The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh. Part 2

The Years 541–589/1146–1193: The Age of Nur al-Din and Saladin

D.S. Richards

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781351892841
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233 AD), 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. While continuing with the aim of comprehensive coverage, the years in this part are dominated by the careers of Nur al-Din and Saladin, the champions of the Jihad, sometimes called the 'counter-crusade'. Of special interest is the historian's partiality for the House of the former, and his perceived hostility to Saladin.

The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr

The Age of Nūr al-Dīn and Saladin

The Year 541 [1146–1147]

Account of how Zankī’s two sons, Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī and Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd, took power

After Atabeg Zankī was killed,¹ Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd, his son, took his signet ring from his hand, for he was present with him, and set out for Aleppo which he took possession of. At that time Zankī’s administration was being carried on, and authority in his state exercised, by one of the turbanned classes [113], Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī,² who monopolized the government. His associate was the Emir-Chamberlain Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Yaghīsiyānī.³ They agreed to preserve the dynasty. At the Martyr Atabeg’s court was the Prince Alp Arslān ibn Sultan Maḥmūd.⁴ He rode forth that day and troops gathered around him. Jamāl al-Dīn and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn came to him and encouraged him to occupy himself with drinking, singers and slave girls. They got him to enter Raqqa, where he remained for several days, making no public appearance. He then travelled to Māksīn which he entered. He stayed there for some days, while Jamāl al-Dīn was taking oaths of support for Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī, son of Atabeg Zankī, from the emirs and sending them to Mosul.

From Māksīn Alp Arslān went to Sinjār, after Sayf al-Dīn had already arrived at Mosul. After reaching Sinjār Jamāl al-Dīn sent to the governor of the citadel, telling him to send the following message to the Sultan’s son: ‘I am your servant but I am subject to Mosul. If and when you take it, I shall deliver Sinjār to you.’ He therefore set off for Mosul but Jamāl al-Dīn seized him and took him to the town of Balad. Few of the troops remained with him. He advised him to cross the Tigris. He crossed over to the east with a small band.

Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī had been in the town of Shahrazūr, which was his fief. His father’s deputy in Mosul, Zayn al-Dīn ‘Alī Kūchuk,⁵ sent to summon him to Mosul, where he arrived before the Prince. When Jamāl al-Dīn learnt that Sayf al-Dīn had arrived at Mosul, he sent to tell him how few were the men with the Prince, so he dispatched some of his troops, who arrested him. He was imprisoned in the citadel of Mosul. Sayf al-Dīn’s control of the lands became well established, but his brother, Nūr al-Dīn, remained in Aleppo, which he held. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Yāghīsiyānī joined him to administer his affairs and to undertake to maintain his rule. We have given a complete exposition of these events in our The Resplendent History of the Atabeg Dynasty (al-Ta’rīkh al-bāhir).⁶

[114] Account of the rebellion of Edessa after the death of the Atabeg

Joscelin the Frank, who had been lord of Edessa, was in his dominion, that is, Tell Bāshir and the neighbourhood. He wrote to the people of Edessa, the generality of whom were Armenians, and urged them to rebel, resist the Muslims and surrender the city. They agreed to do this and he appointed a day on which he would come to them. He proceeded to Edessa with his troops and conquered the city but the citadel and the Muslims who were within held out against him, despite his attacks on them. News of this reached Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zankī, while he was at Aleppo. He set out with his army on forced marches. When he drew near, Joscelin departed in flight back to his own land. Nūr al-Dīn entered the city and at that time sacked it and enslaved its populace.

This was the occasion when the city was plundered and became devoid of inhabitants. Only a small number remained there. Many people think that it was plundered when the Martyr conquered it but this is not so.

The news about the rising at Edessa reached Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī. He sent troops there but they heard, while they were on the way, of Nūr al-Dīn’s seizure of the city and his allowing it to be sacked, so they turned back.

A remarkable thing that is related is that Zayn al-Dīn ‘Alī, who was the deputy in the citadel of Mosul for the Martyr and his sons, received a present which Nūr al-Dīn sent to him from this conquest. It included a slave girl. After he had been with her and left after his ablutions, he said to those with him, ‘Do you know what has happened to me on this day?’ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘When we conquered Edessa,’ he continued [115], ‘with the Martyr, part of the plunder that fell into my hands was a splendid girl, whose beauty delighted me. My heart inclined to her. Then all of a sudden the Martyr made a proclamation ordering the return of captives and plundered property. He was held in awe and fear, so I gave her back, although my heart was attached to her. Just now a gift from Nūr al-Dīn came to me, consisting of several girls, that girl being one of them. I have had my way with her for fear that I might have to hand her back as before.’

How ‘Abd al-Mu’min gained control of Andalusia

In this year ‘Abd al-Mu’min⁷ sent an army to Andalusia and took control of the lands of Islam there. This came about because, when ‘Abd al-Mu’min besieged Marrakech, a group of notables of Andalusia, one of whom was Abū Ja‘far Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdīn, came to him, bearing a letter that contained the submission of the people of their towns to ‘Abd al-Mu’min, their entry into the ranks of his followers, the Almohads, and their support for his cause.⁸ ‘Abd al-Mu’min accepted this with thanks and put their minds at rest. They asked him for assistance against the Franks, so he equipped a large force and sent it with them. He prepared a fleet and sent it to sea. The fleet arrived at Andalusia and they attacked the city of Seville, reaching it by its river. An army of the Veiled Ones⁹ was there. The attackers besieged it by land and by water and took it by assault. Several were killed there. The population sought terms and stayed quiet. The troops took control of the country and the people there became [subjects] of ‘Abd al-Mu’min.

[116] Account of the killing of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān [ibn] Tughāyuruk and ‘Abbās, the lord of Rayy

During this year Sultan Mas‘ūd killed Emir-Chamberlain ‘Abd al-Raḥmān [ibn]¹⁰ Tughāyuruk, who was the lord of Khalkhāl and part of Azerbayjan and the effective ruler of the sultan’s state. Alongside him the sultan had no authority.

The reason for his being killed was that, after ‘Abd al-Raḥmān had so severely limited the sultan, he remained with him rather like a captive with no authority in the country. In the end ‘Abd al-Raḥmān singled out a page who belonged to the sultan, namely Arslān Beg, known as Khāṣṣ Beg ibn Balankirī,¹¹ whom the sultan had raised and taken as an intimate, and removed him, so that the sultan could no more see him. Khāṣṣ Beg had intelligence, resourcefulness, an excellent mind and the ability to achieve what he wanted to do. When ‘Abd al-Raḥmān assembled the troops, among whom was Khāṣṣ Beg, the latter and Sultan Mas‘ūd had already agreed between them that ‘Abd al-Raḥmān should be killed. Khāṣṣ Beg summoned a group of men whom he trusted and discussed this with them. Each of them feared to take this step against him, except for a man called Zankī, who was a life-guard (jāndār). He offered on his own initiative to be the first to strike. A group of emirs conspired with Khāṣṣ Beg to support his plan. While ‘Abd al-Raḥmān was parading in the retinue, Zankī the Life-Guard struck him on the head with an iron mace he had in his hand. He fell to the ground and Khāṣṣ Beg despatched him. The emirs with whom he had conspired to this end helped him to protect Zankī and his associates. His killing took place outside Ganja.

News of this came to Sultan Mas‘ūd when he was at Baghdad with Emir ‘Abbās, lord of Rayy. The latter’s troops were more numerous than the sultan’s. Although disapproving of this and vexed by it, the sultan handled him with blandishments and gentleness. He summoned Emir Alpqush Kūn Khar from al-Liḥf¹² [117] and also Tatar, who was a chamberlain. Backed by these two, he called ‘Abbās to him in his palace. As he entered, his men were prevented from entering with him. They turned him aside into a chamber and said to him, ‘Take off the brigandine.’ He said, ‘I have oaths and undertakings from the sultan.’ They punched him and some mamlukes, prepared for this purpose, emerged to deal with him. Thereupon he made his confession of faith, took off his brigandine and cast it down. They struck him with their swords, then cut off his head and threw it to his followers. Later they threw out his corpse. His baggage train and his tents were plundered and this put the city in a turmoil.

‘Abbās was one of Sultan Maḥmūd’s mamlukes, of excellent conduct, just towards his peasants and a great warrior for the Faith against the Bāṭinīs, of whom he killed very many and built a beacon from their heads at Rayy. He besieged the castle of Alamut and entered one of their villages, which he set fire to and burnt everyone there, men, women and children, and all else besides. After he was killed, he was buried on the West Bank. His daughter later sent and had him carried to Rayy, where she buried him. His murder took place in Dhū’l-Qa’da [April 1147].

It was a strange coincidence that al-‘Ibādī was preaching one day when ‘Abbās attended. One of those present at the session voiced objection and dashed towards Emir ‘Abbās, whose followers beat him and restrained him, fearful for ‘Abbās because he was extremely wary of Bāṭinī attacks. He always wore a brigandine and his valiant mamlukes were ever at his side. Al-‘Ibādī said to him, ‘O Emir, how long this caution? By God, if some fate had been decreed for you, with your own hand would you loose the buttons of your brigandine, for your fate to be fulfilled.’ What he said came to pass.

The sultan had appointed as his vizier Ibn Dārust, the vizier of Būz-Aba, though unwillingly, as has been mentioned before. At this present time he dismissed him, as he preferred to be dismissed and to return to his master Būz-Aba. After dismissing him, he arranged with him to bring about Būz-Aba’s reconciliation with him and remove any apprehension he might have by reason of the killing of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān and ‘Abbās. The vizier departed, hardly believing his escape, and came to Būz-Aba. What happened we shall relate later.

[118] Miscellaneous events

During this year Sultan Mas‘ūd imprisoned his brother, Sulaymān Shāh, in the citadel of Takrit.¹³

This year Emir Jāwulī al-Tughrilī, lord of Arrāniyya and part of Azerbayjan, died. He had made moves towards rebellion. His death was sudden; when stringing a bow, he suffered a haemorrhage and died.¹⁴

The Chief Shaykh Ṣadr al-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn Abī Sa‘d al-Ṣūfī died at Baghdad and was buried outside the Zawzanī Hospice at the Basra Gate. He was born in the year 464 [1071–2].¹⁵ His son, Ṣadr al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Raḥīm took his post as chief shaykh.

There died this year the Chief Syndic Muḥammad ibn Tirād al-Zaynabī, the brother of Sharaf al-Dīn, the vizier.¹⁶

This year Mas‘ūd ibn Bilāl was appointed to the post of prefect of Baghdad and the sultan left the city.

In Iraq there was a plague of locusts which ruined the crops of most of the country.

This year al-‘Ibādī, the preacher, arrived as an ambassador of Sultan Sanjar to the caliph. He gave sermons at Baghdad and was very well received there. Sultan Mas‘ūd and lesser persons attended his sessions. The common people neglected their occupations to attend his sessions and get as close to him as possible.¹⁷

After the killing of the Martyr Zankī ibn Āqsunqur this year, the lord of Damascus attacked the castle of Baalbek and put it under siege. Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb ibn Shādhī¹⁸ was there acting as the governor. He feared that Zankī’s sons would not be able to send him help in time, so he made terms and surrendered the citadel, receiving a fief and a sum of money. Ayyūb was also given ownership of several villages in Damascus territory. He moved to Damascus and took up permanent residence there.

In Rabī‘ II of this year [September 1146] ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad, Abū Muḥammad al-Muqrī, the grandson of Shaykh Abū Manṣūr, died. He was born in Sha‘bān of the year 464 [May 1072]. He was a teacher of the Koran (muqrī), a grammarian and a scholar of Ḥadīth and also the author of several works on the Koran recensions.¹⁹

Notes

1 Zankī was killed in Rabī‘ II 541/September 1146. He was the eponymous founder of a dynasty, for a general account of which see EI(2), xi, 452–5, s.v. Zangids.

2 This prominent servant of the Zankid dynasty, also known as al-Jawād al-Isfāhānī (see EI(2), ii, 489), died in 559/1164.

3 Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-Yaghīsiyānī, whose other nisba al-‘Imādī alludes to his service with ‘Imād al-Dīn Zankī, was later governor of Homs and died in Dhū’l-Qa‘da 552/December 1157 (Ibn Qal., 347).

4 i.e. the Saljuq prince for whom Zankī acted as regent/guardian (atabeg). As Zankī met his death on campaign, he was called ‘the Martyr’ (al-sha...

Table of contents

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