al-Rusafa

Who holds it

Name

Probably Nasr al-Ajami (castellan not pinned)

Title

Chief da'i of the Syrian Nizaris

Since

Nizari before 1193

Confidence

low

Lord in 1200

The Nizari chief (see The Old Man of the Mountain); castellan not pinned.

How things stand that morning

Nizari on 1 January 1200.

Charter

No charter: Muslim towns of Ayyubid Syria had no communal charters. The prince's governor, the qadi and the market inspector (muhtasib) govern, and the notables (a'yan) speak for the townsmen.

Council

No town council; the notables, the qadi and the governor deal with the prince.

Communities

Nizari garrison; Nizari and Nusayri villagers.

Fairs and markets

No fairs in the Latin sense; trade runs through the daily markets (suqs) and the caravan seasons. No market days are recorded for 1200.

Militia

No recorded town militia in 1200; the garrison is the prince's or the castle-holder's.

Walls and castle

Castle.

Trade and crafts

Mountain farming.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Coordinates approximate (within a few km).

Primary sources for The Nizaris

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 Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Benjamin of Tudela (about 1173). A generation before 1200 but the only survey of its kind: the Jewish communities and their heads from Navarre through Provence, Italy, Constantinople and the Aegean, Antioch, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, Mosul and Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, with notes on rulers, trades, the exilarch at Baghdad, the Assassins of Syria and Persia, and hearsay on India, Ceylon and China. Read online