Zengid dynasty

Zengid State
الدولة الزنكية، ظانغى دولتى
1127–1250
Flag of Zengids ظانغى دولتى
Flag
The Zengid state under Imad al-Din in 1145, and expansion under Nur al-Din in 1174 CE.[1]
The Zengid state under Imad al-Din in 1145, and expansion under Nur al-Din in 1174 CE.[1]
StatusAtabegate of the Seljuk Empire (1127–1194)
Emirate (1194–1250)
CapitalMosul (until 1154)
Damascus (from 1154)
Common languagesOghuz Turkic
Arabic (numismatics)[2]
Religion
Sunni Islam
Shia Islam (minority)
Sultan 
• 1118–1157
Ahmad Sanjar
• 1176–1194
Toghrul III
Emir 
• 1127–1146
Imad ad-Din Zengi (first)
• 1241–1250
Mahmud Al-Malik Al-Zahir (last reported)
History 
• Established
1127
• Disestablished
1250
CurrencyDinar
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Great Seljuq Empire
County of Edessa
Fatimid Caliphate
Luluids
Ayyubids
Ilkhanate

The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus (Arabic: أتابكة الموصل وحلب ودمشق), or the Zengid State (Old Anatolian: ظانغى دولتی, Modern Turkish: Zengî Devleti; Arabic: الدولة الزنكية, romanized: al-Dawla al-Zinkia) was initially an Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire created in 1127.[3] It formed a Turkoman dynasty of Sunni Muslim faith,[4] which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169.[5][6] In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas.[7][8] Imad ad-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty.

The Zengid Atabegate became famous in the Islamic world for its successes against the Crusaders, and for being the Atabegate from which Saladin originated.[9] Following the demise of the Seljuk dynasty in 1194, the Zengids persisted for several decades as one of the "Seljuk successor-states" until 1250.[10]

  1. ^ Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher (1991). The atlas of the Crusades. New York : Facts on File. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-8160-2186-4.
  2. ^ Canby et al. 2016, p. 69.
  3. ^ El-Azhari 2019, p. 311.
  4. ^ Bosworth 1996, p. 191.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bohme was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Souad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gencturk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sesen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ El-Azhari 2019, p. 316.
  10. ^ El-Azhari 2019, p. 312.