l ad-Din, the most faithful and
accurate
record of the events, and then Ibn al-Qala?
Arab-Historians-of-the-Crusades
NISI, 167-8)
In this year (503/1109-10) Tancred and his minions swarmed out of Antioch and over the surrounding regions of Syria. They took Tarsus, imprisoned the governor and overran the district. After returning to Antioch they set out again for Shaizar, and demanded a tribute of 10,000 dinar, after devastating the province. Next they besieged Hisn al-Akra? d, and when the garrison surrendered went on to 'Aqra. Meanwhile Baldwin and Saint-Gilles' son were blockading Beiru? t by land and sea, and while Tancred was on his way back to Antioch Joscelin of Tall Bashi? r went to Beiru? t to strengthen Baldwin's hand and to ask for his help against the ami? r Mawdu? d's army, which was threatening Edessa. The Franks set to work to build a siege-tower to use against the walls of Beiru? t, but as soon as it was finished and put into service the Muslims smashed it to pieces with stones flung from catapults. The Franks began to build another, and Saint-Gilles' son undertook to provide a third.
At this moment twelve Egyptian men-of-war appeared, overwhelmed the Frankish fleet, capturing some of the ships, and brought provisions into Beiru? t. This helped the inhabitants to recover their enthusiasm. Then Baldwin sent to Suwaidiyya1 to ask for the help of the Genoese fleet there. Forty ship-loads of troops duly arrived at Beiru? t, and the Franks mustered all their forces, on land and sea, for an assault on the city on Friday 21 shawwa? l/13 May 1110. They brought up the two siege-towers and fought ferociously. In
The port of Antioch.
1
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 17
the end the defenders lost heart, seeing no escape from certain death. In the evening the Franks made a breakthrough and forced their way into the city. The governor fled with a few companions, but they were brought back by the Franks, the whole party executed and the money they had with them confiscated. The city was sacked, the inhabitants captured and enslaved and their money and goods seized. A short time later a party of 300 cavalry arrived to assist the city. When they came to the Jordan they met a small band of Franks, turned tail and fled into the mountains, where many of them perished.
From Beiru? t Baldwin led his army to besiege the city of Sidon, and forced the inhabitants to surrender. They begged him to defer the date set (for the payment of the tribute they owed him) and he agreed, after setting the sum at 6,000 dinar instead of the 2,000 that he had demanded before that. Then he returned to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage.
THE FALL OF SIDON (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 171)
In this year (503/1109-10) news came of the arrival by sea of a Frankish King2 with more than sixty ships full of pilgrims and soldiers for the war against Isla? m. They made for Jerusalem, and King Baldwin came out to meet them and to decide with them their plans for the invasion of the Muslim empire. From Jerusalem they went to besiege Sidon, and from 3 rabi? ' II (504/19 October 1110) they blockaded the city by land and sea. The Egyptian fleet was still at Tyre, but could not come to Sidon's aid. The Franks spent several days building a siege-tower covered with brushwood, matting and fresh ox-hides, to repulse stones and Greek fire. They mounted the tower on wheels, and on the day of battle they provided it with weapons and water and vinegar to put out fires. Then they moved into attack with it. The sight of it filled the people of Sidon with despair, for they feared a fate like that of Beirut. The qadi of the city and a group of elders came out and appeared before the Franks to ask Baldwin to spare their lives. He guaranteed the safety of the citizens and the army, as well as of their possessions, and promised that any who wanted to go to Damascus should be free to leave Sidon. Reassured by Baldwin's oath the governor, the treasurer and all the armed forces of the city, as well as many of the citizens, left and went to Damascus. This was on 20 jumada I 504/4 December 1110, after a siege lasting forty-seven days. Baldwin restored the city to order, installed a garrison and then returned to Jerusalem. A short while later he returned to Sidon and imposed a tax of more than 20,000 dinar on the remaining Muslim inhabitants, taxing their last penny and reducing them to poverty. They used force to extort money from those they knew to be concealing some.
THE EFFECTS IN BAGHDA? D OF THE EVENTS IN SYRIA (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 173)
In jumada II 5O4/November-December 1110 the Sultan Ghiya? th ad-Dunya wa d-Din Muhammad ibn Maliksha? h travelled from Hamadha? n to Baghda? d. Messengers and messages
Sigurd I, King of Norway.
2
18 Arab Historians of the Crusades
reached him there from Syria reporting on the situation there, the movements of the Franks after their retreat from the Euphrates, and events in Sidon, A? tharib and the province of Aleppo. On the first Friday of sha'ba? n a Hashimite Shari? f 1 from Aleppo appeared in the Sultan's mosque at Baghda? d, with a group of sufis, merchants and lawyers, and began to beseech aid for Syria. They made the preacher come down from the pulpit and then smashed it to pieces. They wept and groaned for the disaster that had befallen Isla? m with the arrival of the Franks, for the men who had died and the women and children who had been sold into slavery. They made such a commotion that the people could not offer the obligatory prayers. To calm them, the servers and ima? ms promised, on the Caliph's behalf, that troops would be sent to support Isla? m against the infidel. On the following Friday the men came back and repeated their noisy laments and cries for help, in the Caliph's mosque. Not long after this the Sultan's sister, who was the wife of the Caliph, arrived in Baghda? d from Isfaha? n, bringing a train of endless and indescribable splendour: jewels, rich furnishings, horses and trappings, clothes and equipage, slaves and pages, handmaids and servants. The Shari? f's cries for help disturbed the gaiety and joyousness of the occasion. The Caliph, the Prince of the Faithful al-Mustazhir bi-lla? h, was extremely annoyed and wanted to arrest the offenders and punish them severely. But the Sultan intervened, pardoned the offenders and ordered the ami? rs and army commanders to return to their posts and prepare to march in the Holy War against the infidel enemies of God. 2
In jumada II/December 1110-January 1111 an ambassador arrived from the Byzantine Emperor3 with valuable gifts, and letters inviting the Muslims to unite with him to drive the Franks out of Syria. He called on them to rouse themselves and summon all their energies to strike before the damage was beyond repair and reached too serious proportions. He for his part had already tried by force to prevent the Frankish armies from passing through his lands into Islamic territory. But if their armies and reinforcements came pouring into the Muslim empire by the direct route, necessity would force him to treat with them and allow them to pass through his lands, and to help them to achieve their aims and objects. He begged and prayed that all would unite to combat the Franks and would make common cause with him to extirpate them from these realms.
THE SIEGE OF TYRE (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 178-81)
In this year (505/1111-12) Baldwin assembled the largest army he could muster and marched on Tyre. Its governor 'Izzal-Mulk and the people of Tyre hurriedly wrote to the Ata-beg of Damascus, Zahi? r ad-Din (Tughtiki? n) asking for his help and offering to hand the city over to him. They begged him not to delay in sending a large contingent of his Turks
A true or presumed descendant of Muhammad; a privileged class that enjoyed great prestige among the Muslims.
Baghda? d at this time contained two rulers: the 'Abbasid Caliph, the nominal sovereign and leader of orthodox Isla? m, and the Seljuqid Sultan, the real ruler of Persia, Ira? q and feudal lands in Syria. Unity between the two, sometimes strengthened by marriage bonds, was not always perfect. Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118).
1
2
3
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 19
to their aid and assistance, for if help did not come soon they would be forced to hand the city over to the Franks, as they despaired of getting any help from al-Afdal in Egypt. 1 The Ata-beg responded at once and sent to Tyre a large contingent of Turks, fully equipped, and consisting of more than 200 cavalry and skilled archers. Voluntary foot-soldiers from the surrounding region, from Mount 'A? mila and even from Damascus arrived at Tyre in large numbers, while the Ata-beg sent further reinforcements.
As for Baldwin, when he heard of the Ata-beg's interest in Tyre he hastily surrounded the city with all the troops at his disposal. This was on 25 jumada I 505/29 November 1111. He ordered his men to cut down all the trees and date-palms and to build permanent living- quarters under the city walls. Several vain attempts were made to take the city by storm. It was said that in one day's fighting the citizens used 20,000 arrows.
When Zahi? r ad-Din heard that the Franks had besieged Tyre he came down from Damascus as far as Baniya? s and sent out flying columns and bands of foot-soldiers to raid the Frankish provinces, with licence to kill, pillage, burn, destroy, and in every way to create difficulties for the Franks and lure them away from the city while reinforcements were brought up. But the reinforcements failed to get into the city. Zahi? r ad-Din went to attack the great fortress at al-Habi? s, across the Jordan, took it after some fierce fighting and killed its garrison. Meanwhile the Franks had begun work on two wooden towers for use against the walls of Tyre. Time and again Zahi? r ad-Din tried to hinder them by coming down to attack them, so that the garrison inside Tyre could come out and fire the towers; the Franks realized what he was trying to do, and dug trenches all round their position. They set guards over the trenches and the towers and were able to ignore his manoeuvres as well as his raids into their territories.
Winter came on, causing little harm to the Franks on the hard, sandy region where their camp was sited, but bringing much suffering to the Turkish army. None the less they continued their raids and their efforts to cut the Frankish supply lines and intercept their convoys. They cut the bridge on the road to Sidon to prevent reinforcements from arriving by that route. The Franks reverted to bringing in all their supplies by sea. When Zahi? r ad-Din heard what they were doing he took a section of the army round to the north side of the city, over-running the area outside the city walls. A number of sailors were killed and about twenty ships fired where they lay drawn up on the shore. Meanwhile Tughtiki? n did not omit to send letters to the people of Tyre encouraging them and urging them to keep up their resistance to the Frankish attacks.
In about eleven weeks the building of the two towers and their battering-rams was completed. On 10 sha'ba? n/11 February the Franks brought them into use against the city walls, and battle raged around them. The smaller of the two was more than forty cubits high; the larger, more than fifty. On I ramada? n/2 March the people of Tyre made a sortie and attacked the two towers with Greek fire, wood, pitch, and the means to set fire to them. They failed to set fire directly to either of their objectives, but they started a blaze near the smaller one in a place where the Franks could not extinguish it, and the wind blew it on to the tower. In spite of the fierce struggle put up by the men inside the tower, it burnt down. The Muslims
The Fatimid vizier, mentioned above, who should have been the first to come to the aid of these
1
coastal towns, which were all nominally Egyptian.
20 Arab Historians of the Crusades
took a lot of booty from it: cuirasses, shields and other things, and then the fire caught the other tower. When the Muslims realized that the Franks, occupied with fighting the fire in the towers, had given up their attack on the walls, they too let the attack from the ramparts drop. Then the Franks turned on them, drove them back from the towers, extinguished the fires, and set a large detachment of picked guards to protect the towers and the catapults.
Until the end of ramada? n the Franks kept up their attack on the city. They brought one of the towers up close to the wall, filling in the three trenches in front of it. The Muslims broke through the wall at the point where the Frankish. tower faced it and started a fire there. The props caught fire, the wall fell down in front of the tower, and it was no longer possible to bring the tower up close under the wall and assault the city from there. The wall where they had attacked it was quickly repaired, while the towers to either side of it dominated it and prevented the mobile tower from getting any closer on that side. So the Franks cleared away the accumulation of rubble and dragged the tower up to another part of the city wall, which they began to batter with rams slung in the tower. The wall cracked, stones fell out in places, and the defenders were on the brink of disaster. Then an officer of the fleet from Tripoli, an experienced, intelligent and observant man, thought of making iron hooks to pinion the heads and sides of the rams when they struck the wall, by means of ropes guided by men from the walls, so that the pull on them caused the towers to heel over. The Franks themselves were forced to cut down some of the rams for fear of destroying the tower. At other times the ram would bend and break, and at other times it was smashed to pieces by two boulders roped together and flung from the walls. The Franks made several rams, which were all smashed in the same way. Each one was sixty cubits long, with a block of iron at one end weighing more than twenty pounds, and was attached to the tower with ropes.
Again and again the rams were repaired and the tower brought up to the wall again. Then the sailor of whom we spoke invented another weapon. A long beam of unseasoned timber was set up on the wall in front of the tower. At the top of it, forming a cross,1 another beam forty cubits long swung on pulleys worked by a winch in the manner of a ship's mast, at the direction of whoever was operating the machine. At one end of the pivoting beam was an iron spar, and at the other end ropes running on pulleys, by means of which the operators could hoist buckets of dung and refuse and empty them over the Franks working in the tower, and so prevent their working the rams. The Franks found themselves working under great difficulties and unable to keep up the attack. Then the sailor had grape-panniers and baskets filled with oil, pitch, wood-shavings, resin and cane-bark, set on fire and hoisted up, in the manner described, to the level of the Frankish tower. The flames caught the top of the tower, and as fast as the Franks put them out with vinegar and water, the Muslims hurried to send over more fire-buckets; they also poured small vessels of boiling oil over the tower to feed the flames. The fire grew and spread, overcame the two men working at the top of the tower, killing one and forcing the other to go down, enveloped the top platform and crept down to the next and then the next, consuming the wooden structure and overcoming the men working on the platforms. Unable to extinguish it, the Franks in and around the tower fled. The citizens of Tyre came out, raided the tower, and took away vast quantities of arms, equipment and supplies.
A T-cross, as the context makes clear.
1
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 21
The Franks despaired of taking the city and began to withdraw. They burnt down the encampment that they had built and many of the ships drawn up on the shore, from which they had taken masts, rudders and implements to build the towers. In all they had about two hundred vessels of all sizes, of which about thirty were men-of-war. They loaded some with their light baggage and left Tyre on 10 shawwa? l/10 April 1112. The siege had lasted for four and a half months. The Franks went to Acre and from there dispersed to their cities. The people of Tyre emerged from their city to reap the reward of their victory. The Turks who had been sent to help them returned to Damascus, less about twenty men killed in the fighting, and there received their pay1 and their monthly stipends. There is no other case of a Frankish tower being burnt down, as this one was, from top to bottom. This achievement was partly due to the tower's being the same height as the ramparts,2 for if their heights had been different the lower of the two would have been destroyed.
Tyre lost 400 men, and the Franks about 2,000, according to reliable witnesses. The people of Tyre took back the offer they had made to Tughtiki? n to hand over the city to him, but he simply said: 'I did what I did for the love of God and his Muslims, not in hope of money and power. ' This noble deed brought him blessings and gratitude, and he promised that in a similar situation he would be quick to help them. Then, after labouring hard and battling with the Franks until God freed Tyre of its troubles, he returned to Damascus. The citizens of Tyre began to rebuild their walls where the Franks had broken them down, restored the trenches to their former shape and size, and fortified the city. The volunteer infantry dispersed. 1
1
2
The 'there' may refer to Damascus, on their return, or it could mean 'during the war', i. e. at Tyre itself.
Literally 'the two towers', referring to the mobile tower and the section of the city wall that looked down on it. The same word is used here for both, which is sometimes confusing.
After this successful defence, Tughtiki? n helped and protected Tyre on other occasions, but was
1
finally forced to yield to the Crusaders in 1124.
CHAPTER FOUR
The first serious blow to the Franks came not from Baghda? d but from the united action of Ilghazi, the Artuqid ami? r of Mardi? n, and Tughtiki? n, Ata-beg of Damascus. In 1119 Ilghazi made a surprise attack on the Norman Prince Roger of Antioch at Bala? t (or Sarmada? , to the west of Aleppo) and defeated and killed him after a violent battle. Two accounts of it are given here: first that of Kama?
l ad-Din, the most faithful and accurate record of the events, and then Ibn al-Qala? nisi's version, in which he comments on the failure of the Muslims to recapture Antioch, left unprotected during the crisis.
THE DEFEAT AND DEATH OF ROGER OF ANTIOCH AT BALA? T
(KAMA? L AD-DIN, 11, 187-90)
Ilghazi and Tughtiki? n went together to Mardi? n and from there sent messages to the Muslim armies and to Turcoman soldiers far and near, to join them in the great army they were mustering. In 513/1119 Ilghazi and more than 40,000 men crossed the Euphrates at the Badaya? and Sanja fords. The troops dispersed over the regions of Tall Bashi? r and Tall Khalid, killing and looting where they could. Messengers arrived from Aleppo begging Ilghazi to hurry there as the Franks were raiding al-Atharib, south of Aleppo, and morale was low. Ilghazi marched through Marj Dabiq, Maslamiyya and Qinnasri? n, and by the end of safar 513/June 1119 his bands of raiders had entered Frankish territory in the region of ar-Ruj and taken the near-by fort of Qastu? n. Sir Roger (Sirja? l), ruler of Antioch, assembled the Frankish and Armenian armies and made straight for the iron bridge (over the Orontes) and went from there to take up his position at Bala? t, between two mountains near the Sarmada? pass, north of al-A? tharib. He encamped there on Friday 9 rabi? ' 1/20 June 1119.
The (Muslim) ami? rs grew tired of the long delay while Ilghazi awaited the arrival of Tughtiki? n so that they could agree on a plan of action. They goaded Ilghazi into an immediate encounter with the enemy. He made all the ami? rs and commanders renew their oath to fight bravely, to stand firm without retreating, and to offer their lives in the Holy War. To this they cheerfully swore. The Muslims, drawn up in echelon formation, left their tents at Qinnasri? n on Friday 16 rabi? ' I/ 27 June, and passed the night close to the Frankish army, which was building a fort to dominate the Tall 'Afri? n and imagined that the Muslims were besieging al-A? tharib or Zardana? . As dawn broke they saw the Muslim standards advancing to surround them completely. The qadi Abu l-Fadl ibn al-Khashsha? b was at their head, mounted on a mare and carrying a lance, and urging the Muslims on to war. One of the soldiers, seeing him, said scornfully: 'So we have left home and come all this way
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 23
to march behind a turban! '1 but the qadi at the head of the troops rode up and down the lines haranguing them and using all his eloquence to incite them to summon every energy and rise to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, until men wept with emotion and admiration. Then Tugha? n Arsla? n ibn Dimla? j2 led the charge, and the army swept down on the enemy tents, spreading chaos and destruction. God gave victory to the Muslims. The Franks who fled to their camp were slaughtered. The Turks fought superbly, charging the enemy from every direction like one man. Arrows flew thick as locusts, and the Franks, with missiles raining down on infantry and cavalry alike, turned and fled. The cavalry was destroyed, the infantry cut to pieces, the followers and servants were all taken prisoner. Roger was killed, but (only) twenty Muslims were lost, among them Sulaima? n ibn Mubarak ibn Shibl, whereas only twenty Franks escaped. A few of the leaders got away, but almost 15,000 men fell in the battle, which took place on Saturday (28 June) at midday. A signal of victory reached Aleppo as the Muslims were assembled for the noon prayer in the Great Mosque. They felt a great groan go up, seeming to come from the west; and yet none of the soldiers from the victorious army reached the city until the hour of the afternoon prayer.
The peasants burned the Frankish dead; in one charred corpse more than forty arrows were found. Ilghazi took over the Frankish camp and his soldiers brought to him the booty they collected, but he took only some arms to be sent to the rulers of Isla? m and left the rest to his troops. When the prisoners were brought before him he noticed one of magnificent physique, who had been captured by a small, thin, ill-armed Muslim. As he passed before the Prince the Turcoman soldiers said to him: 'Aren't you ashamed to have been captured by this little man, with a physique like yours? ' and he replied: 'By God, this man did not capture me; he is not my conqueror. The man who captured me was a great man, greater and stronger than I, and he handed me over to this fellow. He wore a green robe and rode a green horse! '1
(IBN AL-QALA? NISI 200-1)
When the Ata-beg Zahi? r ad-Din (Tughtiki? n) came to Aleppo to collaborate with Najm ad-Din (Ilghazi) in the action that they had agreed to take together in the hope of a result that both desired, he found that large numbers of Turcoman troops had already assembled from everywhere to be with him, like lions seeking their prey, or hawks wheeling above the creatures they are about to tear to pieces. News came that Roger of Antioch, with over 20,000 cavalry and innumerable foot-soldiers, fully armed and equipped, had left the city and encamped near Sarmada? , or Dani? th al-Baqal, between Antioch and Aleppo. When they heard this the Muslims flew toward them like hawks flying to protect their nests, and in less time than it took for their glances to meet the two armies came to blows. The Muslims charged and surrounded the Franks, driving them back with swords and arrows. And God--to whom be the praise! --gave the Muslims victory over the infidel rabble. On Saturday 7 rabi? ' I 513/28 June 1119, in less than an hour, the Franks were all lying dead,
Religious and legal scholars wore the turban; the Christian equivalent would be the friar's or monk's hood.
Ami? r of Arzan, in the Jazira, and a vassal of Ilghazi.
The reference to green, the heavenly colour, makes it clear that he is speaking of the Prophet or of someone sent by him, who intervened to ensure a Muslim victory.
1
2 1
24 Arab Historians of the Crusades
cavalry and infantry with their horses and armour, and none escaped to bear the news. Even Roger, their leader, was found stretched out among the dead. Some who were there said that they had walked over the battlefield, to witness the splendid miracle sent by God, and had seen dead horses bristling like hedgehogs with the arrows sticking out of them. Meanwhile Antioch lay open, with no one to protect it, deserted by its champions, a prize for whoever came first to claim it, waiting for the man who could take it. But because the Ata-beg Zahi? r ad-Din was not there, no one thought to occupy the city. The Turcomans were thrust headlong into action without time to prepare themselves, such being God's decree, while the rest of the troops were wholly occupied with seizing booty, of which there was enough to enrich, delight and satisfy everyone. So 'their dwellings stood desolate and deserted';1 God, Lord of the worlds, be praised!
BALDWIN, HIS DEATH AND HIS CHARACTER (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 233)
In this year (526/1131-32) news came from the Franks of the death of Baldwin, 'the little leader' (ar-ru' ayyis), King of the Franks and Lord of Jerusalem. He died in Acre on Thursday 25 ramada? n/8 August 1132. 1 He was an old man, rich in experience and inured to every trial and hardship of life. Several times he had been imprisoned by the Muslims, in war and in peace, but his famous stratagems and skilful manoeuvring had got him out. At his death he was succeeded by a man who lacked his good sense and gift for kingship; the new King was Fulk, Count of Anjou, who came out by sea from his homeland. Baldwin's death caused trouble and disturbance among the Franks.
1
1
A Qur'anic phrase (Qur'a? n XXVII, 53), here applied to the conquered enemy. The whole passage is written in saj', rhymed prose full of rhetorical tropes used at times of high emotion.
The date given here is a year too late; Baldwin died at Jerusalem on 21 August 1131, which corresponds to 25 ramada? n 525.
CHAPTER FIVE
With the appearance on the scene of Zangi, the Ata-beg of Mosul and Aleppo, (1129-46), the real Muslim counter-offensive began. Ibn al-Athi? r was the faithful servant and historian, and enthusiastic eulogist of the brief Zangid dynasty of Mesopotamia and Syria. According to his religious view of history it was Providence that put into Zangi's hands the kingdom left by Tughtiki? n of Damascus, the first opponent of the Crusades to be worthy of the name, who died in 1128. Zangi's real aim, even when fighting the Crusaders, was Damascus, nominally ruled by Tughtiki? n's incompetent descendants, and controlled in fact by Mu'i? n ad-Din Unur. Faced with the threat of Zangi, none of these hesitated to make an alliance with the Franks. In the following extracts Ibn al-Athi? r presents an exalted image of his hero, and Ibn al-Qala? nisi the opposite view; that of civil patriotism and loyalty to the local dynasty of Tughtiki? n.
ZANGI, MAN OF DESTINY FOR ISLA? M (IBN AL-ATHI? R, X, 458)
If God in his mercy had not granted that the Ata-beg (Zangi) should conquer Syria, the Franks would have overrun it (completely). They had laid siege to this town and that, but Zahi? r ad-Din Tughtiki? n had barely heard the news before he was mustering his men and marching on the Frankish territories. He besieged them and raided them, and in this way forced the Franks to abandon their campaign and return home. Now in this year (522/1128), by God's decree, Tughtiki? n died, and Syria would have been left completely at their mercy, with no one to defend its inhabitants; but that God in His mercy to the Muslims was pleased to raise to power 'Ima? d ad-Din (Zangi), whose deeds in the battle with the Franks we shall, God willing, record here.
ZANGI TAKES THE FORTRESS OF BA'RI? N. THE DEFEAT OF THE FRANKS
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 33-34)
In shawwa? l of this year (531/1137), Zangi left Hims and laid siege to Ba'ri? n,1 a strongly defended fortress near Hama? t, held by the Franks. He surrounded it and began to attack it and try to storm it. The Franks marshalled their cavalry and infantry and set out, kings, counts and barons together, against the Atabeg Zangi to make him lift the siege. But Zangi was unmoved. He stood firm to await them, and when they arrived he faced them in a battle which after some bitter fighting resolved itself into a rout of the Franks, who fled,
The Crusaders 'Mont Ferrand', which stood between Tortosa and Hama? t.
1
26 Arab Historians of the Crusades
closely pursued by the Muslims. The Frankish King2 shut himself up inside the near-by fort of Ba'ri? n, and was besieged there by the Muslims. The Ata-beg cut off all means of communication with the fort, so that not even news of their homelands got inside, so closely were movements controlled by Zangi and so great was the fear of him.
Then priests and monks traversed the Byzantine empire, the countries of the Franks and the neighbouring Christian states raising armies to fight the Muslims and declaring that if Zangi took Ba'ri? n and the Franks inside it he would overrun all their lands in no time, for there would be no one to defend them. They said that the Muslims had but one ambition: to march on Jerusalem. So the Christians flocked to Syria by land and sea. Among them was the Byzantine Emperor. 3 Meanwhile Zangi continued to wage war on the Franks, who held out but were running short of food and other essentials, for the siege had been sprung on them unexpectedly, leaving them no time to make preparations. They had not believed that anyone could put them on the defensive--they had been expecting to take over the whole of Syria themselves. When they ran out of food they ate their horses, and then they were forced to ask for terms. They requested Zangi to guarantee their lives until they reached their own domains. At first he refused to accept their terms, but hearing that the Emperor and the rest of the Franks were approaching Syria he granted the men in the fort their lives and fixed the ransom at 50,000 dinar. They accepted his terms and yielded up the fort to him. When they emerged they learnt that a great concourse was on its way to save them, and reproached themselves for having surrendered, unaware of what was happening outside the fort.
While the siege of Ba'ri? n was going on Zangi had taken Ma'arra and Kafarta? b from the Franks. Like the population of the whole region between there and Aleppo and Hama? t, as well as of Ba'ri? n, the inhabitants of these two towns had been reduced to a state of squalid misery by the constant pillaging and slaughter, for this region had been a theatre of war since the beginning. When Zangi assumed command the people breathed again, the countryside blossomed and soon began to bring in a large revenue. It was an unqualified victory, as anyone who saw it knows.
One of Zangi's finest acts was his treatment of the people of Ma'arra. When the Franks took the town they seized their possessions, and at the reconquest their descendants and survivors presented themselves before Zangi to ask for restitution of their belongings. He asked to see the documents giving proof of ownership, but they replied that the Franks had taken everything, including the title-deeds. He had the land registers in Aleppo examined, and anyone for whom there was an entry for the land tax on a particular holding was given that land. Thus he restored their land to the people of Ma'arra, the finest act of justice and generosity that I ever heard of.
DAMASCUS AND THE FRANKS IN ALLIANCE AGAINST ZANGI
(IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 270-3)
In this year (534/1139-40) news came that the Ata-beg 'Ima? d ad-Din (Zangi) had finished repairing the damage to Baalbek and its fort and had begun preparations for a siege of
King Fulk of Jerusalem and his barons. John II Comnenus (1118-43).
2 3
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 27
Damascus. Soon came the news that he had left Baalbek in rabi? ' 1/November 1139 and had encamped in the Biqa? '. 1 From there he sent a message to Jama? l ad-Din2 inviting him to exchange the city for another of his own choice or suggestion. Jama? l ad-Din refused, and so on Wednesday 13 rabi? ' II/6 December Zangi left the Biqa? ' and camped at Darayya, immediately outside Damascus. On his arrival at Darayya the advance parties of the two sides came to blows. Jama? l ad-Din's men were defeated, and some took refuge inside the city. On Friday 28th Zangi advanced in force on the side of the city where the Musalla3 was, and won a victory against a great host composed of the citizen militia and peasants. There was wholesale slaughter. Survivors were killed or imprisoned. Those who could, whether or not they were wounded, escaped to the city. That day, but for God's grace, the city would have fallen. Zangi took his prisoners back to camp, and for the next few days undertook no operations. He sent out messengers and exerted himself to obtain peace by courtesy and diplomacy, offering the ami? r of Damascus, Baalbek and Hims and other towns that he suggested. Jama? l ad-Din Muhammad ibn Taj al-Mulu? k would have preferred to accept these terms and to come to a peaceful agreement without bloodshed, in a way that would bring peace and prosperity to the people. But his advisers rejected this view. For several days Zangi sent out his troops in raiding parties, without deploying his full force or completing the blockade, in order to avoid violence and to act like a man restrained by peaceful intentions and a reluctance to indulge in bloodshed and pillage. In jumada 1 Jama? l ad-Din showed the first signs of an illness that was finally to gain complete mastery of him, its grip tightening and loosening, its tide ebbing and flowing until he was absolutely at its mercy. Medicine and magic art had no effect on him, and in the end his destiny fulfilled itself, and on the night of Friday 8 sha'ba? n/29 March 1140, at the very hour of his brother and forerunner Shiha? b ad-Din Mahmu? d's assassination, he passed to his Creator. The people were overcome by this coincidence of day and hour, and gave praise and glory to God. He was given a place in his grandmother's sepulchre at al-Faradi?
In this year (503/1109-10) Tancred and his minions swarmed out of Antioch and over the surrounding regions of Syria. They took Tarsus, imprisoned the governor and overran the district. After returning to Antioch they set out again for Shaizar, and demanded a tribute of 10,000 dinar, after devastating the province. Next they besieged Hisn al-Akra? d, and when the garrison surrendered went on to 'Aqra. Meanwhile Baldwin and Saint-Gilles' son were blockading Beiru? t by land and sea, and while Tancred was on his way back to Antioch Joscelin of Tall Bashi? r went to Beiru? t to strengthen Baldwin's hand and to ask for his help against the ami? r Mawdu? d's army, which was threatening Edessa. The Franks set to work to build a siege-tower to use against the walls of Beiru? t, but as soon as it was finished and put into service the Muslims smashed it to pieces with stones flung from catapults. The Franks began to build another, and Saint-Gilles' son undertook to provide a third.
At this moment twelve Egyptian men-of-war appeared, overwhelmed the Frankish fleet, capturing some of the ships, and brought provisions into Beiru? t. This helped the inhabitants to recover their enthusiasm. Then Baldwin sent to Suwaidiyya1 to ask for the help of the Genoese fleet there. Forty ship-loads of troops duly arrived at Beiru? t, and the Franks mustered all their forces, on land and sea, for an assault on the city on Friday 21 shawwa? l/13 May 1110. They brought up the two siege-towers and fought ferociously. In
The port of Antioch.
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Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 17
the end the defenders lost heart, seeing no escape from certain death. In the evening the Franks made a breakthrough and forced their way into the city. The governor fled with a few companions, but they were brought back by the Franks, the whole party executed and the money they had with them confiscated. The city was sacked, the inhabitants captured and enslaved and their money and goods seized. A short time later a party of 300 cavalry arrived to assist the city. When they came to the Jordan they met a small band of Franks, turned tail and fled into the mountains, where many of them perished.
From Beiru? t Baldwin led his army to besiege the city of Sidon, and forced the inhabitants to surrender. They begged him to defer the date set (for the payment of the tribute they owed him) and he agreed, after setting the sum at 6,000 dinar instead of the 2,000 that he had demanded before that. Then he returned to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage.
THE FALL OF SIDON (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 171)
In this year (503/1109-10) news came of the arrival by sea of a Frankish King2 with more than sixty ships full of pilgrims and soldiers for the war against Isla? m. They made for Jerusalem, and King Baldwin came out to meet them and to decide with them their plans for the invasion of the Muslim empire. From Jerusalem they went to besiege Sidon, and from 3 rabi? ' II (504/19 October 1110) they blockaded the city by land and sea. The Egyptian fleet was still at Tyre, but could not come to Sidon's aid. The Franks spent several days building a siege-tower covered with brushwood, matting and fresh ox-hides, to repulse stones and Greek fire. They mounted the tower on wheels, and on the day of battle they provided it with weapons and water and vinegar to put out fires. Then they moved into attack with it. The sight of it filled the people of Sidon with despair, for they feared a fate like that of Beirut. The qadi of the city and a group of elders came out and appeared before the Franks to ask Baldwin to spare their lives. He guaranteed the safety of the citizens and the army, as well as of their possessions, and promised that any who wanted to go to Damascus should be free to leave Sidon. Reassured by Baldwin's oath the governor, the treasurer and all the armed forces of the city, as well as many of the citizens, left and went to Damascus. This was on 20 jumada I 504/4 December 1110, after a siege lasting forty-seven days. Baldwin restored the city to order, installed a garrison and then returned to Jerusalem. A short while later he returned to Sidon and imposed a tax of more than 20,000 dinar on the remaining Muslim inhabitants, taxing their last penny and reducing them to poverty. They used force to extort money from those they knew to be concealing some.
THE EFFECTS IN BAGHDA? D OF THE EVENTS IN SYRIA (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 173)
In jumada II 5O4/November-December 1110 the Sultan Ghiya? th ad-Dunya wa d-Din Muhammad ibn Maliksha? h travelled from Hamadha? n to Baghda? d. Messengers and messages
Sigurd I, King of Norway.
2
18 Arab Historians of the Crusades
reached him there from Syria reporting on the situation there, the movements of the Franks after their retreat from the Euphrates, and events in Sidon, A? tharib and the province of Aleppo. On the first Friday of sha'ba? n a Hashimite Shari? f 1 from Aleppo appeared in the Sultan's mosque at Baghda? d, with a group of sufis, merchants and lawyers, and began to beseech aid for Syria. They made the preacher come down from the pulpit and then smashed it to pieces. They wept and groaned for the disaster that had befallen Isla? m with the arrival of the Franks, for the men who had died and the women and children who had been sold into slavery. They made such a commotion that the people could not offer the obligatory prayers. To calm them, the servers and ima? ms promised, on the Caliph's behalf, that troops would be sent to support Isla? m against the infidel. On the following Friday the men came back and repeated their noisy laments and cries for help, in the Caliph's mosque. Not long after this the Sultan's sister, who was the wife of the Caliph, arrived in Baghda? d from Isfaha? n, bringing a train of endless and indescribable splendour: jewels, rich furnishings, horses and trappings, clothes and equipage, slaves and pages, handmaids and servants. The Shari? f's cries for help disturbed the gaiety and joyousness of the occasion. The Caliph, the Prince of the Faithful al-Mustazhir bi-lla? h, was extremely annoyed and wanted to arrest the offenders and punish them severely. But the Sultan intervened, pardoned the offenders and ordered the ami? rs and army commanders to return to their posts and prepare to march in the Holy War against the infidel enemies of God. 2
In jumada II/December 1110-January 1111 an ambassador arrived from the Byzantine Emperor3 with valuable gifts, and letters inviting the Muslims to unite with him to drive the Franks out of Syria. He called on them to rouse themselves and summon all their energies to strike before the damage was beyond repair and reached too serious proportions. He for his part had already tried by force to prevent the Frankish armies from passing through his lands into Islamic territory. But if their armies and reinforcements came pouring into the Muslim empire by the direct route, necessity would force him to treat with them and allow them to pass through his lands, and to help them to achieve their aims and objects. He begged and prayed that all would unite to combat the Franks and would make common cause with him to extirpate them from these realms.
THE SIEGE OF TYRE (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 178-81)
In this year (505/1111-12) Baldwin assembled the largest army he could muster and marched on Tyre. Its governor 'Izzal-Mulk and the people of Tyre hurriedly wrote to the Ata-beg of Damascus, Zahi? r ad-Din (Tughtiki? n) asking for his help and offering to hand the city over to him. They begged him not to delay in sending a large contingent of his Turks
A true or presumed descendant of Muhammad; a privileged class that enjoyed great prestige among the Muslims.
Baghda? d at this time contained two rulers: the 'Abbasid Caliph, the nominal sovereign and leader of orthodox Isla? m, and the Seljuqid Sultan, the real ruler of Persia, Ira? q and feudal lands in Syria. Unity between the two, sometimes strengthened by marriage bonds, was not always perfect. Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118).
1
2
3
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 19
to their aid and assistance, for if help did not come soon they would be forced to hand the city over to the Franks, as they despaired of getting any help from al-Afdal in Egypt. 1 The Ata-beg responded at once and sent to Tyre a large contingent of Turks, fully equipped, and consisting of more than 200 cavalry and skilled archers. Voluntary foot-soldiers from the surrounding region, from Mount 'A? mila and even from Damascus arrived at Tyre in large numbers, while the Ata-beg sent further reinforcements.
As for Baldwin, when he heard of the Ata-beg's interest in Tyre he hastily surrounded the city with all the troops at his disposal. This was on 25 jumada I 505/29 November 1111. He ordered his men to cut down all the trees and date-palms and to build permanent living- quarters under the city walls. Several vain attempts were made to take the city by storm. It was said that in one day's fighting the citizens used 20,000 arrows.
When Zahi? r ad-Din heard that the Franks had besieged Tyre he came down from Damascus as far as Baniya? s and sent out flying columns and bands of foot-soldiers to raid the Frankish provinces, with licence to kill, pillage, burn, destroy, and in every way to create difficulties for the Franks and lure them away from the city while reinforcements were brought up. But the reinforcements failed to get into the city. Zahi? r ad-Din went to attack the great fortress at al-Habi? s, across the Jordan, took it after some fierce fighting and killed its garrison. Meanwhile the Franks had begun work on two wooden towers for use against the walls of Tyre. Time and again Zahi? r ad-Din tried to hinder them by coming down to attack them, so that the garrison inside Tyre could come out and fire the towers; the Franks realized what he was trying to do, and dug trenches all round their position. They set guards over the trenches and the towers and were able to ignore his manoeuvres as well as his raids into their territories.
Winter came on, causing little harm to the Franks on the hard, sandy region where their camp was sited, but bringing much suffering to the Turkish army. None the less they continued their raids and their efforts to cut the Frankish supply lines and intercept their convoys. They cut the bridge on the road to Sidon to prevent reinforcements from arriving by that route. The Franks reverted to bringing in all their supplies by sea. When Zahi? r ad-Din heard what they were doing he took a section of the army round to the north side of the city, over-running the area outside the city walls. A number of sailors were killed and about twenty ships fired where they lay drawn up on the shore. Meanwhile Tughtiki? n did not omit to send letters to the people of Tyre encouraging them and urging them to keep up their resistance to the Frankish attacks.
In about eleven weeks the building of the two towers and their battering-rams was completed. On 10 sha'ba? n/11 February the Franks brought them into use against the city walls, and battle raged around them. The smaller of the two was more than forty cubits high; the larger, more than fifty. On I ramada? n/2 March the people of Tyre made a sortie and attacked the two towers with Greek fire, wood, pitch, and the means to set fire to them. They failed to set fire directly to either of their objectives, but they started a blaze near the smaller one in a place where the Franks could not extinguish it, and the wind blew it on to the tower. In spite of the fierce struggle put up by the men inside the tower, it burnt down. The Muslims
The Fatimid vizier, mentioned above, who should have been the first to come to the aid of these
1
coastal towns, which were all nominally Egyptian.
20 Arab Historians of the Crusades
took a lot of booty from it: cuirasses, shields and other things, and then the fire caught the other tower. When the Muslims realized that the Franks, occupied with fighting the fire in the towers, had given up their attack on the walls, they too let the attack from the ramparts drop. Then the Franks turned on them, drove them back from the towers, extinguished the fires, and set a large detachment of picked guards to protect the towers and the catapults.
Until the end of ramada? n the Franks kept up their attack on the city. They brought one of the towers up close to the wall, filling in the three trenches in front of it. The Muslims broke through the wall at the point where the Frankish. tower faced it and started a fire there. The props caught fire, the wall fell down in front of the tower, and it was no longer possible to bring the tower up close under the wall and assault the city from there. The wall where they had attacked it was quickly repaired, while the towers to either side of it dominated it and prevented the mobile tower from getting any closer on that side. So the Franks cleared away the accumulation of rubble and dragged the tower up to another part of the city wall, which they began to batter with rams slung in the tower. The wall cracked, stones fell out in places, and the defenders were on the brink of disaster. Then an officer of the fleet from Tripoli, an experienced, intelligent and observant man, thought of making iron hooks to pinion the heads and sides of the rams when they struck the wall, by means of ropes guided by men from the walls, so that the pull on them caused the towers to heel over. The Franks themselves were forced to cut down some of the rams for fear of destroying the tower. At other times the ram would bend and break, and at other times it was smashed to pieces by two boulders roped together and flung from the walls. The Franks made several rams, which were all smashed in the same way. Each one was sixty cubits long, with a block of iron at one end weighing more than twenty pounds, and was attached to the tower with ropes.
Again and again the rams were repaired and the tower brought up to the wall again. Then the sailor of whom we spoke invented another weapon. A long beam of unseasoned timber was set up on the wall in front of the tower. At the top of it, forming a cross,1 another beam forty cubits long swung on pulleys worked by a winch in the manner of a ship's mast, at the direction of whoever was operating the machine. At one end of the pivoting beam was an iron spar, and at the other end ropes running on pulleys, by means of which the operators could hoist buckets of dung and refuse and empty them over the Franks working in the tower, and so prevent their working the rams. The Franks found themselves working under great difficulties and unable to keep up the attack. Then the sailor had grape-panniers and baskets filled with oil, pitch, wood-shavings, resin and cane-bark, set on fire and hoisted up, in the manner described, to the level of the Frankish tower. The flames caught the top of the tower, and as fast as the Franks put them out with vinegar and water, the Muslims hurried to send over more fire-buckets; they also poured small vessels of boiling oil over the tower to feed the flames. The fire grew and spread, overcame the two men working at the top of the tower, killing one and forcing the other to go down, enveloped the top platform and crept down to the next and then the next, consuming the wooden structure and overcoming the men working on the platforms. Unable to extinguish it, the Franks in and around the tower fled. The citizens of Tyre came out, raided the tower, and took away vast quantities of arms, equipment and supplies.
A T-cross, as the context makes clear.
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Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 21
The Franks despaired of taking the city and began to withdraw. They burnt down the encampment that they had built and many of the ships drawn up on the shore, from which they had taken masts, rudders and implements to build the towers. In all they had about two hundred vessels of all sizes, of which about thirty were men-of-war. They loaded some with their light baggage and left Tyre on 10 shawwa? l/10 April 1112. The siege had lasted for four and a half months. The Franks went to Acre and from there dispersed to their cities. The people of Tyre emerged from their city to reap the reward of their victory. The Turks who had been sent to help them returned to Damascus, less about twenty men killed in the fighting, and there received their pay1 and their monthly stipends. There is no other case of a Frankish tower being burnt down, as this one was, from top to bottom. This achievement was partly due to the tower's being the same height as the ramparts,2 for if their heights had been different the lower of the two would have been destroyed.
Tyre lost 400 men, and the Franks about 2,000, according to reliable witnesses. The people of Tyre took back the offer they had made to Tughtiki? n to hand over the city to him, but he simply said: 'I did what I did for the love of God and his Muslims, not in hope of money and power. ' This noble deed brought him blessings and gratitude, and he promised that in a similar situation he would be quick to help them. Then, after labouring hard and battling with the Franks until God freed Tyre of its troubles, he returned to Damascus. The citizens of Tyre began to rebuild their walls where the Franks had broken them down, restored the trenches to their former shape and size, and fortified the city. The volunteer infantry dispersed. 1
1
2
The 'there' may refer to Damascus, on their return, or it could mean 'during the war', i. e. at Tyre itself.
Literally 'the two towers', referring to the mobile tower and the section of the city wall that looked down on it. The same word is used here for both, which is sometimes confusing.
After this successful defence, Tughtiki? n helped and protected Tyre on other occasions, but was
1
finally forced to yield to the Crusaders in 1124.
CHAPTER FOUR
The first serious blow to the Franks came not from Baghda? d but from the united action of Ilghazi, the Artuqid ami? r of Mardi? n, and Tughtiki? n, Ata-beg of Damascus. In 1119 Ilghazi made a surprise attack on the Norman Prince Roger of Antioch at Bala? t (or Sarmada? , to the west of Aleppo) and defeated and killed him after a violent battle. Two accounts of it are given here: first that of Kama?
l ad-Din, the most faithful and accurate record of the events, and then Ibn al-Qala? nisi's version, in which he comments on the failure of the Muslims to recapture Antioch, left unprotected during the crisis.
THE DEFEAT AND DEATH OF ROGER OF ANTIOCH AT BALA? T
(KAMA? L AD-DIN, 11, 187-90)
Ilghazi and Tughtiki? n went together to Mardi? n and from there sent messages to the Muslim armies and to Turcoman soldiers far and near, to join them in the great army they were mustering. In 513/1119 Ilghazi and more than 40,000 men crossed the Euphrates at the Badaya? and Sanja fords. The troops dispersed over the regions of Tall Bashi? r and Tall Khalid, killing and looting where they could. Messengers arrived from Aleppo begging Ilghazi to hurry there as the Franks were raiding al-Atharib, south of Aleppo, and morale was low. Ilghazi marched through Marj Dabiq, Maslamiyya and Qinnasri? n, and by the end of safar 513/June 1119 his bands of raiders had entered Frankish territory in the region of ar-Ruj and taken the near-by fort of Qastu? n. Sir Roger (Sirja? l), ruler of Antioch, assembled the Frankish and Armenian armies and made straight for the iron bridge (over the Orontes) and went from there to take up his position at Bala? t, between two mountains near the Sarmada? pass, north of al-A? tharib. He encamped there on Friday 9 rabi? ' 1/20 June 1119.
The (Muslim) ami? rs grew tired of the long delay while Ilghazi awaited the arrival of Tughtiki? n so that they could agree on a plan of action. They goaded Ilghazi into an immediate encounter with the enemy. He made all the ami? rs and commanders renew their oath to fight bravely, to stand firm without retreating, and to offer their lives in the Holy War. To this they cheerfully swore. The Muslims, drawn up in echelon formation, left their tents at Qinnasri? n on Friday 16 rabi? ' I/ 27 June, and passed the night close to the Frankish army, which was building a fort to dominate the Tall 'Afri? n and imagined that the Muslims were besieging al-A? tharib or Zardana? . As dawn broke they saw the Muslim standards advancing to surround them completely. The qadi Abu l-Fadl ibn al-Khashsha? b was at their head, mounted on a mare and carrying a lance, and urging the Muslims on to war. One of the soldiers, seeing him, said scornfully: 'So we have left home and come all this way
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 23
to march behind a turban! '1 but the qadi at the head of the troops rode up and down the lines haranguing them and using all his eloquence to incite them to summon every energy and rise to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, until men wept with emotion and admiration. Then Tugha? n Arsla? n ibn Dimla? j2 led the charge, and the army swept down on the enemy tents, spreading chaos and destruction. God gave victory to the Muslims. The Franks who fled to their camp were slaughtered. The Turks fought superbly, charging the enemy from every direction like one man. Arrows flew thick as locusts, and the Franks, with missiles raining down on infantry and cavalry alike, turned and fled. The cavalry was destroyed, the infantry cut to pieces, the followers and servants were all taken prisoner. Roger was killed, but (only) twenty Muslims were lost, among them Sulaima? n ibn Mubarak ibn Shibl, whereas only twenty Franks escaped. A few of the leaders got away, but almost 15,000 men fell in the battle, which took place on Saturday (28 June) at midday. A signal of victory reached Aleppo as the Muslims were assembled for the noon prayer in the Great Mosque. They felt a great groan go up, seeming to come from the west; and yet none of the soldiers from the victorious army reached the city until the hour of the afternoon prayer.
The peasants burned the Frankish dead; in one charred corpse more than forty arrows were found. Ilghazi took over the Frankish camp and his soldiers brought to him the booty they collected, but he took only some arms to be sent to the rulers of Isla? m and left the rest to his troops. When the prisoners were brought before him he noticed one of magnificent physique, who had been captured by a small, thin, ill-armed Muslim. As he passed before the Prince the Turcoman soldiers said to him: 'Aren't you ashamed to have been captured by this little man, with a physique like yours? ' and he replied: 'By God, this man did not capture me; he is not my conqueror. The man who captured me was a great man, greater and stronger than I, and he handed me over to this fellow. He wore a green robe and rode a green horse! '1
(IBN AL-QALA? NISI 200-1)
When the Ata-beg Zahi? r ad-Din (Tughtiki? n) came to Aleppo to collaborate with Najm ad-Din (Ilghazi) in the action that they had agreed to take together in the hope of a result that both desired, he found that large numbers of Turcoman troops had already assembled from everywhere to be with him, like lions seeking their prey, or hawks wheeling above the creatures they are about to tear to pieces. News came that Roger of Antioch, with over 20,000 cavalry and innumerable foot-soldiers, fully armed and equipped, had left the city and encamped near Sarmada? , or Dani? th al-Baqal, between Antioch and Aleppo. When they heard this the Muslims flew toward them like hawks flying to protect their nests, and in less time than it took for their glances to meet the two armies came to blows. The Muslims charged and surrounded the Franks, driving them back with swords and arrows. And God--to whom be the praise! --gave the Muslims victory over the infidel rabble. On Saturday 7 rabi? ' I 513/28 June 1119, in less than an hour, the Franks were all lying dead,
Religious and legal scholars wore the turban; the Christian equivalent would be the friar's or monk's hood.
Ami? r of Arzan, in the Jazira, and a vassal of Ilghazi.
The reference to green, the heavenly colour, makes it clear that he is speaking of the Prophet or of someone sent by him, who intervened to ensure a Muslim victory.
1
2 1
24 Arab Historians of the Crusades
cavalry and infantry with their horses and armour, and none escaped to bear the news. Even Roger, their leader, was found stretched out among the dead. Some who were there said that they had walked over the battlefield, to witness the splendid miracle sent by God, and had seen dead horses bristling like hedgehogs with the arrows sticking out of them. Meanwhile Antioch lay open, with no one to protect it, deserted by its champions, a prize for whoever came first to claim it, waiting for the man who could take it. But because the Ata-beg Zahi? r ad-Din was not there, no one thought to occupy the city. The Turcomans were thrust headlong into action without time to prepare themselves, such being God's decree, while the rest of the troops were wholly occupied with seizing booty, of which there was enough to enrich, delight and satisfy everyone. So 'their dwellings stood desolate and deserted';1 God, Lord of the worlds, be praised!
BALDWIN, HIS DEATH AND HIS CHARACTER (IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 233)
In this year (526/1131-32) news came from the Franks of the death of Baldwin, 'the little leader' (ar-ru' ayyis), King of the Franks and Lord of Jerusalem. He died in Acre on Thursday 25 ramada? n/8 August 1132. 1 He was an old man, rich in experience and inured to every trial and hardship of life. Several times he had been imprisoned by the Muslims, in war and in peace, but his famous stratagems and skilful manoeuvring had got him out. At his death he was succeeded by a man who lacked his good sense and gift for kingship; the new King was Fulk, Count of Anjou, who came out by sea from his homeland. Baldwin's death caused trouble and disturbance among the Franks.
1
1
A Qur'anic phrase (Qur'a? n XXVII, 53), here applied to the conquered enemy. The whole passage is written in saj', rhymed prose full of rhetorical tropes used at times of high emotion.
The date given here is a year too late; Baldwin died at Jerusalem on 21 August 1131, which corresponds to 25 ramada? n 525.
CHAPTER FIVE
With the appearance on the scene of Zangi, the Ata-beg of Mosul and Aleppo, (1129-46), the real Muslim counter-offensive began. Ibn al-Athi? r was the faithful servant and historian, and enthusiastic eulogist of the brief Zangid dynasty of Mesopotamia and Syria. According to his religious view of history it was Providence that put into Zangi's hands the kingdom left by Tughtiki? n of Damascus, the first opponent of the Crusades to be worthy of the name, who died in 1128. Zangi's real aim, even when fighting the Crusaders, was Damascus, nominally ruled by Tughtiki? n's incompetent descendants, and controlled in fact by Mu'i? n ad-Din Unur. Faced with the threat of Zangi, none of these hesitated to make an alliance with the Franks. In the following extracts Ibn al-Athi? r presents an exalted image of his hero, and Ibn al-Qala? nisi the opposite view; that of civil patriotism and loyalty to the local dynasty of Tughtiki? n.
ZANGI, MAN OF DESTINY FOR ISLA? M (IBN AL-ATHI? R, X, 458)
If God in his mercy had not granted that the Ata-beg (Zangi) should conquer Syria, the Franks would have overrun it (completely). They had laid siege to this town and that, but Zahi? r ad-Din Tughtiki? n had barely heard the news before he was mustering his men and marching on the Frankish territories. He besieged them and raided them, and in this way forced the Franks to abandon their campaign and return home. Now in this year (522/1128), by God's decree, Tughtiki? n died, and Syria would have been left completely at their mercy, with no one to defend its inhabitants; but that God in His mercy to the Muslims was pleased to raise to power 'Ima? d ad-Din (Zangi), whose deeds in the battle with the Franks we shall, God willing, record here.
ZANGI TAKES THE FORTRESS OF BA'RI? N. THE DEFEAT OF THE FRANKS
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 33-34)
In shawwa? l of this year (531/1137), Zangi left Hims and laid siege to Ba'ri? n,1 a strongly defended fortress near Hama? t, held by the Franks. He surrounded it and began to attack it and try to storm it. The Franks marshalled their cavalry and infantry and set out, kings, counts and barons together, against the Atabeg Zangi to make him lift the siege. But Zangi was unmoved. He stood firm to await them, and when they arrived he faced them in a battle which after some bitter fighting resolved itself into a rout of the Franks, who fled,
The Crusaders 'Mont Ferrand', which stood between Tortosa and Hama? t.
1
26 Arab Historians of the Crusades
closely pursued by the Muslims. The Frankish King2 shut himself up inside the near-by fort of Ba'ri? n, and was besieged there by the Muslims. The Ata-beg cut off all means of communication with the fort, so that not even news of their homelands got inside, so closely were movements controlled by Zangi and so great was the fear of him.
Then priests and monks traversed the Byzantine empire, the countries of the Franks and the neighbouring Christian states raising armies to fight the Muslims and declaring that if Zangi took Ba'ri? n and the Franks inside it he would overrun all their lands in no time, for there would be no one to defend them. They said that the Muslims had but one ambition: to march on Jerusalem. So the Christians flocked to Syria by land and sea. Among them was the Byzantine Emperor. 3 Meanwhile Zangi continued to wage war on the Franks, who held out but were running short of food and other essentials, for the siege had been sprung on them unexpectedly, leaving them no time to make preparations. They had not believed that anyone could put them on the defensive--they had been expecting to take over the whole of Syria themselves. When they ran out of food they ate their horses, and then they were forced to ask for terms. They requested Zangi to guarantee their lives until they reached their own domains. At first he refused to accept their terms, but hearing that the Emperor and the rest of the Franks were approaching Syria he granted the men in the fort their lives and fixed the ransom at 50,000 dinar. They accepted his terms and yielded up the fort to him. When they emerged they learnt that a great concourse was on its way to save them, and reproached themselves for having surrendered, unaware of what was happening outside the fort.
While the siege of Ba'ri? n was going on Zangi had taken Ma'arra and Kafarta? b from the Franks. Like the population of the whole region between there and Aleppo and Hama? t, as well as of Ba'ri? n, the inhabitants of these two towns had been reduced to a state of squalid misery by the constant pillaging and slaughter, for this region had been a theatre of war since the beginning. When Zangi assumed command the people breathed again, the countryside blossomed and soon began to bring in a large revenue. It was an unqualified victory, as anyone who saw it knows.
One of Zangi's finest acts was his treatment of the people of Ma'arra. When the Franks took the town they seized their possessions, and at the reconquest their descendants and survivors presented themselves before Zangi to ask for restitution of their belongings. He asked to see the documents giving proof of ownership, but they replied that the Franks had taken everything, including the title-deeds. He had the land registers in Aleppo examined, and anyone for whom there was an entry for the land tax on a particular holding was given that land. Thus he restored their land to the people of Ma'arra, the finest act of justice and generosity that I ever heard of.
DAMASCUS AND THE FRANKS IN ALLIANCE AGAINST ZANGI
(IBN AL-QALA? NISI, 270-3)
In this year (534/1139-40) news came that the Ata-beg 'Ima? d ad-Din (Zangi) had finished repairing the damage to Baalbek and its fort and had begun preparations for a siege of
King Fulk of Jerusalem and his barons. John II Comnenus (1118-43).
2 3
Part One: From Godfrey to Saladin 27
Damascus. Soon came the news that he had left Baalbek in rabi? ' 1/November 1139 and had encamped in the Biqa? '. 1 From there he sent a message to Jama? l ad-Din2 inviting him to exchange the city for another of his own choice or suggestion. Jama? l ad-Din refused, and so on Wednesday 13 rabi? ' II/6 December Zangi left the Biqa? ' and camped at Darayya, immediately outside Damascus. On his arrival at Darayya the advance parties of the two sides came to blows. Jama? l ad-Din's men were defeated, and some took refuge inside the city. On Friday 28th Zangi advanced in force on the side of the city where the Musalla3 was, and won a victory against a great host composed of the citizen militia and peasants. There was wholesale slaughter. Survivors were killed or imprisoned. Those who could, whether or not they were wounded, escaped to the city. That day, but for God's grace, the city would have fallen. Zangi took his prisoners back to camp, and for the next few days undertook no operations. He sent out messengers and exerted himself to obtain peace by courtesy and diplomacy, offering the ami? r of Damascus, Baalbek and Hims and other towns that he suggested. Jama? l ad-Din Muhammad ibn Taj al-Mulu? k would have preferred to accept these terms and to come to a peaceful agreement without bloodshed, in a way that would bring peace and prosperity to the people. But his advisers rejected this view. For several days Zangi sent out his troops in raiding parties, without deploying his full force or completing the blockade, in order to avoid violence and to act like a man restrained by peaceful intentions and a reluctance to indulge in bloodshed and pillage. In jumada 1 Jama? l ad-Din showed the first signs of an illness that was finally to gain complete mastery of him, its grip tightening and loosening, its tide ebbing and flowing until he was absolutely at its mercy. Medicine and magic art had no effect on him, and in the end his destiny fulfilled itself, and on the night of Friday 8 sha'ba? n/29 March 1140, at the very hour of his brother and forerunner Shiha? b ad-Din Mahmu? d's assassination, he passed to his Creator. The people were overcome by this coincidence of day and hour, and gave praise and glory to God. He was given a place in his grandmother's sepulchre at al-Faradi?
