Early career was built by Husam al-Din Timurtash. The main sources of his reign were the chronicle of
Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi and
Ibn al-Athir, in addition to
Michael the Syrian,
Ibn al-Furat,
Al-Azimi, and
Ibn al-Adim. His first task, still very young, was in 1111/12, when he was sent as ambassador to the Seljuk sultan
Muhammad I Tapar to intercede for the fate of
Dubays ibn Sadaqa. He then accompanied his father,
Ilghazi, to Aleppo in 1118 and remained in the city temporarily as governor while his father went to
Mardin to seek reinforcements. On the death of his father in 1122, on his way to
Mayyafariqin, Timurtash had the government of Mardin, while his brother Shams al-Dawla Suleiman became ruler of Mayyafariqin. When his cousin
Belek Ghazi died during the siege of
Manbij on 6 May 1124, Timurtash, who had accompanied him, took his dead body back to Aleppo on the next day, hence he became the ruler of the city. Timurtash decided to free
Baldwin II of Jerusalem, whom Belek had taken prisoner. Timurtash entrusted
Sultan, the emir of Shaizar, with commencing negotiations for Baldwin's release with his family. According to their agreement, Baldwin was to pay 80,000 dinars and to cede
Atarib,
Zardana,
Azaz and other Antiochene fortresses to Timurtash. Baldwin also promised that he would assist Timurtash against the Bedouin warlord, Dubays ibn Sadaqa. After a quarter of Baldwin's ransom was paid and a dozen hostages (including Baldwin's youngest daughter
Ioveta and
Joscelin II) were handed over to Timurtash to secure the payment of the balance, Baldwin was released on 29August 1124. However, Timurtash was later defeated on the outskirts of Aleppo by forces loyal to the local Seljuk
Sultan-Shah, and emir Dubays ibn Sadaqa, now allies of the Crusaders. Timurtash, with very little support, fled in August 1124 to Mardin, while in Aleppo the local qadi
Ibn al-Khashshab came to power nominally in the name of Timurtash. Timurtash asked for help from his brother Suleiman of Mayyafariqin in September 1124, but the two brothers did not get along and Aleppo was left to its own fate. Suleiman died in Mayyafariqin, late 1124 or late 1130, and Timurtash was recognized in that city. In 1125, the qadi of Aleppo sent an embassy demanding Timurtash's return during the
Siege of Aleppo, but he imprisoned the ambassadors, apparently irritated by their complaints. They escaped and then the embassy went to
Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, the atabeg of
Mosul, who was offered the government, which he soon took possession of and ruled for a time until he was assassinated by the
Order of Assassins in November 1126.
Interactions with Zengi in his book
Ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita, Artuqid Mardin, 1131 CE. When
Imad al-Din Zengi became the atabeg of Mosul, he laid siege to
Nusaybin, which belonged to Timurtash, who asked for help from his cousin
Rukn al-Dawla Da'ud, and promised him to rule the city. Zengi intercepted a
messenger pigeon sent by Timurtash to the governor of Nusaybin, and replaced the message by getting the garrison to surrender to his forces. This success of Zengi, followed in 1128 by the conquest of Aleppo, forced the Artuqid emirs to ally with each other and with other Turkmen emirs. In 1130, an alliance was signed with Ilaldi, the ruler of
Amida, and other Turkmen chiefs against Zengi; but the combined army was defeated by Zengi at
Saruj, and the atabeg occupied the city along with
Dara. The alliance with Timurtash came to an end and each of them again dealt with his internal affairs, with Timurtash accepting Zengi's hegemony. In 1134, Zengi became involved in Artuqid affairs, allying with Timurtash against his cousin Da'ud, in which they clashed with Da'ud on the outskirts of Amida, and Da'ud was defeated; Zengi occupied al-Sur fortress which he handed over to Timurtash along with other smaller sites. Once Zengi left Amida, Da'ud, angry at the lost territories, launched a campaign against his cousin which forced him to demolish the suburbs of Mayyafariqin, as he thought that he could not maintain these parts against the depredations of his rival. After 1136, Timurtash distanced himself from Zengi. In 1136/37, he conquered Hattakh, the last
Marwanid fortress in Amida; then some members of the Marwanite family appeared in his service. In 1138/39, the Zengid governor of Nusaybin, Abu-Bakr, who was threatened by Zengi fled to the principality of Timurtash and sought asylum. Zengi demanded the surrender of the fugitive and Timurtash refused. Then the atabeg went to Mardin and Timurtash only got away by giving him Dara and his daughter for marriage; hence, according to Ibn al-Azraq, he avoided the surrender of Abu Bakr. In 1141/42, he reached an agreement with his cousin Rukn al-Dawla Da'ud. In the meantime, Zengi asked Timurtash to send a commander named Habashi, a request for unknown reasons, which ended with Habashi's assassination in Zengi's camp. It seemed that the Emir of Mardin was seeking an alliance with Da'ud and Joscelin II, Count of Edessa which was opposed by Zengi. Other reasons for the conflict were known, as according to Ibn al-Athir, a large group of peasants left Mosul to settle in Mardin; Zengi asked for their return but Timurtash refused and said that he only charged them a tenth of the harvest, and that if Zengi had done the same they would not have left. Zengi argued that without his assistance, Timurtash would not avoid the conquest of the city by the Crusaders; which urged him eventually to return the peasants. In 1144, his cousin Rukn al-Dawla Da'ud died, and Zengi seized almost all of his territories between
Hasankeyf and
Harput. The attempt to ally
Kara Arslan, Da'ud's son and successor, with Timurtash and the Count of Edessa ended with Zengi's
conquest of the county capital. In 1145/46, Zengi advanced against Mayyafariqin but withdrew, as it was probably nothing more than a show of strength. The assassination of Zengi in
Qal'at Ja'bar in 1146 settled the matter. Immediately upon learning of the atabeg's death, Timurtash went out with his Turkmen and occupied some territories such as
Hani and Siwan before Zengi's successor in Mosul, his son
Sayf al-Din Ghazi I, could establish his power. Timurtash occupied
Siirt in 1146 then handed it over a year later to Kara Arslan.
Later years In 1148/49, Timurtash suffered a serious defeat against Saif al-Din Ghazi of
Mosul who reached as far as
Mardin with the intention of reclaiming all the territories of his father; before achieving anything decisive he died in 1149 in Mosul. Shortly afterwards the Emir of Amida,
Kara Arslan, recognized the sovereignty of the Emir of Mardin, then around 1150 he conquered
Samsat when the Count of Edessa, Joscelin II, was taken prisoner by
Nur al-Din. Shortly before his death, Timurtash received in 1152 from the Caliph,
Al-Muqtafi, dresses and diplomas accrediting the Caliphate's recognition of his possessions. In the same year he made an attack on the crusaders at Jerusalem but was defeated. He died in 1154, and was succeeded by his son
Najm al-Din Alpi. ==See also==