Ghazi Belek | |
|---|---|
 Statue of Belek in Elazığ | |
| Governor of Suruç | |
| In office 1095 (?) –1098 | |
| Bey of Artukids | |
| In office 1112–1124 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | unknown |
| Died | 6 May 1124 Manbij |
| Nationality | Turk |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Seljuq Empire |
| Battles/wars | Conquest of Harput Battle against Mengüceks Battle against countship of Edessa |
Belek Ghazi (Nuruddevle Belek or Balak) was a Turkish bey in the early 12th century.
His father was Behram and his grandfather was Artuk Bey,an important figure of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. He was a short-term governor of Suruç (now a district center in Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey). The city was captured during the First Crusade in 1098. He took part in the Seljuk expedition to Antioch which was recently lost to Crusaders,but the campaign ended in failure. He was also present during the Crusade of 1101 which resulted in Seljuk victory. [1]
In 1112,Belek captured Harput (an ancient city near to present day Elazığ in Turkey) from Mengüceks. [a] He founded a beylik. [2] This beylik is now known as the Harput branch of the Artukids (the other two being the Hasankeyf branch of Sökmen and Mardin branch of Ilghazi). Next year he married Ayşe Hatun,widow of Anatolian Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan. By this prestigious marriage,he formed family ties with the Seljuk family. [3]
In 1120,Belek together with Danishmends defeated a coalition of Mengüceks and Constantine Gabras of the Byzantine Empire. [4] Two years later,after the death of Ilghazi,Belek became the leader of the Artukids. [5] In 1122,he defeated the forces of the County of Edessa and took Joscelin I as captive. The next year,Baldwin II of Jerusalem too was captured by Belek. These two victories gained Belek fame both in Muslim countries and in Europe. [3] From 1123 to 1124,Belek served as emir of Aleppo.
In 1124,he was invited to defend Tyre,the only port the Muslims used in Syria against the attacking Crusaders. In the meantime,Belek was besieging Manbij,after he imprisoned its emir Hassan al-Ba'labakki ibn Gümüshtigin who pledged allegiance to Joscelin I, [6] in which he managed to capture the city but the castle was still controlled by the defenders led by Hassan's brother Isa. [7] A Crusader force led by Joscelin I tried to help the defenders,but Belek forced them to retreat to Turbessel (nowTilbaşar), [6] and maintained the siege until he was hit and killed by an arrow on 6 May 1124. [8] [6] His cousin Husam al-Din Timurtash ibn Ilghazi took his dead body back to Aleppo on the next day. [8] [3] Shortly after his death Harput was annexed by the Artukids of Hasankeyf. Nevertheless,in 1185 another beylik was founded by Artukids in Harput.
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq, was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.
Kilij Arslan ibn Suleiman (1079–1107) was the Seljuq Sultan of Rum from 1092 until his death in 1107. He ruled the Sultanate during the time of the First Crusade and thus faced the earliest attacks from Christian forces. He also re-established the Sultanate of Rum after the death of Malik Shah I of the Seljuk Empire and defeated the Crusaders in three battles during the Crusade of 1101. Kilij Arslan was the first Muslim and Turkish commander to fight against the Crusaders, commanding his horse archers as a teenager.
The Battle of Azaz was a major battle fought between king Baldwin II's crusader forces and the Muslims, led by Aq-Sunqur al-Bursuqi, the Seljuq atabeg of Mosul on 11 June 1125. Being one of the bloodiest confrontations before the Second Crusade, the battle resulted in a decisive victory for the Crusaders, causing disturbances of power in the Levant and weakened Seljuk domination in the area. Contemporary chronicler Matthew of Edessa even states that the remnants of al-Bursuqi's army were chased all the way to Aleppo. The battle effectively lifted the siege of the town of Azaz and prevented it from falling to Turkoman hands.
Ridwan was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death.
The Artuqid dynasty was established in 1102 as an Anatolian Beylik (Principality) of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a Turkoman dynasty rooted in the Oghuz Döğer tribe, and followed the Sunni Muslim faith. It ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuqid dynasty took its name from its founder, Artuk Bey, who was of the Döger branch of the Oghuz Turks and ruled one of the Turkmen beyliks of the Seljuk Empire. Artuk's sons and descendants ruled the three branches in the region: Sökmen's descendants ruled the region around Hasankeyf between 1102 and 1231; Ilghazi's branch ruled from Mardin and Mayyafariqin between 1106 and 1186 and Aleppo from 1117–1128; and the Harput line starting in 1112 under the Sökmen branch, and was independent between 1185 and 1233.
The Danishmendids or Danishmends was a Turkoman Chepni founded beylik that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia from 1071/1075 to 1178. The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and Niksar in central-northeastern Anatolia, they extended as far west as Ankara and Kastamonu for a time, and as far south as Malatya, which they captured in 1103. In early 12th century, Danishmends were rivals of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, which controlled much of the territory surrounding the Danishmend lands, and they fought extensively against the Crusaders.
Najm al-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq was the Turkoman Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer.
Abu'l-Faḍl (Abu'l-Hasan) ibn al-Khashshab was the qadi and rais of Aleppo during the rule of the Seljuk emir Ridwan.
Beylik of Dilmaç was a small principality in East Anatolia founded in the 11th century.
The Inalids was the name of a small beylik (principality) which reigned in a small territory around Amid between 1098–1183.
Sökmen was a Turkoman emir of the Seljuk Empire in the early 12th century.
Togan Arslan was a Turkish bey of the Beylik of Dilmaç.
Nizamettin Yağıbasan, or simply Yağıbasan was the sixth ruler of Danishmendids and the uncle of Melik Zünnun.
The timeline of the Principality of Antioch is a chronological list of events of the history of the Principality of Antioch.
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 Seljuk Turkoman atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 1124–1126.
The siege of Aleppo by Baldwin II of Jerusalem and his allies lasted from 6 October 1124 to 25 January 1125. It ended in a Crusader withdrawal following the arrival of a relief force led by Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi.
Bahram al-Da'i or Bahram of Astarabad was a 12th-century Persian Nizari Ismaili who was the Chief Da'i and leader of the Assassins in Syria from after 1113 through 1128. Although his attempt to establish a Nizari base in Damascus was unsuccessful, he had an important role in organizing Nizari presence in Northern and Southern Syria.
Husam al-Din Timurtash was an Artuqid emir of Mardin (1122–1154) and ruler of Aleppo (1124–1125).
Sultan Shah ibn Radwan was the last Seljuk sultan of Aleppo from 1114 to 1118, son of Ridwan, Emir of Aleppo.
Rukn al-Dawla Da'ud was a Turkoman emir of the Artuqid dynasty in the early 12th century. He was a son of Sökmen and succeeded his brother Ibrahim of Ḥiṣn Kaifā.