Maniqa ( ar, المنيقة) is a castle located in the
Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, dated back to the Roman era, it was also known as "Malikas" or "Malghanes" during the Crusader rule.
History
In 1028, Byzantine
doux of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
Michael Spondyles was tricked by the Arab tribal leader
Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi to construct a fortress at Maniqa from where he would defend the Byzantine domains. Michael agreed and even sent a 1,000-strong garrison there, but when the fortress was finished, Nasr refused to hand it over, and with assistance from the qadi of
Tripoli and the local
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...
commander, he killed the garrison. In 1030, Byzantine Emperor
Romanos III Argyros
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
ordered
Niketas of Mistheia, doux of Antioch, to recapture Maniqa from al-Rawadifi. Niketas managed to control the fort in 1031 after a 13-day siege, in which he also captured Nasr's wife and four daughters, who were abandoned to their fate.
[John Skylitzes, ''Synopsis of Histories'', 383.91–93] Niketas then secured the region by 1032.
In 1118 or 1119,
Rainald I Masoir persuaded the commander of
Margat
Margat, also known as Marqab ( ar, قلعة المرقب, ''Qalaat al-Marqab'', lit=Castle of the Watchtower), is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. It is lo ...
from
Banu Muhriz to surrender the fortress to him, along with the nearby forts Maniqa,
Qulay'ah and
Hadid
Hadid ( he, חָדִיד) is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Modi'in, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
According to the Mishnah, the town of Hadid was encompassed ...
.
During the mid-12th century the
Assassins captured or acquired several fortresses in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range including Maniqa. For the most part, the Assassins maintained full control over these fortresses until 1270–73 when the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
sultan
Baibars annexed them.
References
Sources
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Castles in Syria
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