As-Salih Ismaʿil al-Malik (1163–1181) was an
emir of Damascus
This is a list of rulers of Damascus from ancient times to the present.
:''General context: History of Damascus''.
Aram Damascus
* Rezon I (c. 950 BC)
* Tabrimmon
*Ben-Hadad I (c. 885 BCE–c. 865 BC)
*Hadadezer (c. 865 BC–c. 842 BC)
*Hazael ( ...
and
emir of Aleppo
The rulers of Aleppo ruled as kings, emirs and sultans of the city and its surrounding region since the later half of the 3rd millennium BC, starting with the kings of Armi, followed by the Amorite dynasty of Yamhad. Muslim rule of the city end ...
in 1174, the son of
Nur ad-Din.
Biography
He was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch
Gümüshtekin
Gümüshtekin, also known as Gumushtekin (died in 1177), was an eunuch who held high offices in the Zengids' empire. Nur ad-Din, of Aleppo, appointed him to be his lieutenant in Mosul in Iraq. After Nur ad-Din died in 1174, Gümüshtekin assume ...
and was taken to
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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...
, while Nur ad-Din's officers competed for supremacy. In
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
recognized as-Salih as his lord, although he in fact was eager to unite Egypt and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
under his own personal rule. In 1174, Saladin took
Baalbek
Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...
after a four-month siege and then entered
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
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, ...
, proclaiming himself to be Ismail's true regent. In 1176, Saladin defeated the
Zengids
The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the Seljuk Empire and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to ...
outside the city, married
Ismat ad-Din Khatun
ʿIṣmat ad-Dīn Khātūn ( ar, عصمت الدين خاتون; died 1186), also known as Asimat, was the daughter of Mu'in ad-Din Unur, regent of Damascus, and wife of two of the greatest Muslim generals of the 12th century, Nur ad-Din and ...
, and was recognized as ruler of Syria. As-Salih died in 1181 of illness.
[The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi. H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002)] According to crusader legend, his mother was the sister of
Bertrand of Toulouse
Bertrand of Toulouse (or Bertrand of Tripoli) (died 1112) was count of Toulouse, and was the first count of Tripoli to rule in Tripoli itself.
Bertrand was the eldest son of Raymond IV of Toulouse, and had ruled Toulouse since Raymond left on the ...
, Razi Khatun, who had been captured by Nur ad-Din in the aftermath of the
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...
; a similar legend existed concerning the mother of
Zengi, as-Salih's grandfather.
[The Crusades, The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, 2010]
References
Bibliography
* .
1163 births
1181 deaths
Atabegs
Zengid rulers
People from Damascus
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