Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib (full name: ''Qasim ad-Dawla Aksungur al-Hajib'') was the

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

governor of Aleppo under Sultan

Malik Shah I Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 t ...

. He was considered the ''de facto'' ruler of most of Syria from 1087. He was beheaded in 1094 following accusations of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

Tutush I Abu Sa'id Taj al-Dawla Tutush (; died 25 February 1095) or Tutush I, was the Seljuk emir of Damascus from 1078 to 1092, and sultan of Damascus from 1092 to 1094. Years under Malik Shah Tutush was a brother of the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I. In 1 ...

, the ruler of Damascus. Aq-Sunqur was the father of

Imad ad-Din Zengi Imad al-Din Zengi ( ar, عماد الدین زنكي; – 14 September 1146), also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkmen atabeg, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake of the Zengid dyna ...

, the founder of the

Zengid dynasty 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 Tripol ...

. He died when his son Zengi was 10 years old.

Aleppo and Hama

Sultan Malik-Shah I made Aq-Sunqur the governor of Aleppo and Hama and the lands around it in 1087. They were suffering unrest at the time. He subsequently ruled for eight years.

Aleppo before his rule

Because of the many conflicts between the rulers and princes of the regions, conditions within the city were difficult. A combination of high taxes and goods prices led to an increase in crime.

Reforms

Aq-Sunqur began reforming by fixing the security situation in Aleppo and its environs. He activated the Hudud in Islam, repelling thieves and bandits and stamping out corruption. He increased the use of the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

to secure civilian rights. He used the police authority to protect people rather than to control them. Aq-Sunqur created the "principle of collective responsibility" for every village or sector, which meant that if a village was raided by thieves, the whole village shared the responsibility of defending it. Because of his policy to make order in the city, it became a suitable place for trading and farming, the economy recovered and inflation went down.

Theft protection

He asked the people to not remove their goods from the road should they travel, stating that he would guarantee that their goods would not be stolen.

Legacy

Ibn al-Qalanisi Abū Yaʿlā Ḥamzah ibn al-Asad ibn al-Qalānisī ( ar, ابو يعلى حمزة ابن الاسد ابن القلانسي; c. 1071 – 18 March 1160) was an Arab politician and chronicler in 12th-century Damascus. Biography Abu Ya‘la ('fathe ...

said in his book ''The history of Damascus'': that he was just with the people, he protected the roads, guaranteed order, treated religion properly, attacked corruption and removed the bad people. Ibn Kathir and

Ali ibn al-Athir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...

wrote about him and found that he had a good reputation.

Death

killed Aq-Sunqur in May 1094.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aq Sunqur Al-Hajib 1094 deaths Assassinated Syrian people 11th-century Syrian people Turkic rulers People from Aleppo Year of birth unknown 11th-century Turkic people Government officials of the Seljuk Empire Sultans of Aleppo