Zengi

Imad ad-Din Atabeg Zengi (also Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, or Zanki) (1087- September 14 1146) was the son of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib, governor of Aleppo under Malik Shah I. His father was beheaded for treason in 1094, and Zengi was brought up by Karbuqa, the governor of Mosul.

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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. Zengi had supported the young sultan against his rival, the caliph Al-Mustarshid.

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In 1130 he allied with Taj al-Mulk Buri of Damascus against the crusaders, but this was only a ruse to extend his power: he had Buri's son taken prisoner and seized Hama from him. He also besieged Hims, 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 dinars. In 1131 Zengi agreed to return the 50 000 dinars if Buri would deliver to him Dubais, emir of al-Hilla in Iraq, 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 without Dubais.

September 14: September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). There are 108 days remaining....

Aq Sunqur al-Hajib: Qasim ad-Dawla Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib (also Aksunkur el-Hacib or Aksungur 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. In 1094 Tutush I, the ruler of Damascus, ac...

Aleppo: :Aleppo is also the name of two townships in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. See: Aleppo Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania....