Mawdud ibn Altuntash ( ar, شرف الدولة المودود) (also spelled Maudud or Sharaf al-Dawla Mawdûd) (died October 2, 1113) was a Turkic military leader who was

atabeg of Mosul This is a list of the rulers of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Umayyad governors * Muhammad ibn Marwan (ca. 685–705) * Yusuf ibn Yahya ibn al-Hakam (ca. 685–705) * Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik (ca. 685–705) * Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (719–720) * ...

from 1109 to 1113. He organized several expeditions to reconquer lands from the Crusaders, but never succeeded.

Biography

Mawdud was an officer of

Muhammad I Tapar Abu Shuja Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah ( fa, , Abū Shujāʿ Ghiyāth al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Malik-Šāh; 1082 – 1118), better known as Muhammad I Tapar (), was the sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1105 to 111 ...

who sent him to reconquer Mosul from the rebel atabeg

Jawali Saqawa Jawali Saqawa (d. 1109), also known as Chavli Saqaveh, was a Turkish adventurer who was atabeg of Mosul from 1106–1109. In 1104, Jawali held Baldwin II as prisoner until he was ransomed in 1108. He had purloined Baldwin from Jikirmish of Mosu ...

. After his conquest of the city, Mehmed entrusted him with several military attempts to push back the Crusaders from the nearby

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extende ...

and

County of Edessa The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century. Ferdinandi, Sergio (2017). La Contea Franca di Edessa. Fondazione e Profilo Storico del Primo Principato Crociato nel Levante (1098-115 ...

. The first attempt was launched in 1110; having joined forces with

Ilghazi Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq (died November 8, 1122) was the Turkmen Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer. Biography His father Artuk Bey was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had be ...

, the emir of

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

, and of

Sökmen el-Kutbî Sökmen el-Kutbî (also spelled al-Qutbi) was a Turkmen military commander, a former slave ''amir'' in the service of the Seljuks, who became the founder of the Shah-i Arman dynasty, also known as the ''Shah-Armens'' or ''Ahlatshahs''. Early li ...

, emir of

Ahlat Ahlat ( ku, Xelat, ) is a town and district in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. From 1929 to 1936, it was a district of Van Province. The town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van. The mayor is Abdulalim M ...

, they began by besieging Edessa from April of that year, but

Baldwin I of Jerusalem Baldwin I, also known as Baldwin of Boulogne (1060s – 2April 1118), was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100, and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorr ...

intervened, and forced Mawdud to retreat. The following year Mawdud marched against Edessa, but as the city walls had been quickly strengthened, he preferred to lay siege to the town of

Turbessel Turbessel ( syr, Tel Bshir, ar, Tell Bāshir or , hy, Թլպաշար, translit=Tʿlpašar, tr, Tilbeşar or ) is a fortress and Bronze Age tumulus in south-eastern Turkey, near the village of Gündoğan in the district of Oğuzeli, within Gaziant ...

, held by Joscelin I of Courtenay. When

Ridwan of Aleppo Ridwan), though he is commonly referred to as ''Ridwan'' ( ar, رضوان), which is also romanised as ''Radwan'' or ''Rudwan''. ( – 10 December 1113) was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death. Ridwan was born to the Seljuk pri ...

sent news that the Christians under

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...

were on the verge of capturing Aleppo, he moved on to that city. On his arrival, however, he discovered that the capture of the city was not imminent at all, and that Ridwan even refused to open the city's gates for him. He also received the news that a relief army which had been sent by Baldwin I was now marching northwards, so he raised the siege of Turbessel and the subsequent

Battle of Shaizar In the Battle of Shaizar in 1111, a Crusader army commanded by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem and a Seljuk army led by Mawdud ibn Altuntash of Mosul fought to a tactical draw, but a withdrawal of Crusader forces. Background Beginning in 1110 and ...

in 1111 proved to be indecisive and a tactical draw. The 1112 campaign began again with the siege of Turbessel, but was halted when a party of the Mosul army was decimated by Joscelin on June 15. An attempt to capture Edessa with the assistance of its Armenian population was discovered by then count

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the ...

, resulting in the slaughter of the Armenian participants. In 1113

Toghtekin of Damascus Toghtekin or Tughtekin (Modern tr, Tuğtekin; Arabicised epithet: ''Zahir ad-Din Tughtikin''; died February 12, 1128), also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkic military leader, who was ''atabeg'' of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder o ...

, tired of the ravages by the Christian forces against his territories, appealed to Mawdud to join him to invade the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

. The two pillaged

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

and besieged

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

, though without being able to capture it. On June 28, however, the Muslims defeated King

's army at the Battle of Al-Sannabra. Reinforcements saved the Christian forces from total annihilation and prevented the Muslim commanders from exploiting the victory, and ultimately forced them to retreat to Damascus due to a lack of supplies. It was while in Damascus as a guest of Toghtekin that Mawdud was murdered by the

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...

, possibly with the knowledge of his host. He was succeeded as atabeg by

Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi Qasīm al-Dawla Sayf al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd Āqsunqur al-Bursuqī (), also known as Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Aqsonqor il-Bursuqi, Aksunkur al-Bursuki, Aksungur or al-Borsoki, was the atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 1124–1126. Accessi ...

, his representative at Baghdad.

References

Sources

* * * {{s-end 11th-century births 1113 deaths Turkic rulers Muslims of the First Crusade Assassinated royalty 11th-century Turkic people Emirs of Mosul People of the Nizari–Seljuk wars Victims of the Order of Assassins