Baalbek

Who holds it

Name

Al-Amjad Bahramshah

Title

Lord of Baalbek

Since

see lord_1200

Born

not pinned

Family

not pinned

Confidence

high

See the lord's record.

Lord in 1200

Al-Amjad Bahramshah (Bahramshah).

How things stand that morning

Held by Bahramshah.

Charter

None: an Islamic town has no communal charter; the prince's governor, the qadi and the market inspector (muhtasib) govern, and the notables (a'yan) and ulama speak for the townsmen.

Council

No council; notables and ulama.

Communities

Muslims (Sunni and Shi'i) and Christians of the Bekaa; numbers not recorded.

Fairs and markets

No fairs in the European sense; trade runs through permanent markets (suqs) and caravan seasons.

Militia

Not recorded; the garrison is the prince's or the amir's.

Walls and castle

The temple acropolis as citadel; town walls ruined by the earthquake of 1170 and repaired by Nur al-Din.

Trade and crafts

Bekaa grain and fruit; the Damascus to Homs road.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Ownership certain; urban detail for 1200 thin.

Primary sources for Baalbek

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 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