mine also. If they take the territory it will be theirs and resources from Sicily will go to them. I shall be deprived of the money that comes in every year from agricultural revenues. If they do not succeed, they will return to my lands and I shall suffer from them. Tamīm⁴ will say, “You have betrayed me and broken the agreement I have [with you].” Our mutual contacts and visits will be interrupted. The land of Ifrīqiya will be waiting for us. Whenever we find the strength we will take it.’

He summoned Baldwin’s envoy and said to him, ‘If you are determined to wage holy war on the Muslims, then the best way is to conquer Jerusalem. You will free it from their hands and have glory. Between me and the people of Ifrīqiya, however, are oaths and treaties.’ They therefore made their preparations and marched forth to Syria.

It has been said that the Alid rulers of Egypt⁵ became fearful when they saw the strength and power of the Saljuq state, that it had gained control of Syrian lands as far as Gaza, leaving no buffer state between the Saljuqs and Egypt to protect them, and that Aqsīs⁶ had entered Egypt and blockaded it. They therefore sent to the Franks to invite them to invade Syria, to conquer it and separate them and the [other] Muslims, but God knows best.

After they had decided to march to Syria, they went to Constantinople to cross the straits into Muslim lands, to travel on by land, for that would be easier for them. When they arrived, the Byzantine emperor refused them passage through his territory. He said, ‘I will not allow you to cross into the lands of Islam until you swear to me that you will surrender Antioch to me.’ His aim was to urge them to move into Islamic lands, assuming that Turks would not spare a single one of them, because he had seen how fierce they were and their control of the lands. [274] They agreed to that and crossed the Bosphorus at Constantinople in the year 490 [1096-7].

They reached the lands of Qilij Arslān ibn Sulaymān ibn Qutlumish,⁷ namely Konya and other cities. Having arrived there, they were met by Qilij Arslān with his hosts, who resisted them. They put him to flight in Rajab 490 [July 1097] after a battle⁸ and then traversed his lands into those of the son of the Armenian⁹ which they marched through before emerging at Antioch and putting it under siege.

When the ruler Yaghī Siyān¹⁰ heard of their coming, he feared the Christians in the city. He sent out the Muslim inhabitants by themselves and ordered them to dig the moat. Then the next day he sent out the Christians also to dig the moat, unaccompanied by any Muslim. They laboured on it until the evening but when they wished to enter the city he prevented them and said, ‘You can give me Antioch until I see how things will be with us and the Franks.’ They asked, ‘Who will look after our sons and our wives?’ ‘I will look after them in your place,’ he replied. So they held back and took up residence in the Frankish camp. The Franks besieged the city for nine months. Yaghī Siyān displayed such courage, excellent counsel, resolution and careful planning as had never been seen from anyone else. Most of the Franks perished. Had they remained in the numbers they set out with, they would have overwhelmed the lands of Islam. Yaghī Siyān protected the families of those Christians of Antioch, whom he had expelled, and restrained the hands that would do them harm.

After their siege of Antioch had lasted long, the Franks made contact with one of the men garrisoning the towers, who was an armourer, known as Rūzbah,¹¹ and offered him money and grants of land. He was in charge of a tower next to the valley, which was built with a window overlooking the valley. After they had made an arrangement with this cursed armourer, they came to the window, which they opened and through which they entered. A large number climbed up on ropes. When they numbered more than five hundred, they blew the trumpet. That was [275] at dawn. The defenders were already tired from many sleepless nights on guard. Yaghī Siyān awoke and asked what was happening. He was told, ‘That trumpet is from the citadel. No doubt it has already been taken.’ However, it was not from the citadel but merely from that tower. He was seized with fear, opened the city gate and left in headlong flight with thirty retainers. His deputy as governor of the city came and asked after him. He was told that he had fled, so he himself fled by another gate. That was a boon for the Franks. Had he held firm for a while, they would have perished. The Franks entered the city through the gate and sacked it, killing the Muslims that were there. This was in Jumada I [April–May 1098].¹²

When the next day dawned, Yaghī Siyān came to his senses again. He had been like one distraught. He looked at himself after he had covered several leagues and said to those with him, ‘Where am I?’ ‘Four leagues from Antioch,’ he was told. He then regretted his flight to safety and his failure to fight until he either drove them from the city or was himself killed. He started to lament and bewail having abandoned his wife, his children and the Muslim population. Because of the violence of what afflicted him he fell from his horse in a faint. When he fell to the ground, his followers went to remount him but he could not hold on, for he was close to death. They therefore left him and rode away. An Armenian, who was cutting firewood and came across him when he was at his last gasp, killed him, cut off his head and took it to the Franks at Antioch.¹³

The Franks had written to the ruler of Aleppo and of Damascus, saying that they had no designs on lands other than those which had been in the hands of the Byzantines, that they had no other ambitions. This was a ruse and a trick on their part to stop aid being given to the ruler of Antioch.

[276] How the Muslims marched against the Franks and what befell them

When Qiwām al-Dawla Karbughā¹⁴ heard of the Franks’ doings and their conquest of Antioch, he gathered his forces and marched to Syria. He camped at Marj Dābiq,¹⁵ where the troops of Syria, both Turks and Arabs, rallied to him, apart from those who were in Aleppo. There assembled with him Duqāq ibn Tutush,¹⁶ Tughtakīn the Atabeg,¹⁷ Janāḥ al-Dawla the lord of Homs,¹⁸ Arslān Tāsh the lord of Sinjār, Suqmān ibn Artuq¹⁹ and other emirs, the likes of whom are not to be found. Hearing of this, the Franks’ misfortunes increased and they were fearful because of their weakness and their shortage of provisions. The Muslims came and besieged them in Antioch, but Karbughā behaved badly towards the Muslims with him. He angered the emirs and lorded it over them, imagining that they would stay with him despite that. However, infuriated by this, they secretly planned to betray him, if there should be a battle, and they determined to give him up when the armies clashed.

The Franks, after they had taken Antioch, were left there for twelve days with nothing to eat. The powerful fed on their horses, while the wretched poor ate carrion and leaves. In view of this, they sent to Karbughā, asking him for terms to leave the city, but he did not grant what they sought. He said, ‘My sword alone will eject you.’

The following princes were with them: Baldwin,²⁰ [Raymond of] St. Gilles,²¹ Count Godfrey, the Count [277] lord of Edessa²² and Bohemond the lord of Antioch, their leader. There was a monk there, of influence amongst them, who was a cunning man. He said to them, ‘The Messiah (blessings be upon Him) had a lance which was buried in the church at Antioch, which was a great building.²³ If you find it, you will prevail, but if you do not find it, then destruction is assured.’ He had previously buried a lance in a place there and removed the traces [of his digging]. He commanded them to fast and repent, which they did for three days. On the fourth day he took them all into the place, accompanied by the common people and workmen. They dug everywhere and found it as he had said. ‘Rejoice in your coming victory’, he said to them.²⁴

On the fifth day they went out of the gate in scattered groups of five or six or so. The Muslims said to Karbughā, ‘You ought to stand at the gate and kill all that come out, because now, when they are scattered, it is easy to deal with them.’ He replied, ‘No, do not do that. Leave them alone until they have all come out and then we can kill them.’ He did not allow his men to engage them. However, one group of Muslims did kill several that had come out but he came in person and ordered them to desist.

When the Franks had all come out and not one of them remained within, they drew up a great battle line. At that, the Muslims turned their backs in flight, firstly because of the contempt and the scorn with which Karbughā had treated them and secondly because he had prevented them from killing the Franks. Their flight was complete. Not one of them struck a blow with a sword, thrust with a spear or shot an arrow. The last to flee were Suqmān ibn Artuq and Janāḥ al-Dawla because they were stationed in ambush. Karbughā fled with them. When the Franks observed this, they thought that it was a trick, since there had been no battle such as to cause a flight [278] and they feared to pursue them. A company of warriors for the faith²⁵ stood firm and fought zealously, seeking martyrdom. The Franks slew thousands of them and seized as booty the provisions, money, furnishings, horses and weapons that were in the camp. Their situation was restored and their strength returned.

Account of the Franks’ conquest of Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘mān

After the Franks had dealt with the Muslims as they did, they marched to Ma‘arrat al-Nu‘mān²⁶ and camped around it for a siege. The inhabitants fought them fiercely and the Franks experienced hardship and trouble, as they met with serious resistance and hard-fought opposition. They then constructed a wooden tower to come alongside the city wall. The battle waged around it but with no harm to the Muslims. When it was night some of the Muslims became fearful and were overcome with defeatism and dismay. They thought that, if they fortified themselves in some of the large houses, they could hold out there, so they went down from the wall and abandoned the place they had been defending. Another group saw them and did as they did, so that their place on the wall was also abandoned. Group after group followed their neighbours in descending from the wall until it was quite deserted. The Franks climbed on to it with ladders. When they were up there, the Muslims were quite at a loss and entered their houses. For three days the Franks put them to the sword and killed more than one hundred thousand. They enslaved many and took possession of the town.²⁷

They remained for forty days and then marched to ‘Arqa,²⁸ which they besieged for four months. They mined the wall in several places but could not take the place. Munqidh,²⁹ the ruler of Shayzar, sent envoys and reached an agreement with them. They marched on to Homs, which they besieged, until the ruler, Janāḥ al-Dawla, came to terms with them. Then by way of the Nāqūra Pass³⁰ they left for Acre but we...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr
• Bibliographical References
• Index