Zengid dynasty

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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 al-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty. By 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 Crusader states, and for being the Atabegate from which Saladin would emerge. After the death of his master Nur al-Din in 1174, Saladin successively took Damascus (1174) and Aleppo (1183) from the Zengids, ending their rule in Syria. However he left Mosul under Zengid control, where they met demise in 1234 on the hands of atabeg Badr al-Din Lu'lu'. Following the end of the Seljuk dynasty in 1194, the Zengids persisted for several...

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