Mardin (the Artuqids of Mardin)

Who rules

Name

Husam al-Din Yuluq (Yavlak) Arslan ibn Qutb al-Din Il-Ghazi II

Title

lord (malik) of Mardin

Since

1184, as a child

Born

not pinned (a child in 1184)

Family

Artuqid (Mardin line)

Confidence

high

TDV 'Artuklular' and 'Mardin'; TDV 'Nureddin Zengi, Arslansah'; Wikipedia 'Artuqids' and 'Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I' (coins).

Overlord

Under the protection of Nur al-Din of Mosul since the relief of August 1199: Yuluq Arslan's coins of 596 AH carry 'Nur al-Din Atabeg' (probably Arslan Shah). Mardin had acknowledged Saladin in 581 (1185).

The realm that morning

Yuluq Arslan (under Albaqush) holds Mardin and Dunaysir again. Across the borders: the Ayyubid Ras al-Ayn and Tall Mawzan west; Sinjar's Nisibin east; Hisn Kayfa-Amid north across the Tur Abdin and the Tigris.

Military

Garrison of the citadel and a small Turkish host; the citadel held out for a year in 1198-1199. No numbers.

Threats

• a renewed Ayyubid siege once al-Adil holds Egypt (it comes in 599/1202-1203)
• the regent's grip on a weak prince

Family and heirs

Brother and heir: Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan, who succeeds him (1201 in most lists, 1203 in others) and finishes the Great Mosque of Dunaysir in 601 (1204-1205). Wife and children: not pinned.

Officers

Nizam al-Din Albaqush (Alpqush), regent and real ruler; his mamluk Lu'lu' is prominent later (not pinned for 1200). Castellans: not named.

Castles and towns

• Mardin citadel (al-Baz al-Ashhab, 'the grey falcon') and lower town
• Dunaysir (Kiziltepe), the market town of the plain
• Dara (castle, south-east of Mardin): probably Mardin's, not pinned
• Harzam and the villages of the plain
• Savur and the western Tur Abdin: probably Mardin's, not pinned

Mints and trade

Mardin mint (Artuqid figural copper; Yuluq Arslan's issues of 596 AH). Dunaysir's great market on the Mosul-Aleppo road was Mardin's chief income (Ibn Jubayr saw it thronged in 1184).

Treaties and wars

• At war with al-Adil since 1198 (siege of Mardin, relieved 2 August 1199); no treaty.
• Under Mosul's protection.

Relations

Mosul the protector; the Ayyubid Jazira the enemy; the Artuqid cousins of Hisn Kayfa and Amid and of Harput; Sinjar's Nisibin next door.

Churches

The Syriac Orthodox are strong in Mardin and the Tur Abdin, with the monastery of Dayr al-Za'faran near the town; Armenians in the town.

Coinage

Artuqid figural copper struck at Mardin, in 596 AH naming Nur al-Din Atabeg.

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. 597 AH or later (1201 in most lists, 1203 in some)Yuluq Arslan dies and his brother Artuq Arslan succeeds under Albaqush. Later than 1200.Depends on: natural course Stopped by: -
2. 599 AH (1202-1203)al-Ashraf besieges Mardin; through al-Zahir of Aleppo, Mardin makes peace as an Ayyubid vassal (a large indemnity, al-Adil's name on the coins, troops on demand). Later.Depends on: al-Ashraf in the Jazira Stopped by: Mosul's protection holding

Where the sources disagree

• TDV 'Artuklular' says Mosul alone came to Yuluq Arslan's aid; TDV 'Nureddin Zengi, Arslansah' and Wikipedia ('Al-Kamil') name Mosul, Sinjar and Jazirat ibn Umar together.

Evidence: The siege and its relief are well attested; the extent of Mardin's lands outside the plain is not pinned. Hijri dates converted with the tabular calendar (596 AH runs from about 22 October 1199 to 10 October 1200; 1 January 1200 falls about 12 Rabi' I 596); conversions may be a day or two out.

On the map: Drawn on the plain and ridge; the plain was devastated by the year-long siege of 1198-1199.

Primary sources for this realm

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 Cream of the History of Aleppo, Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Adim (about 1240 to 1260). The annals of Aleppo. Read online
• The Anonymous Syriac Chronicle to 1234, Anonymous (a Syrian Orthodox writer, probably of Edessa) (about 1234 to 1240). An Edessene chronicle independent of Michael the Syrian in its later part, with a secular section reaching 1234 that gives the Jazira, Edessa, Harran, Mardin and Melitene about 1200 under al-Adil's sons and the Artuqids, the Seljuks of Rum, the Armenians of Cilicia and the Franks of Antioch, and a church section to 1207 on the Jacobite succession after Michael's death in 1199. Read online
• The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (Michael the Great), Michael the Syrian, patriarch of Antioch 1166 to 1199 (about 1180 to 1195). The Jacobite patriarch's world chronicle, in parallel columns of church, secular and miscellaneous events, ending four years before 1200 and shortly before his own death on 7 November 1199, which left the Syrian Orthodox church with a disputed succession in 1200. Read online
• The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus, Gregory Bar Hebraeus (Abu'l-Faraj) (about 1275 to 1286). A later compilation that for 1200 relies on Michael the Syrian and Ibn al-Athir, but adds the Jacobite church's own memory of the Jazira, Mosul, Melitene and the Artuqid and Zangid courts, and carries Michael's story past 1195: the Seljuk brothers' war in Rum, the Khwarazmian and Ghurid wars in the east, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah, and the caliph al-Nasir. Read online
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online