Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese-born French author who has lived in France since 1976. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into over 40 languages.
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.
Hethum I ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from 1226 to 1270. He was the son of Constantine of Baberon and Princess Alix Pahlavouni of Lampron and was the founder of the dynasty which bears his name: the Hethumids also known as the House of Lampron. Having accepted the suzerainty of the Mongol Empire, Hethum himself traveled to the Mongol court in Karakorum, Mongolia, a famous account of which is given by Hethum's companion, the historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi, in his History of Armenia. He allied with the Mongols to fight against the Muslim Mamluks and also encouraged other Crusader states to do the same.
Abu Said Aq Sunqur al-Hajib was the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I. He was beheaded in 1094 following accusations of treason by Tutush I, the ruler of Damascus.
Maarat al-Numan, also known as al-Ma'arra, is a city in northwestern Syria, 33 km (21 mi) south of Idlib and 57 km (35 mi) north of Hama, with a population of about 58,008 before the Civil War. In 2017, it was estimated to have a population of 80,000, including several displaced by fighting in neighbouring towns. It is located on the highway between Aleppo and Hama and near the Dead Cities of Bara and Serjilla.
Danishmend Gazi, Danishmend Taylu, or Dānishmend Aḥmed Gāzī, was the Turkoman general of the Seljuks and later founder of the beylik of Danishmends. After the Turkic advance into Anatolia that followed the Battle of Manzikert, his dynasty controlled the north-central regions in Anatolia.
Shawar ibn Mujir al-Sa'di was an Arab de facto ruler of Fatimid Egypt, as its vizier, from December 1162 until his assassination in 1169 by the general Shirkuh, the uncle of the future Ayyubid leader Saladin, with whom he was engaged in a three-way power struggle against the Crusader Amalric I of Jerusalem. Shawar was notorious for continually switching alliances, allying first with one side, and then the other, and even ordering the burning of his own capital city, Fustat, just so that the enemy could not have it.
The siege of Ma'arra occurred in late 1098 in the city of Ma'arrat Nu'man, in what is modern-day Syria, during the First Crusade. It is infamous for the claims of widespread cannibalism committed by the Crusaders.
Makkikha II was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1257 until his death in 1265. He succeeded the patriarch Sabrisho V ibn al-Masihi and was followed by Denha I.
Taj al-Muluk Buri was an Turkoman atabeg of Damascus from 1128 to 1132. He was initially an officer in the army of Duqaq, the Seljuk ruler of Damascus, together with his father Toghtekin. When the latter took power after Duqaq's death, Buri acted as regent and later became atabeg himself. Damascus's Burid dynasty was named for him.
Mongol Armenia or Ilkhanid Armenia refers to the period beginning in the early-to-mid 13th century during which both Zakarid Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia became tributary and vassal to the Mongol Empire and the successor Ilkhanate. Armenia and Cilicia remained under Mongol influence until around 1335.
The Crusades: An Arab Perspective is a four-part series produced by Al Jazeera English, which first aired in December 2016. It presents the dramatic story of the medieval religious war through an Arab point of view. The series provides a new perspective on the history of the Crusades for a global, English-speaking audience, that has largely read about or studied the famous struggle from a primarily Christian and Western point of view. The series is heavily influenced by the 1984 book The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, by Amin Maalouf.
The Lordship of Tyre was a semi-independent domain in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1246 to 1291.
Shams al-Mulk Isma'il was the Burid atabeg of the Emirate of Damascus from 1132 to 1135.
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.
Tāj al-Dawla Alp Arslān ibn Riḍwān, nicknamed al-Akhras, was the Seljuk sultan of Aleppo from AD 1113 until his death in 1114 (508). According to Ibn al-Athīr, he was not actually mute but had only a speech impediment and a stammer. He was the son of the Sultan Riḍwān by a daughter of Yağısıyan, governor of Antioch.
The battle of Mansurah took place from 26–28 August 1221 near the Egyptian city of Mansurah and was the final battle in the Fifth Crusade (1217–1221). It pitted the Crusader forces under papal legate Pelagius Galvani and John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem, against the Ayyubid forces of the sultan al-Kamil. The result was a decisive victory for the Egyptians and forced the surrender of the Crusaders and their departure from Egypt.
The siege of Beirut was an event in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The coastal city of Beirut was captured from the Fatimids by the forces of Baldwin I of Jerusalem on 13 May 1110, with the assistance of Bertrand of Toulouse and a Genoese fleet.
Jamal al-Din Muhammad was a Burid atabeg of Damascus from 1139 to 1140. He was the last son of Taj al-Muluk Buri, emir of Damascus.
