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Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (نور الدين محمود زنگي; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. 'Light of the Faith' in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syrian province (Shām) of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174.
Nur ad-Din, a member of the Zengid dynasty, was the Emir of Aleppo and Damascus from 1146 to 1174. He played an important role in the Second Crusade and sought to form alliances with his Muslim neighbours against Crusader enemies.
May 11, 2024 · Nur al-Din, Muslim ruler who reorganized the armies of Syria and laid the foundations for the success of Saladin. After succeeding his father as ruler of Aleppo, he waged military campaigns against the Crusaders and recaptured Edessa before taking Antioch and Damascus.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Egypt Under The Fatimids
- The Motives of The Zengids & The Crusaders
- The First Crusader Invasion & Nur Ad-Din's Intervention
- Shawar's Betrayal & The Second Crusader Invasion
- Shirkuh Strikes Back & The Third Crusader Invasion
- The Fourth Crusader Invasion & Shirkuh's Victory
- Saladin Becomes The Vizier
The Fatimids (909-1171 CE) were an Arabic dynasty, which at their peak ruled over vast stretches from North Africa to the Hejaz, Levant, and parts of Syria, they also held onto Sicily from 909 CE to 965 CE. They claimed to be the descendants of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima (hence the term Fatimid) and served as a rival (...
Nur ad-Din Zengi, the ruler of Aleppo (r. 1146-1174 CE), which he inherited from his father in 1146 CE, and Damascus (r. 1156-1174 CE), which entered his dominion after a failed attempt of the knights of the Second Crusade to besiege it, sought to drive out the Crusaders from the Holy Land just as his father had. But he was quite a different ruler ...
In 1163 CE, a quarrel ensued between the new vizier Dirgham and Amalric regarding the annual tribute that the Fatimids had been paying to the kingdom, and this provoked an invasion by the latter in 1163 CE. After suffering a defeat at the hand of the Franks, Dirgham, in his hour of desperation, ordered dams to be destroyed and flooded his realm to ...
Amalric, who was eagerly preparing to attack Egypt, welcomed Shawar's appeal for help and arrived with his Crusader army; outnumbered heavily, the Syrians entrenched themselves in Bilbeys. For three months, they resisted all assaults of the combined Fatimid-Frankish force, but they were losing patience as rations fell and morale was at an ever-lowe...
Shirkuh was restless after his failure, but Nur ad-Din decided not to order another expedition for the time being. In order to convince his master, Shirkuh wrote to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, who although possessed no authority over Nur ad-Din was nevertheless highly respected and honored for his title by the latter. The caliph sent a message, ...
The tide suddenly changed in 1168 CE, when Amalric, encouraged the Knights Hospitaller who had bankrupted themselves over Egypt (and wished to regain the money they had lost through plunder), betrayed Shawar by attacking Bilbeys and massacring the local population; not a single soul was spared. A shocked Shawar realized that his capital – Fustat (n...
In the aftermath of the loss of Egypt, the Crusaders made another desperate attempt to seize it with the help of their allies: the Byzantines. They attempted a combined naval assault on Alexandria in 1169 CE. But it was not Shirkuh who repelled the attack, for he died just three months after assuming the office. As his elected successor, it was Sal...
In this chapter, the geopolitical implications of Nur al-Din’s actions are explored to show how the steady agglomeration of power under his rule fundamentally changed the Near East’s political balance.
As on the previous occasion, Nur-ad-Din, on Shirkuh’s departure, summoned the aid of Qutb-ad-Din’s forces from Mosul and engaged in widespread raiding and destruction in the territories of Tripoli, capturing al-Munaitirah (Le Moinestre) and destroying Chastel-Neuf (Hunin).
Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (نور الدين محمود زنگي; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (Shām) of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174.
