As-Salih Ismail al-Malik

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Abu al-Fath Ismail bin Nur al-Din Mahmud bin Imad al-Din bin Aq Sunqur al-Zangi (Template:Langx) commonly known as As-Salih Ismaʿil al-Malik (Template:Langx) (Full name: (1163–1181) was the Zengid emir of Damascus and emir of Aleppo in 1174, the son of Nur ad-Din.

Biography

He was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch Gümüshtekin and was taken to Aleppo, while Nur ad-Din's officers competed for supremacy. In Egypt, Saladin recognized as-Salih as his lord, although he in fact was eager to unite Egypt and Syria under his own personal rule.Template:Citation needed In 1174, Saladin took Baalbek after a four-month siegeTemplate:Sfnp and then entered Damascus, proclaiming himself to be Ismail's true regent. In 1176, Saladin defeated the Zengids outside the city, married Ismat ad-Din Khatun, and was recognized as ruler of Syria. As-Salih died in 1181 of illness. Following his death, Saladin took control of Aleppo and added it to his rule under the expanding Ayyubid Sultanate.<ref name="islamiccoins">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades">The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi. H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002)</ref> According to crusader legend, his mother was the sister of Bertrand of Toulouse, Razi Khatun, who had been captured by Nur ad-Din in the aftermath of the Second Crusade; a similar legend existed concerning the mother of Zengi, as-Salih's grandfather.<ref name="islamiccoins"/><ref name="Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades"/><ref>The Crusades, The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, 2010</ref>