City · Sinjar (Qutb al-Din Muhammad) · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Nisibin

The old city on the Hirmas river at the foot of the Tur Abdin, among gardens, on the caravan road from Mosul to Dunaysir.

Taken by Nur al-Din of Mosul in Jumada I 594 (March-April 1198) and given up in Ramadan 594 (July 1198) when plague struck his army and al-Adil came to support Qutb al-Din.

Who holds it

Title
castellan for Qutb al-Din
Confidence
low

Ibn al-Athir 594; TDV 'Nureddin Zengi, Arslansah'.

Lord in 1200

Qutb al-Din of Sinjar (recovered July 1198).

How things stand that morning

Sinjar's.

Charter

No charter or commune: the town is governed by its lord's castellan (wali), its judge (qadi) and the market inspector (muhtasib); notables (a'yan) speak for it.

Council

No town council; notables and the qadi deal with the lord's governor.

Communities

Muslims; Christians round the church of Mar Ya'qub and a metropolitan of the Church of the East; Jews.

Militia

Garrison of the lord's soldiers; townsmen's own militia (ahdath) not recorded here.

Walls and castle

Ancient walls; citadel.

Trade and crafts

Gardens and roses; caravan road; mint (coin of 594 AH).

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.

  1. Sha'ban 600 (April 1204)Retaken by Nur al-Din; restored after his rout. Later.Depends on: renewed Zengid war Stopped by: -

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Recovery by Sinjar inferred from TDV's account (al-Adil's intervention, Nur al-Din's withdrawal).

Primary sources for Sinjar

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

Sources and studies

  1. Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi'l-ta'rikh, tr. D.S. Richards, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period, Part 3 (589-629/1193-1231), Ashgate 2008 (read for 589-594; later years via the works below)
  2. TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Nureddin Zengi, Arslansah' (dates from Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil XII, and al-Tarikh al-bahir; Abu Shama, Dhayl)
  3. Wikipedia, 'Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I' (coin of Yuluq Arslan of 596 AH naming 'Nur al-Din Atabeg')

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.