File:Zengid_territory.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Zengid dynasty
Sign in to saveAlso known as Zangid dynasty, Zangids
Oghuz Turk dynasty 1127-1250, founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi
Key facts
- Status
- Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire (1127–1194), Emirate (1194–1250), Nominal vassal of the Abbasid Caliphate
- Capital
- Multiple bases: Mosul (until 1234), Damascus (1154–1174)
- Official languages
- Arabic
- Common languages
- Arabic (majority, administrative, literary, numismatics) , Syriac (Christian populations) , Oghuz Turkic (nomads, military elite, rulers).
- Religion
- Sunni Islam (majority), Shia Islam (minority)
- 1118 1157
- Ahmad Sanjar
- 1176 1194
- Toghrul III
- 1127 1146
- Imad ad-Din Zengi (first)
- 1241 1250
- Mahmud Al-Malik Al-Zahir (last reported)
- Disestablished
- 1174, (with nominal power until 1250)
- Currency
- Dinar
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- historical country
- Religion
- Sunni Islam
- Capital
- Aleppo
- Currency
- dinar
- Form of government
- monarchy
- Image
- Zengid territory.png
Show 6 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:Zengid dynasty
- inception
- 1127-00-00
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 1250-01-01
- Commons category
- Zengid dynasty
- replaces
- Fatimid Caliphate
- official religion
- Islam
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Zengid dynasty was a Turkoman Sunni Muslim dynasty in the Middle East. Initially an Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire created in 1127, it ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and eventually seized control of Fatimid Egypt in 1169. Imad ad-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty. In 1174, the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas, as it also included the Egyptian territories held by Saladin as governor in the name of Nur al-Din Zengi.
The Zengid Atabegate became famous in the Islamic world for its successes against the Crusaders, and for being the Atabegate from which Saladin originated. Following the demise of the Seljuk dynasty in 1194, the Zengids persisted for several decades as one of the "Seljuk successor-states" until 1250.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Zengid dynasty” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.