Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri | |
|---|---|
._)Arbil_mint._Dated_AH_587_(AD_1191-2)%2c_obverse._Bareheaded_and_draped_bust_left%3b_name_and_titles_of_Muzaffar_al-Din_K%25C3%25B6kburi_in_outer_margin.jpg) Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri. AH 563-630 (AD 1167-1233). Arbil mint. Dated AH 587 (AD 1191-2). Bareheaded and draped bust left; name and titles of Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri in outer margin. | |
| Born | 13 April 1154 |
| Died | 28 June 1233 (aged 78) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | Zengids Ayyubids Abbasids |
| Rank | Emir |
| Commands | General commanding armies and divisions of armies. Governor of various cities and regions. Lord ofErbil |
| Battles / wars | |
Gökböri[a] (13 April 1154 – 28 June 1233) orMuzaffar ad-Din Gökböri,[b] was a leadingemir and general of SultanSaladin (Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb), and ruler ofErbil. He served both theZengid andAyyubid rulers ofSyria andEgypt. He played a pivotal role in Saladin's conquest of Northern Syria and the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) and later held major commands in a number of battles against theCrusader states and the forces of theThird Crusade. He was known as Manafaradin, a corruption of his principal praise name, to the Franks of the Crusader states.
Gökböri was the first Muslim ruler to publicly celebrate the birth ofIslamic prophetMuhammad in an impressive ceremony in Erbil during which poetry on the occasion of theMawlid (the Prophet's Birthday) was recited.
Gökböri, whose name means "Blue-wolf" inOld Turkic, was the son of Zain ad-Din Ali Kutchek, the Emir of Erbil (known as Arbela in contemporary Arab usage). Gökböri's ancestry wasTurcoman and his family, known as the Begtegīnids, were associated with theSeljuk Turks. On the death of his father in August 1168, the fourteen-year-old Gökböri succeeded to the lordship of Erbil. However, theatabeg of Erbil, Kaimaz, deposed Gökböri in favour of his younger brother, Zain ad-Din Yusuf. Gökböri, exiled from his city, eventually took service with theZengid princeSayf al-Din Ghazi II ofMosul. The lord of Mosul granted Gökböri the city ofHarran as a fief.[1][2][3]
During the decade from 1164,Saladin, originally a subject ofNur ad-Din the Zengid ruler of Syria, had made himself master of Egypt. Saladin was ambitious to unite Egypt and Syria under his own rule, and was asserting a level of independence that his titular master, Nur ad-Din, could not accept. In 1174 Nur ad-Din prepared his army to march on Egypt, but he died before he could move against Saladin. Following the death of Nur ad-Din, Saladin invaded Syria. Gökböri commanded the right wing of the Zengid army defeated by Saladin on 13 April 1175 atthe Horns of Hama. During the battle the right wing of the Zengid army broke Saladin's left flank, before being routed in turn by a charge of Saladin's guard.[4]
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Following the Zengid defeat at Hama, and the continuing lack any unifying figure in the mould of Nur ad-Din, Gökböri realised that Zengid power was on the wane in Syria and the Jazira and he made the momentous decision to defect to Saladin in 1182. Saladin had been repulsed fromBeirut and was marching on Aleppo when Gökböri visited him with an invitation to cross theEuphrates into the Jazira, where he was assured he would be welcomed. His support for Saladin was instrumental in the defeat of Zengid power in the region; soon little more than the cities of Mosul and Aleppo remained under Zengid control.[6][7]
In 1185 Saladin was campaigning againstIzz ad-Din Mas'ud, the Zengid ruler of Mosul. At this time Gökböri came under suspicion of collusion with Izz ad-DIn. Gökböri had promised the sultan a large sum of money towards the cost of the campaign, but was unable to produce it. Saladin had Gökböri arrested, but quickly released him. Saladin became gravely ill during this campaign, but was nursed back to health in Gökböri's castle at Harran. In 1186 the war ended, when Izz ad-Din Mas'ud agreed to become Saladin's vassal.[8][9]
Following the conquest of Northern Syria and the Jazira, Saladin addedEdessa (Urfa) andSamsat to Gökböri's lands. He was then given Saladin's sister, al-Sitt RabiaKhatun, in marriage.[6]
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Gökböri became known as a reliable and skilled military leader. Saladin's secretary, the historianImad ad-Din al-Isfahani, described him as: "... the audacious, the hero of well thought out projects, the lion who heads straight for the target, the most reliable and firmest chief."[6]
In Saladin's campaigns against theCrusader states Gökböri was given important commands. At theBattle of Cresson (1187) he led an army of 700–7,000 which defeated a Christian army containing a large contingent from themilitary orders. The Christian army was destroyed and the master of theKnights Hospitaller,Roger de Moulins, was killed.[10] The military exploits of Gökböri were recorded in the contemporary accounts of his Christian enemies, to whom he was known as Manafaradin.[11]
Gökböri's finest military achievement was at theBattle of Hattin in 1187, where he commanded the left of the Ayyubid army. Saladin commanded the centre and his nephew,Taqi ad-Din, the right. This battle saw the destruction of the army of theKingdom of Jerusalem, leading to the fall of the greater part of the kingdom, including the holy city ofJerusalem, to Saladin.Ibn Khallikan describes how Gökböri and Saladin's nephew stood firm when the rest of the army was fleeing. They rallied the Ayyubid forces and led them in a counter-attack which decided the battle.[12][13]
In 1190, during theSiege of Acre by the forces of theThird Crusade, Gökböri's brother Zain ad-Din Yusuf died. Gökböri then petitioned Saladin for the return of his paternal inheritance of the city of Erbil. He received Erbil andShahrozur, but surrendered Edessa, Harran and Samsat, which were granted to Taqi ad-Din. Though the siege was ongoing, Saladin allowed Gökböri to go to Erbil to establish his authority in the city. Taqi ad-Din was summoned to take over the troops previously commanded by Gökböri. Gökböri entered Erbil in January 1191.[14][15][16]
Gökböri remained the ruler ofErbil until his death.[17] After the death of his patron Saladin, in 1193, he was effectively an independent ruler, acknowledging no superior other than theCaliph. He was a great patron of writers, poets, artists and scholars, whom he invited to Erbil.[18] His administration of Erbil was assisted by the scholarIbn al-Mustawfi, one of hisviziers, who wrote the history of Erbil in four volumes. Gökböri was also a patron of the biographer and historian Ibn Khallikan. He was a devoutSunni Muslim and built extensively in his domains for both the spiritual and corporeal needs of his subjects, creating a religious college, the Dar al-Hadith al-Muzaffariya (founded in 1198),sufi convents (khanqah), a travellers' inn and a number of establishments for the blind, orphans and widows.[19][20]
He was particularly noted as a fervent celebrator ofMawlid, a ceremonial recitation of praise poems celebrating Muhammad on the anniversary of his birth.[18][21] Previous to Gökböri, such celebrations consisted of private observances or court processions. Those of Gökböri were held in public, preceded by hunting parties and accompanied by lavish sacrifices. This has been seen by later commentators as representing a level ofsyncretism with pre-Islamic, traditional, Turkish practices calledSiğir andShölen.[22]
The long reign of Gökböri in Erbil, which became a thriving centre of Sunni learning, was largely due to his highly developed political acumen and judicious choice of alliances. He always made himself more useful as an ally of major powers than attractive as a potential target for their aggression. Though he married into the Ayyubid dynasty, two of his daughters married Zengids. Later in his reign he used alliance withal-Muazzam of Damascus as a counterbalance to the threats ofal-Malik al-Ashraf andBadr al-Din Lu'lu'. Badr al-Din Lu'lu' was appointed as atabeg for the successive child-rulers of Mosul,Nur al-Din Arslan Shah II and his younger brother,Nasir al-Din Mahmud. Both rulers were grandsons of Gökböri, and this probably accounts for the animosity between him and Lu'lu'. In 1226 Gökböri, in alliance with al-Muazzam, attacked Mosul, while his ally attacked Homs. As a result of this military pressure, al-Ashraf and Lu'lu' made their submission to al-Muazzam, though al-Muazzam died the following year. Nasir al-Din Mahmud was the last Zengid ruler of Mosul, he disappears from the records soon after Gökböri's death. He was killed by Lu'lu', by strangulation or starvation, and his killer then formally began to rule in Mosul.[23][20][24]
Being without a male heir, Gökböri willed Erbil to theAbbasid Caliphal-Mustansir.[25]
In old age he campaigned against theMongols, during their first approaches toMesopotamia, which they were soon to overrun and devastate. Falling ill, he returned to his lands where he died on 28 June 1233.[26][21] He was buried inKufa.[27][28] Three years later, in 1236, the Mongols sacked Erbil, but were unable to take the citadel; in 1258, during theSiege of Baghdad, Erbil fell to the Mongol general Oroktu Noyan.[29]
The Turkmen ruler of Harran, Muzaffar al-Din Keukburi ('Keukburi' is a Turkish name meaning 'Blue Wolf') approached Saladin offering to support his plans.
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