Zengids, Ayyubids and Seljuqs

Abstract

For thirty years by 1063, Nizam al-Mulk devoted every effort to shaping the jerry-built Seljuqid political enterprise into a centralized absolutist monarchy. The decadence of Seljuqid power in western Iran after the death of Ma'sud coincided with the collapse of Seljuqid rule in the East. In 1078 Malikshah's brother Tutush conquered Syria, but from the outset the latter's ambitions were not easy to restrain. The occupation of Damascus reunified Syria for the first time since the death of Tutush, and the way in which unity was achieved ensured that Nur al-Din could exploit the city's military and fiscal resources with no fear of rebellion. In the eyes of Nur al-Din and Saladin, the Isma ʾilis interpretation of Islam espoused by the Fatimids was flagrantly heretical. The Ayyubids had had their eye on Mesopotamia and Mosul since Saladin's time, and in any case it made sense to pre-empt any efforts at a Zengid revanche in Mesopotamia and north Syria.