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Zahir al-Din Toghtekin orTughtekin (ModernTurkish:Tuğtekin; Arabicised epithet:ظاهر الدين طغتكينZahir ad-Din Tughtikin; died February 12, 1128), also spelledTughtegin, was aTurkoman military leader, who wasemir of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder of theBurid dynasty ofDamascus.
Toghtekin was a junior officer toTutush I,Seljuq emir of Damascus and Syria. After the former's death in 1095, civil war erupted, and Toghtekin supported Tutush's sonDuqaq asemir of the city againstRidwan, theemir of Aleppo. In the chaotic years which ensued Toghtekin was sent to reconquer the town ofJebleh, which had rebelled against theqadi ofTripoli, but he was unable to accomplish his task.
On October 21, 1097, a Crusader army began thesiege of Antioch. The local emir,Yaghi-Siyan, though nominally under Ridwan's suzerainty, appealed to Duqaq to send an armed force to their rescue. Duqaq sent Toghtekin, but on December 31, 1097, he was defeated byBohemund of Taranto andRobert II of Flanders, and was forced to retreat. Another relief attempt was made by a joint force underKerbogha, theatabeg of Mosul, and Toghtekin, which was also crushed by the Crusaders on June 28, 1098.
When the Crusaders moved southwards from the newly conquered Antioch, theqadi of Jebleh sold his town to Duqaq, who installed Toghtekin's son,Taj al-Muluk Buri as its ruler. His tyrannical rule, however, led to his quick downfall. In 1103, Toghtekin was sent by Duqaq to take possession ofHoms at the request of its inhabitants, after the emirJanah al-Dawla had been murdered byAssassins by order of Ridwan.
The following year Duqaq died and Toghtekin, now acting as regent andde facto ruler, had the former's junior sonTutush II proclaimed emir, while he married Duqaq's widow and reserved for himself the title of atabeg. After deposing Tutush II he had the brother of Duqaq,Irtash, named emir, but soon afterward he had him exiled. Irtash, with the support of Aytekin al-Halabi, the emir ofBosra, tried to reconquer Damascus, but was pushed back by Toghtekin and forced to find help at the court of KingBaldwin I of Jerusalem.
Around 1106, Toghtekin intervened to momentarily raise thesiege of Tripoli by the Crusaders, but could not prevent the definitive capture of the city. In May 1108 he was able to defeat a small Christian force underGervaise of Bazoches,lord of Galilee. Gervaise was proposed to be freed in exchange for his possession, but he refused and was executed. In April 1110, Toghtekin besieged and capturedBaalbek and named his son Buri as governor, replacingal-Taj Gümüshtegin.
Late in November 1111, the town ofTyre, which wasbesieged by Baldwin's troops, put itself under Toghtekin's protection. Toghtekin, supported byFatimid forces, intervened, forcing the Franks to raise the siege on April 10, 1112; however, he refused to take part in the anti-Crusade effort launched byMawdud of Mosul, fearing that the latter could take advantage of it to gain rule over the whole of Syria.
Nonetheless, the next year the two Muslim commanders allied in reply to the ravages of Baldwin I andTancred of Antioch. Their army besiegedTiberias, but they were unable to conquer it despite a sound victory at theBattle of Al-Sannabra in 1113 and they were forced to retreat to Damascus when Christian reinforcements arrived and supplies began to run out.During his sojourn in the city, Mawdud was killed by theAssassins on October 2, 1113. The inhabitants accused Toghtekin of the deed. In 1114, he signed an alliance against the Franks with the newemir of Aleppo,Alp Arslān al-Akhras, but the latter was murdered a short time later by his atabegLuʾluʾ al-Yaya.
In 1115, Toghtekin decided to ally himself with theKingdom of Jerusalem against the Seljuk generalAqsunqur al-Bursuqi, who had been sent by the Seljuk sultanMuhammad I Tapar to fight the Crusaders. The following year, judging the Franks too powerful, he visited Baghdad to obtain a pardon from the sultan, though never forgetting to remain independent himself between the two main forces.
Allied withIlghazi,emir of Aleppo, he attackedAthareb in thePrincipality of Antioch, but was defeated at theBattle of Hab on August 14, 1119. In the June of the following year he sent help to Ilghazi, who was again under peril of annihilation in the same place. In 1122 the Fatimids, no longer able to defend Tyre, sold it to Toghtekin, who installed a garrison there, but the garrison was unable to prevent its capture by theFranks on July 7, 1124.
In 1125, al-Bursuqi, now in control of Aleppo, appeared in the Antiochean territory with a large army which Toghtekin joined; however, the two were defeated at theBattle of Azaz on June 11, 1125. The following January Toghtekin also had to repel an invasion byBaldwin II of Jerusalem. In late 1126 he again invaded the Principality of Antioch with Bursuqi, but again with no results.
Toghtekin died in 1128. He was succeeded by his son Buri.
In theOld FrenchCrusade cyclechansons de geste, Toghtekin is known as "Dodequin".
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| Preceded by | Atabeg of Damascus 1104–1128 | Succeeded by |
