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عماد الدين زنكي

عماد الدين زنكي

c. September 1146 CE · c. Rabi' II 541 AH

Zangi the atabak of Mosul and Aleppo — named for fostering the sultan Mahmud's son Farrukhshah — a brave hard-riding awe-inspiring lord with cruelty in him; his ghilman killed him in his sleep and were received into Ja'bar castle by 'Ali b. Malik the 'Uqaylid; Ghazi took Mosul and Nur al-Din Aleppo 1.

Depth

At a glance

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

Life in time

105010751100112511501175120012251250 c. c. c. c. c. c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Abd al-Mughith al-Harbi · Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abd al-Qadir al-Rahawi · Abd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abd al-Wahhab al-Shirazi

Overview

Imad al-Din Zangi ibn Aq Sunqur, atabeg, lord of Mosul and Aleppo. He was killed in Rabi' al-Akhir 541 AH. His son Ghazi took Mosul, and his son Nur al-Din Mahmud took Aleppo and other places. 2

Rise

He held the shihna (governorship) of Baghdad at the end of the reign of al-Mustazhir billah, and then was moved to Mosul. Sultan Mahmud handed over to him his son Farrukhshah to raise, and for this he was called atabeg. 2

Character and lands

Ibn al-Imad describes him as a brave and valiant knight, of great might and great awe, and says that there was injustice and harshness in him. This is Ibn al-Imad's description. He traversed Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Halabak, Edessa and Ma'arra. 2

His death

Some of his mamluks killed him while he slept, and they fled to the fortress of Ja'bar, where its lord Ali ibn Malik al-Uqayli opened it to them. 2

Other views of his career are not yet recorded. It needs an additional source.

Connections

Explore the connections

Parent of
Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi· سيف الدين غازي بن زنكي

People and things also explored

Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt· Death of Nur al-Din Mahmud· The Frankish siege of Damietta (564 AH)· Nur al-Din Lifts the Frankish Siege of Damascus· Nūr al-Dīn besieges al-Karak· Nūr al-Dīn takes Mosul and confirms Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī upon it· The Battle of Safed and the Taking of Gaza, Banias and Shayzar in 552· Nur al-Din Takes the Fortress of Safita from the Franks in 561

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 608-609
  2. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p.608-609
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “عماد الدين زنكي”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/imad-al-din-zangi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-19.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt

Al-Imad al-Katib: Salah al-Din opened the year 567 with Egypt's greatest obedience — the Abbasid khutba, first Jumu'a at Fustat's mosque, the second at Cairo; al-Adid died that Ashura, and the palace's treasures sold for ten years. Shihab al-Din ibn Abi Asrun bore the news to Baghdad, and al-Imad wrote a general proclamation read across the lands of Islam — 'no minbar remains in those lands but the khutba for our lord al-Mustadi' is upon it'. Ibn al-Athir adds: Nur al-Din ordered it, Salah al-Din feared an Egyptian rising, and the Ajami called al-Amir al-Alim mounted the minbar before the khatib and prayed for al-Mustadi' — 'not two goats butted over it'. The khutba spread to Yemen, Barqa, Tawzar and Egypt to Aswan; Ibn al-Jawzi wrote his book al-Nasr ala Misr.