The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus, or the Zengid State was initially an Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire created in 1127. It formed a Turkoman dynasty of Sunni Muslim faith, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas. Imad ad-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty.
Imad al-Din Zengi, also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkoman atabeg of the Seljuk Empire, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake and founder of the Zengid dynasty of atabegs.
Muhammad I Tapar, was the sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1105 to 1118. He was a son of Malik-Shah I and Taj al-Din Khatun Safariya.
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abdallah al-Muqtadi usually known simply by his regnal name Al-Mustazhir billah was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1094 to 1118. He succeeded his father al-Muqtadi as the Caliph. The main and important events during his reign are; appearance of the First Crusade in Western Syria, Muslim protest in Baghdad against crusaders, his efforts to help Mawdud to organize several expeditions to reconquer lands from the Crusaders.
Abu Mansur al-Faḍl ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir better known by his regnal name Al-Mustarshid Billah was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1118 to 1135. He was son of his predecessor, caliph al-Mustazhir. He succeeded his father in the year 1118 as the Abbasid caliph.
Abu Ja'far al-Mansur ibn al-Faḍl al-Mustarshid bi'llah usually known by his regnal name Al-Rashid bi'llah was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1135 to 1136. He succeeded his father al-Mustarshid in the year 1135. He ruled for just one year from 1135 up to his deposition on 17 August 1136 when the populace of Baghdad rose in revolt against him.
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir, better known by his regnal name al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1136 to 1160, succeeding his nephew al-Rashid, who had been forced to abdicate by the Seljuks. The continued disunion and contests between Seljuk Turks afforded al-Muqtafi opportunity of not only maintaining his authority in Baghdad, but also extending it throughout Iraq.
Abu al-Muẓaffar Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Muqtafi better known by his regnal name al-Mustanjid bi-llah was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1160 to 1170. He was the son of previous Caliph al-Muqtafi.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Hasan al-Mustaḍīʾ, better known by his laqabal-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh or simply as al-Nasir, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. His laqab literally can mean The One who Gives Victory to the Religion of God. He continued the efforts of his grandfather al-Muqtafi in restoring the caliphate to its ancient dominant role and achieved a surprising amount of success as his army even conquered parts of Iran. According to the historian, Angelika Hartmann, al-Nasir was the last effective Abbasid caliph.
Qutb al-Din Mawdud was the Zengid Emir of Mosul from 1149 to 1169. He was the son of Imad al-Din Zengi and brother and successor of Sayf al-Din Ghazi I.
Awn al-Din Abu'l-Muzzafar Yahya ibn Hubayra al-Shaybani al-Duri al-Baghdadi, commonly referred to as Ibn Hubayra, was a 12th-century Iraqi Arab official and a Hanbali jurist, who served for sixteen years as vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate under Caliph al-Muqtafi, and his successor al-Mustanjid.
Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fath Mas'ud bin Muhammad was the Seljuq Sultan of Iraq and western Persia in 1133–1152.
Muhammad II ibn Mahmud was Sultan of Seljuq Empire from 1153 to 1159. He was son of Mahmud II and brother of Malik-Shah III. The Cambridge History of Iran notes that Sultan Muhammad "tried energetically to restore the slipping authority of his dynasty in Iraq".
Ḍiyaʾ al-Mulk Aḥmad ibn Niẓām al-Mulk, was a Persian vizier of the Seljuq Empire and then the Abbasid Caliphate. He was the son of Nizam al-Mulk, one of the most famous viziers of the Seljuq Empire.
Anushirvan ibn Khalid ibn Muhammad Kashani, also known as Abu Nasr Sharaf al-Din, was a Persian statesman and historian, who served as the vizier of the Seljuq Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate.
Mu'izz al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Harith Suleiman-Shah bin Muhammad, was sultan of the Seljuq Empire from 1159 to 1160.
The siege of Baghdad was a fifty-day blockade of Baghdad, the seat of the Abbasid caliphs, in 1136. The siege began when the Seljuk ruler of Iraq, Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud, attacked the caliph al-Rashid Billah. During the siege, the populace of Baghdad rose in revolt against the caliph, plundering the Tahirid Palace. In the end, al-Rashid fled the city for Mosul, where he abdicated the caliphate. His uncle, al-Muqtafi, was raised to the throne instead by Mas'ud, who then retired to the east.
Amira Khatun was a Seljuk princess, daughter of sultan Ahmad Sanjar and the principal wife of Abbasid caliph al-Mustarshid.
Mughith al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fath Dawud bin Mahmud ; died 1142/43) was a Seljuk Sultan who ruled Baghdad and for a short period of Iranian Azerbaijan (1131–1132) in confrontation with his uncles Masud and Tughrul II.
