This article is about the specific polity Zengid Dynasty (Seljuk Empire) and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Was a hereditary Atabegate (Province or Vassal) of the Seljuk Empire centered in Mosul and ruled by the Zengids. In 1157 it became effectively independent during the fragmentation of the Seljuk Empire.
Establishment
January 1128: Zengi, son of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib, became the Seljuk atabeg of Mosul in 1127.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts in the Middle Ages between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire.
April 1139: Zengi captured Bizaah, Maarrat al-Nu'man and al-Atharib.
January 1152: Edessa was conquered by Zengid sultan Nur ad-Din.
January 1152: Marash was captured by the Zengids in 1151.
1.1.Siege of Shaizar
The allied forces of the Byzantine Empire, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa invaded Muslim Syria and put Shaizar under siege.
April 1138: The Byzantines arrived before Biza'a which held out for five days.
April 1138: The Byzantine Emperor moved the army southward taking the fortresses of Athareb, Maarat al-Numan, and Kafartab by assault.
April 1138: The Siege of Shaizar by Byzantine forces took place from April 28 to May 21, 1138.
May 1138: The Byzantines lifted the Siege of Shaizar.
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the Medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291.
2.1.Siege of Edessa (1144)
The siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi.
December 1144: The siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi.
2.2.Second Crusade
Was the second of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi.
June 1149: The Zengid army of Atabeg Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Antioch and the Assassins of Ali ibn-Wafa.
January 1129: The Zengids quickly became the chief Turkic potentate in Northern Syria and Iraq, taking Aleppo from the squabbling Artuqids in 1128.
January 1130: The Franks seized Banias.
January 1132: Conquests of the County of Edessa by 1131.
January 1136: Expansion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by ca. 1140 AD:
July 1137: Battle of Ba'rin.
January 1138: In 1137, Raymond II, the reigning count of Tripoli, lost control of Montferrand.
June 1138: The united Byzantine and crusader armies unsuccessfully besieged Aleppo, but they took al-Atarib and Kafartab.
November 1144: After the fall of Edessa in 1144, Antioch was attacked by Nur ad-Din during the Second Crusade. Much of the eastern part of the Principality was lost.
December 1144: The Zengids captured the County of Edessa from the Crusaders after the siege of Edessa in 1144.
October 1146: After the death of Zengi in September 1146, Joscelin, the ruler of the County of Edessa, managed to briefly regain his old capital, Edessa.
December 1146: The city Edessa was again lost to the Zengids in November.
June 1147: Baldwin III of Jerusalem makes a raid against the fertile Hauran region near Damascus.
July 1147: The forces of Baldwin III of Jerusalem leave the Hauran region after a raid.
January 1152: Marash was captured by the Zengids in 1151.
January 1153: The Marash area was recaptured by the Seljuks in 1152.
January 1155: The Burids ruled Damascus until 1154, when it was taken by the Zengid ruler of Aleppo, Nur ed-Din.
January 1156: Kyrrhos and Gaziantep (Ayntab) were controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1155-1157.
December 1157: The united crusader forces capture Shaizar.
Disestablishment
January 1158: When Sultan Ahmad Sanjar died in 1157, the atabegs (governos) of the Seljuk Empire became effectively independent.
January 1158: In 1136, Seljuk Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud (c.1134-1152) appointed Shams ad-Din Eldiguz (c.1135/36-1175) to be an atabeg of Azerbaijan to his possession as iqta. He made himself virtually independent ruler of Azerbaijan by 1146.
Selected Sources
Shephard, W. R. (1923): Historical Atlas, New York, Henry Holt and Company, p. 68
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Zengid Dynasty (Seljuk Empire)
