Al-Mansur keeps what his father left him in Syria after Saladin took back the lands beyond the Euphrates in 1191: Hama and its citadel, Salamiyah, al-Ma'arra, Manbij and Qal'at Najm.
In 1199, while his cousins al-Afdal and al-Zahir besieged al-Adil in Damascus, he set up mangonels before Barin, held for Izz al-Din ibn al-Muqaddam by a lieutenant, and took it on 29 Dhu al-Qa'da 595 (22 September 1199), though wounded. A scholar-prince, he wrote a history of his own times.
Who he is
- Name
- Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Shahanshah (al-Mansur Muhammad)
- Title
- Prince (malik) of Hama, al-Malik al-Mansur Nasir al-Din
- Since
- 1191 (587 AH)
- Born
- Not pinned here
- Family
- Son of al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar (d. 1191), Saladin's nephew. No son of his is known to have been born by 1 January 1200 (al-Muzaffar Mahmud was about 27 in 1229, Abu'l-Fida).
- Confidence
- high
Abu'l-Fida, RHC Or. I, pp. 145, 147, 152, 158-161. The qadi Zayn al-Din Hindi served him as envoy in 599 AH (1202-1203); his household that winter is otherwise not pinned.
Overlord
Bound by oath to al-Adil (Abu'l-Fida, 597 AH).
What it holds
- Hama, its citadel and its district (direct)
- Salamiyah (direct)
- Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and its district, less Ibn al-Muqaddam's twenty-five villages
- Barin (Montferrand), by conquest of 22 September 1199
- Manbij and Qal'at Najm (governors not pinned)
How it was acquired
Inheritance from Taqi al-Din Umar, confirmed by Saladin in 1191 through al-Adil's intercession (Abu'l-Fida); Barin by force in 1199.
Allies and rivals
Al-Adil's sworn ally; rival of al-Zahir and of Ibn al-Muqaddam; neighbour of the Nizaris of Masyaf, of the Banu al-Daya at Shayzar and of al-Mujahid Shirkuh of Homs; target of the Hospitallers of Krak des Chevaliers.
How things stand that morning
At home and at peace on 1 January 1200, holding Barin without the sultan's leave and Manbij and Qal'at Najm far to the north-east. No fighting on his borders is recorded that winter.
Wealth
Orontes gardens and water-wheels, grain, the olive country of al-Ma'arra, the steppe trade of Salamiyah, and the Euphrates crossing at Qal'at Najm.
Military
Mamluks and amirs; the citadels of Hama, Barin and Qal'at Najm. No figures.
Threats
- Al-Zahir returning north
- Al-Adil's order to give back Barin
- The Hospitallers of Krak and the Nizaris
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- After 9 February 1200 (not pinned)Seeks al-Adil's pardon for Barin; keeps it by giving Manbij and Qal'at Najm to Ibn al-Muqaddam.Depends on: Al-Adil's supremacy Stopped by: Al-Adil's defeat
- 597 AH (from October 1200)Refuses al-Zahir's offer of Manbij and Qal'at Najm, citing his oath to al-Adil; withstands al-Zahir's siege of Hama.Depends on: War between al-Zahir and al-Adil Stopped by: Peace holding
Places of note
- Barin (Montferrand): Castle on the hills west of Hama, taken from Ibn al-Muqaddam's lieutenant on 22 September 1199. Coordinates approximate.
- Qal'at Najm: Castle guarding the Euphrates crossing at Jisr Manbij.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Abu'l-Fida, his descendant, dates the family's holdings closely.
On the map: Barin's coordinates are approximate. The eastern edge is Bedouin steppe.
Primary sources for Hama
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Book of the Two Gardens, on the Reigns of Nur al-Din and Saladin, and its Sequel, Abu Shama (Shihab al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi) (about 1240 to 1267, at Damascus). The Rawdatayn ends with Saladin's death in 1193 and matters for 1200 as the store of Imad al-Din al-Isfahani's lost al-Barq al-Shami and of al-Qadi al-Fadil's letters, quoted at length, which describe the Ayyubid princes, the Jazira and the frontier a few years earlier. Read online
- The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
- The Cream of the History of Aleppo, Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Adim (about 1240 to 1260). The annals of Aleppo. Read online
- The Dispeller of Anxieties, on the History of the Ayyubids, Jamal al-Din Ibn Wasil (about 1272 to 1285, at Hama). The fullest Ayyubid dynastic history, written at Hama with access to the family's own tradition and to Ibn al-Athir, Ibn Abi Tayy and Sibt ibn al-Jawzi. Read online
- The Eloquent Exposition of the Conquest of Jerusalem, Imad al-Din al-Isfahani (al-Katib) (about 1192 to 1193). Saladin's secretary's ornate account of the conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade, ending with Saladin's death in 1193. Read online
- The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad (after 1193, probably between about 1198 and 1228, at Aleppo). Ends with Saladin's death in March 1193 and so gives no event of 1200, but it is the formative portrait of the Ayyubid house of 1200: al-Adil, al-Afdal, al-Aziz and al-Zahir Ghazi as Saladin's lieutenants, the Mosul and Jazira campaigns, the war of Acre and the treaty of Jaffa of 1192. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.