Mujir ad-Din Abaq

This article is about the 12th-century ruler of Damascus. For the Jerusalemite chronicler, see Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi.

Mujir ad-Din Abaq
Burid Emir of Damascus
Rule	1140 – 1154
Predecessor	Jamal ad-Din Muhammad (as Emir of Damascus) Mu'in ad-Din Unur (as regent)
Successor	Nur ad-Din Zengi (as Zengid ruler)
Regent	Mu'in ad-Din Unur (1140–1149)
Born	1130s Damascus, Burid Emirate
Died	1169 Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, (now Iraq)
Spouse	Daughter of Mu'in ad-Din Unur
Names Mujīr ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Dawla Abu Saʿīd Ābaq ibn Jamāl ad-Dīn Muhammad
House	Burids
Father	Jamal ad-Din Muhammad
Religion	Sunni Islam

Mujir ad-Din Abaq (Arabic: مجير الدين عبد الدولة أبو سعيد عبق بن جمال الدين محمد, romanized: Mujīr ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Dawla Abu Saʿīd ʿAbaq ibn Jamāl ad-Dīn Muhammad) (died 1169) was the Burid emir of Damascus from 1140 to 1154. He was the eldest son of Jamal ad-Din Muhammad and the last Burid ruler of the Emirate of Damascus.

Name

His honorific title "Mujīr ad-Dīn" means "protector of the faith".

His full name was Mujīr ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Dawla Abu Saʿīd Ābaq ibn Jamāl ad-Dīn Muhammad.

Life

After the death of his father in 1140, Mujir ad-Din succeeded his father as governor in 1140. As he was still a minor, Mu'in ad-Din Unur was named vizier. Zengi attacked Damascus, hoping to take advantage of Jamal ad-Din's death, but Mu'in ad-Din effectively organized the defense of the city. When this regent died in July 1149, Mujir ad-Din took his place as the rightful heir of Damascus. He was a weak ruler, however, and Damascus came under the influence of Nur ad-Din Zangi, emir of Aleppo and Mosul, who had imposed his dominance over the city in the aftermath of the Second Crusade.

In 1150, Nur ad-Din recognized Mujir ad-Din as ruler of Damascus, but in 1151 Mujir ad-Din allied with the crusaders against Bosra, angering Nur ad-Din. Later that year Mujir ad-Din visited Aleppo and swore to remain loyal to Nur ad-Din. In 1152, Mujir ad-Din again besieged Bosra, until the governor of the city agreed to his demands and he returned to Damascus. In 1153, Mujir ad-Din joined Nur ad-Din in his attempt to capture of the crusader castle at Banias. In 1154, the two were in conflict again, and Nur ad-Din finally occupied Damascus by force, exiling Mujir ad-Din to Homs. Nur ad-Din was fully in control of the city and all of Syria. Mujir ad-Din later left Homs for Baghdad.

Sources

• Nicolle, David (2009). The Second Crusade 1148. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.