Part 45

At the same time, he told Dhaheer ad-Deen Tughtigin of his wish to meet with him in 512 AH/1118 CE, and they met at the citadel of Dawsar with the aim of pushing the Crusaders back from Aleppo. They did not manage to do that, but it prompted the Crusaders to impose tight controls on the entrances to Aleppo after taking over Bazaghah. The situation in Aleppo deteriorated to the point of devastation according to Ibn al-' Adeem,271 so the people of Aleppo had no choice but to seek help from the Abbasid caliphate and the Seljuk state in Baghdad. They received no help though, because the Abbasid caliphate was too weak, and the Seljuks were preoccupied with family conflicts amongst themselves. Mobilization against the Crusaders Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi did not manage to meet the Crusaders. Ilghazi left Tughtigin and went back to Mardin in order to gather troops in preparation for a renewed Jihad, intending to meet with the Crusaders in a decisive battle.272 In Mardin, Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi gathered more than twenty thousand Turkmen273 with the aim of fighting the Crusaders who had intensified their siege of Aleppo, which had almost run out of supplies. Ilghazi sent his messengers to Baghdad to announce this mobilization against the Crusaders and to inform the Abbasid caliph al-Mustarshid Billah and the Seljuk sultan Mahmood ibn Muhammad ibn Malikshah of what the Crusaders had done in Mesopotamia, taking possession of a citadel near Edessa and killing its ruler Ibn 'Utayr.274 Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi made arrangements with Dhaheer ad-Deen Tughtigin in 512 AH/1118 CE to meet the Crusaders in Syria, in Safar of the following year (513 AH/1119 CE). Before the appointed time, Ilghazi headed towards Edessa and besieged it fiercely, which forced the Crusaders in the city to ask him for a peace deal, offering to give him in return some of the Muslim prisoners who were being held there. Ilghazi responded to them and stipulated that they should not go to the aid of the king of Antioch in the event of any fighting with him, and they agreed. This was a sound step on Ilghazi's part, through which he was able to isolate one of the Crusader forces and prevent it from helping the other forces. This giving in to the Muslims rulers' demands is a clear indication of the weakness of the Crusaders in Mesopotamia.275 The Battle of Ager Sanguinis (the 'Field of Blood) After Ilghazi had ascertained that he would not be exposed to Crusader attack from the rear, he headed towards Syria, and was joined by Usamah ibn al-Mubarak ibn Shibl al-Kilabi and the emir Tughan Arslan the ruler of Badlees Warzan. He continued his march until he drew close to alAtharib in the land of Sarmada in the spring of 513 AH/1119 CE. There he awaited the arrival of Dhaheer ad-Deen Tughtigin. The Crusaders, led by Roger the ruler of Antioch had camped in Tel 'Afreen where they began to build a fortress. It never occurred to them that Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi would take them by surprise in that place because the road was narrow, and because they thought that the Muslims would attack al-Atharib or Zerdana, so they were overconfident and thought that they were well fortified. They sent word to Ilghazi saying: Do not trouble yourself to come to us; we will come to you.276 When Ilghazi felt he had waited too long for the arrival of his ally, he responded to the wishes of his commanders who were with him, and hastened to take the Crusaders by surprise. The Crusaders did not notice anything until the banners of the Muslims suddenly appeared and surrounded them on all sides. That occurred on Friday 16th Rabee' 1513 AH/1119 CE. The qadi of Aleppo, Abul-Fadl ibn al-Khashshab went out and delivered a very eloquent speech to the Muslims, urging them to engage in Jihad, and the Muslims attacked the Crusaders as one from all directions. Arrows rained down on the Crusaders like locusts while swords were striking them from all directions. None escaped but a few; the rest were killed or wounded. Among the slain was Roger of Antioch, who had hastened to meet the Muslims in battle before his reinforcements from Jerusalem, Tripoli and elsewhere arrived. Over seventy Crusader knights and commanders were taken captive. They tried to ransom themselves with more than three hundred thousand dinars, but Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi did not accept it from them; he ordered that they all be killed.277 This battle is known to medieval European the Latin historians and the modern historians who quote them as the Field of Blood, because so many Crusaders were killed there, and only a few Muslims were killed.278 Consequences of the victory The importance of what happened to the Crusaders does not stop with the military victory that Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi achieved over them, rather this victory resulted in the establishment of a united Islamic front which included Muslim emirs in Syria and Mesopotamia. In addition, it made Aleppo safe from Crusader danger, especially after Najm ad-Deen Ilghazi captured a fortress close to al-Atharib in the same year. Overall, it was a huge disaster which deprived Antioch of its ruler and its army, which made the Syriacs and Armenians in Antioch rethink their position of supporting the Crusaders.