Chronicle of Ibn Al-Athir for the Crusading Period from Al-Kamil Fi'l-Ta'rikh. Part 2
Subtitle: The Years 541-589/1146-1193 - The Age of Nur Al--Din and Saladin
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010
Language: eng
Number of pages: 450
ISBN-13: 9780754669517
Subjects: Crusades
Description: The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233 AD), entitled al-Kamil fi l-Ta Rikh, is one of the outstanding sources for the history of the mediaeval world. It covers the whole sweep of Islamic history almost up to the death of its author and, with the sources available to him, he attempted to embrace the widest geographical spread; events in Iraq, Iran and further East run in counterpoint with those involving North Africa and Spain. From the time of the arrival of the Crusaders in the Levant, their activities and the Muslim response become the focus of the work.

Part 1 covers the establishment of the Crusader states and the initial weak and divided response of Muslim regimes in the area, the moribund Fatimid caliphate in Egypt and competing emirs in Syria and Mesopotamia. The strengthening of the Muslim reaction is typified by the career of Zanki, which also illustrates the important links with events in the orbit of the Abbasid caliphate and the Saljuq sultanate.

While continuing with the aim of comprehensive coverage, the years in the second part are dominated by the careers of Nur al-Din and Saladin, the champions of the Jihad, sometimes called the counter-crusade. Of special interest is the historians partiality for the House of the former, and his perceived hostility to Saladin.

A significant portion of the third part deals with the internal rivalries of the Ayyubid successors of Saladin, their changing relations with the Crusader states and in particular the events of the Damietta Crusade. As always, these events are portrayed against the wider background, with considerable emphasis on events in the eastern Islamic world, the fortunes of the Khwarazm Shahs and the first incursions of the Mongols.