Banu Munqidh
The capture of Shayzar was the culmination of a long, drawn-out process beginning with the Banu Munqidh's nominal assignment to the land by the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo in 1025, and accelerating with the weakened grip of Byzantine rule in northern Syria in the 1070s.
Through a combination of wealth, diplomatic acumen and military skills, the Banu Munqidh survived as a local power and successfully resisted attempts by the Crusaders and stronger Syrian Muslim dynasties to seize their strategic fortress in Shayzar.
Among their allies and enemies alike, the Banu Munqidh gained a reputation for "martial valor, honor, piety and courtly refinement" in the words of historian Adnan Husain.
The best-known member of the family, Usama ibn Munqidh (1095–1188), went on to have a proficient career in literature and diplomacy, serving the courts of the Fatimids, Zengids and Artuqids.
[1][2] Although the Banu Kalb were largely concentrated around Damascus in the late 10th century, the Kinana inhabited the eastern environs of the Orontes River in northern Syria.
[1] According to the historian Suhayl Zakkar, the Banu Munqidh were numerous and strong enough at the time to "play an influential role in the life of the Mirdasid dynasty".
[4] After a number of major battles between the opposing sides and amid severe famine in Aleppo, Muslim ibn Quraysh, the Uqaylid emir of Mosul saw an opportunity to take the city.
[6] Meanwhile, the Banu Munqidh led renewed efforts to capture the Shayzar fortress in what historian Hugh N. Kennedy described as a "long, drawn out process".
[8] The Banu Munqidh's pressure on Shayzar compelled its Byzantine rulers to surrender the fortress to Ali in December 1081 in exchange for an unknown sum and guarantees of upkeep of the local bishop's home.
[10] By the time of Ali's death in 1082, the Munqidhite emirate extended to the Mediterranean port town of Latakia and included Apamea and a few smaller places, in addition to Shayzar and Kafartab.
[9] Like during their previous encounter with the Uqaylids, the family employed the same strategy of paying a large sum of money to stave off an attack by the Seljuk ruler Sulayman ibn Qutulmush in 1085.
[10] Moreover, Nasr's conviction that the Seljuks could not be defeated led him to cede his family's territories in Latakia, Apamea and Kafartab to the sultanate in exchange for their firm recognition of the Banu Munqidh's possession of Shayzar in 1086/87.
[9] The ruler of Antioch, Tancred attacked and plundered the Banu Munqidh's emirate in 1110 and imposed a heavy tribute on Shayzar, a testament to its wealth at the time.
[18] The following year, a Muslim–Crusader coalition composed of Roger of Antioch, Toghtekin of Damascus and Ilghazi of Mardin besieged Shayzar in response to the plans of the Banu Munqidh's ally Mawdud of Mosul to conquer Syria.
[9] In 1127 Sultan put the Banu Munqidh under the suzerainty of the ascendant Muslim ruler of Mosul and Aleppo, founder of the Zengid dynasty Imad al-Din, which allowed for a greater level of security for the family's domains.
[9][17] The Byzantine-led army initially attacked the Banu Munqidh-held forts of Kafartab and Hisn al-Jisr, causing their inhabitants to flee, before proceeding in their assault against Shayzar.
[19] Arabic and Greek sources both indicate that the Banu Munqidh and the people of Shayzar resisted the siege and the Byzantines' catapults for several days before John II's army withdrew.
[26] Nur al-Din did not seek to find any surviving members of the Banu Munqidh to resume their lordship of Shayzar, whose fortifications he had promptly restored.
[28] By 1176 Usama was forced into retirement, during which time he composed his anthology Lubab al-adab and memoirs, Kitab al-I'tibar, the latter of which is an important historical source for the Crusades.
[28] While Mubarak returned to Egypt and served in a high-ranking administrative position until his death in 1193, Hittan was ultimately executed in 1183/84 for the harshness of his rule and conflicts with other Ayyubid lieutenant governors in Yemen.
[30] Intermittent warfare in the form of raids and clashes partly characterized the contact between the Banu Munqidh and the Crusader states, but they largely maintained practical ties.
[24][32] The Banu Munqidh's emirs paid visits to Iftikhar al-Dawla,[24] while keeping frequent contact with Shihab al-Din Salim ibn Malik via letters, couriers, and the exchange of gifts.
[33] In 1041, they gave temporary refuge in Kafartab to the Fatimid governor of Syria, Anushtakin al-Dizbari, when he was ousted from Damascus and then escorted him safely to the Citadel of Aleppo.
[3] Later, in the Crusader era, the Banu Munqidh gave refuge to Muslim families fleeing the siege of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man in 1098; the son of their erstwhile rival Khalaf ibn Mula'ib of Apamea in 1106; the ousted Muslim ruler of Tripoli, qadi Fakhr al-Mulk ibn Ammar, in 1109; and the Isma'ili da'i of Aleppo, Ibrahim, when the Assassins fled Seljuk persecution by Alp Arslan al-Akhras in 1113.
[33] Usama ibn Munqidh's accounts show the family were avid hunters and went on expeditions in the wetlands of the Orontes valley west of Shayzar and in the hills south of the city.
[35] The Banu Munqidh were described as an "elite, patrician family of well-known warriors who enjoyed a wide reputation for martial valor, honor, piety, and courtly refinement" by historian Adnan Husain.
[36] From the citadel of Shayzar, perched on a rocky hilly enveloped by the Orontes River, the Banu Munqidh ruled a relatively a small emirate largely inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians.
[38] According to an account of a conversation between an emissary of Roger of Antioch and Sultan in 1116, the lands of the Banu Munqidh were developed and prosperous, distinguishing them from the ruinous state of the surrounding region.
