Salah al-Din's siege of Mosul and the settlement of Shahrazur in 581

حصار صلاح الدين للموصل وصلح شهرزور سنة 581

c. 1185 CE · 581 AH

Mosul → Mayyafariqin → Harran

In 581 Salah al-Din besieged Mosul; its people fought their hardest and its strength turned him back. He took Mayyafariqin by safe-conduct, returned to the siege, and peace came on terms: the khutba in his name, the city's lord his liege, and Shahrizur and its fortresses ceded. He withdrew, then fell gravely ill at Harran until his death was rumoured and the hair of his beard and head fell out 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

1170118011901200 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

In space

Mosul

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Sides

Summary

In 581 AH Salah al-Din laid siege to Mosul. The daughter of the king Nur al-Din, who was married to the ruler of the city, came to serve him and submitted to him, but he sent her back empty-handed. He besieged Mosul, and its people gave their lives and fought fiercely, so he withdrew from them because of the city's strength 1.

Mayyafariqin and the peace of Shahrazur

He then came down on Mayyafariqin and took it by safe conduct. He returned to Mosul and besieged it again, until a peace was agreed: its people would have the khutba read for him, its ruler would be under his command, and Salah al-Din would receive Shahrazur and its fortresses 1.

Illness at Harran

He then moved on and fell ill, and his sickness grew severe at Harran. Rumours of his death spread, and his beard and hair fell out 1.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)· عز الدين مسعود بن مودود
Occurred at
Mosul· Mayyafariqin· Harran

People and things also explored

the Mosul truce — Saladin and the atabeg Izz al-Din Masud· death of the atabeg Izz al-Din Masud of Mosul· Saladin takes Mayyafariqin· Salah al-Din takes the north and Aleppo in 578· Salah al-Din enters Damascus without fighting in 570· Great Mosque of al-Nuri· Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt· the great battle at Acre — the sieges fiercest day

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 748
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Salah al-Din's siege of Mosul and the settlement of Shahrazur in 581”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/salah-al-din-mosul-581/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Wing

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Related

the Mosul truce — Saladin and the atabeg Izz al-Din Masud

Saladin returned to Mosul and made peace with the atabeg Izz al-Din Masud ibn Mawdud — each confirmed in his lands, bound to aid against any aggressor.