As-Salih Ismaʿil al-Malik (1163–1181) was an emir of Damascus 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 and was taken to Aleppo, 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 Medit ...

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 under his own personal rule. In 1174, Saladin took Baalbek after a four-month siege and then entered Damascus, proclaiming himself to be Ismail's true regent. In 1176, Saladin defeated the Zengids 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; 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

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1163 births 1181 deaths Atabegs Zengid rulers People from Damascus {{MEast-royal-stub