The Atabegs of Mosul

Jazira, Syria

The line of the Zangid Atabegs, also known as the Atabegs of Mosul, was founded in AH 521 / AD 1127 by Imameddin Zangi (‘Imad al-Din Zangi), a general of the Great Seljuq Sultan Melikşah I (Malik Shah) who governed Mosul (Iraq) and Syria. Mahmud, the Seljuq leader in Iraq, entrusted the education of his sons to Imameddin Zangi when Zangi became governor of Mosul in 521 / 1127. Zangi intended to found a great state. He first took Harran, Nusaybin and Aleppo, and further increased his power after invading Diyarbakır (Diyar Bakr) and Urfa (ancient Edessa). After the death of Imameddin Zangi in 541 / 1146, his son Seyfeddin Gazi (Sayf al-Din Ghazi) took over Mosul and his other son Nureddin (Nur al-Din), took charge of Syria.
Nureddin Zangi wiped out the Fatimids in 567 / 1171 through his Ayyubid general Salah al-Din (Saladin) and extended his territory. He died in 569 / 1174. Seyfeddin Gazi, the governor of Mosul, died in 544 / 1148 and was succeeded by Kutbeddin Mevdud (Qutb al-Din Mawdud), who continued to reign until 565 / 1170.
The disputes over succession that followed the deaths of Nureddin Zangi and Kutbeddin Mevdud, and the conflicts that arose with the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Salah al-Din in 569 / 1174, resulted in the decline of the Zangids and their eventual fall in 620 / 1223.
The heyday of the Zangids was under Nureddin Zangi, governor of Syria. He had several castles in Syrian towns restored and built many mosques, caravanserais, madrasas (schools) and imarets (pious foundations). The Great Mosque of Mosul, the Nuriyya madrasa, Dar al-Hadith and the Maristan (hospital) of Damascus are some of the most important monuments from the period.