Veteran of Hattin and Acre, Saladin's brother-in-law, who traded Harran, Edessa and Samosata for his family's city of Irbil and the Shahrazur in 1190.
A great builder and giver of alms (house of Hadith 1198, madrasa, hospices, hospital, houses for the blind, widows and orphans) and the first prince to celebrate the mawlid publicly.
Who he is
- Name
- Muzaffar al-Din Gokbori (Kokbori) ibn Ali Kuchuk
- Title
- lord of Irbil
- Since
- 1190 (in Irbil January 1191)
- Born
- 13 April 1154, Mosul
- Family
- Begteginid; married to Rabi'a Khatun, Saladin's sister
- Confidence
- high
Wikipedia 'Gokbori'; TDV 'Begteginliler'.
Overlord
None; acknowledges the caliph only.
What it holds
- Irbil: citadel and lower town
- the plain between the Zabs
- Shahrazur
How it was acquired
Granted by Saladin in 1190 on his brother Zayn al-Din Yusuf's death.
Allies and rivals
Rival of Mosul; Ayyubid in-law; stance in 1199-1200 not pinned.
How things stand that morning
Holds Irbil and Shahrazur in peace as far as the record shows.
Wealth
The plain's grain and the Shahrazur; spent on charity.
Military
Veteran Turkish and Kurdish retinue; no numbers.
Threats
- Mosul
- the caliph
Places of note
- Irbil citadel: Rebuilt by Gokbori in 586 (1190), with the Friday mosque (TDV 'Zengiler').
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Well known personally; 1200 dealings not pinned.
On the map: Kurdish hills between the two blocks not drawn as his.
Primary sources for Irbil
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 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 Mirror of Time, on the History of Notables, Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (Shams al-Din Yusuf) (about 1240 to 1256, at Damascus). A Damascene preacher's year-by-year chronicle with obituaries, written by a grandson of the Baghdad scholar Ibn al-Jawzi, so it carries both the Baghdad view (the caliph al-Nasir and his court) and the Damascus view (al-Adil's court, the famine refugees of 1200, prices, the plague of 1201). Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.