Zengid dynasty
Zengid State الدولة الزنكية، ظانغى دولتى | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1127–1250 | |||||||||||||||||||
The Zengid state under Imad al-Din in 1145, and expansion under Nur al-Din in 1174 CE. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire (1127–1194) Emirate (1194–1250) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Mosul (until 1154) Damascus (from 1154) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Oghuz Turkic (Ruling dynasty, military oligarchy) Arabic, Persian (numismatics) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam Shia Islam (minority) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sultan | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1118–1157 | Ahmad Sanjar | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1176–1194 | Toghrul III | ||||||||||||||||||
| Emir | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1127–1146 | Imad ad-Din Zengi (first) | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1241–1250 | Mahmud Al-Malik Al-Zahir (last reported) | ||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1127 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Dinar | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus (Arabic: أتابكة الموصل وحلب ودمشق), or the Zengid State (Old Anatolian Turkish: ظانغى دولتی, Modern Turkish: Zengî Devleti; Arabic: الدولة الزنكية, romanized: al-Dawla al-Zinkia) was initially an Atabegate of the Seljuk Empire created in 1127. It formed a Turkoman dynasty of Sunni Muslim faith, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174, the Zengid state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas. Imad ad-Din Zengi was the first ruler of the dynasty.
The Zengid Atabegate became famous in the Islamic world for its successes against the Crusaders, and for being the Atabegate from which Saladin originated. Following the demise of the Seljuk dynasty in 1194, the Zengids persisted for several decades as one of the "Seljuk successor-states" until 1250.