Zengis

Zengis (also Zengi, Zangi; plural Zengids) refer to the Zengid dynasty, a Sunni Muslim realm that controlled parts of northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia in the 12th century. The dynasty arose from the atabeg line serving the Seljuk sultans, and took its name from its founder, Imad al-Din Zengi (c. 1085–1146), who became regent and then ruler of Mosul and later Aleppo. By extending his authority over these cities and surrounding territories, Zengi laid the foundations for an independent power in the region.

Imad al-Din Zengi expanded his control against rival Muslim states and, most famously, against the Crusader states. In 1144 his forces captured Edessa, an event that triggered the Second Crusade and established the Zengids as a major regional power. After Zengi’s death, his son Nur ad-Din Mahmud (1118–1174) continued his campaigns, consolidating control over Aleppo and expanding into Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Nur ad-Din pursued Sunni unity against the Crusaders and Fatimids, defeating several crusading forces and effectively checking Crusader expansion, though he never destroyed the Crusader states.

The Zengid realm weakened after Nur ad-Din’s death in 1174. His successors faced pressure from the rising Ayyubid dynasty under Saladin. By the early 1180s, Saladin had defeated extended Zengid authority, and most of their domains were absorbed into the Ayyubid state, marking the decline of the Zengids as a ruling power. The Zengids are remembered for their role in shaping the Crusade era in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, and for temporarily unifying Muslim resistance under a single banner against the Crusaders.