Part 48

What was in our hands is now in the hands of others."296 Balak ibn Bahram transferred his prisoners to the citadel of Kharberd and appointed guards to keep watch over them, and headed in 517 AH/1123 CE for the fortress of Gargar, which belonged to the kingdom of Edessa, with the aim of capturing it.297 King Baldwin, who was now in charge of Edessa as well as Antioch, realized that what he had to do was move to secure the release of Joscelin from captivity, prevent Gargar from falling into the hands of Balak ibn Bahram, and make the Muslims realise that the Crusader forces were still strong. Baldwin set out, leading his army, until he reached the eastern bank of the Sanjah river, one of the tributaries of the Euphrates, opposite the camp of Balak ibn Bahram, who meanwhile had lifted the siege from Gargar and gone back to confront Baldwin. Fighting took place between the two sides on 19 Safar 517 AH/1123 CE, and the Crusaders were defeated despite the small numbers of the Muslim forces. The importance of this battle was not limited to the victory of Balak ibn Bahram, rather it went beyond that, as Baldwin King of Jerusalem fell captive to Balak ibn Bahram, in addition to which he captured the fortress of Gargar. Balak took his new captive to Kharberd and imprisoned him with Joscelin and the other Crusader leaders and knights.298 Thus the Crusader kingdoms of Edessa, Antioch and Jerusalem lost their leaders and defenders, which led to a destabilization of the Crusader position in Mesopotamia and Syria. Despite this, the Muslim forces in Syria at that time could not take advantage of this opportunity to attack their kingdoms and eradicate the Crusaders.299 Crusaders besiege Aleppo After collecting his prisoners in the citadel of Kharberd, Balak ibn Bahram ibn Artuq went to capture Harran in Rabee' I 517 AH/ 1123 CE, with the aim of strengthening his position thereby, and he managed to achieve this. Balak ibn Bahram hoped to capture Aleppo from Sulayman ibn 'Abd alJabbar following his capture of Harran, because he realized the strategic importance of Aleppo. He knew that he could never achieve any decisive result against the Crusaders unless he incorporated Aleppo into his emirate so as to have a base in Syria from which he could move into a vast arena and devote his time to fighting the Crusaders.300 Balak thus laid siege to Aleppo until its inhabitants were forced to surrender to him on a Tuesday morning at the beginning of Jumada I 517 AH/1123 CE.301 Balak ibn Bahram did not proceed further with his Jihad against the Crusaders in Syria before news reached him that Joscelin had managed to escape with the help of a group of Armenians whom Balak ibn Bahram had treated kindly in Kharberd. He returned quickly to Kharberd in Rajab of the same year, where he managed to restore order and transfer his remaining captives to Harran, after punishing the Armenians in Kharberd.302 As for Joscelin Count of Edessa, who had fled from captivity, he managed to form an army of Crusaders from Jerusalem and Antioch, and headed towards Aleppo in order to put pressure on the Muslims there. He did not stop at that; he also dug up the graves of Muslims in the surrounding area, and continued the siege until Ramadan of the same year (517 AH/1123 CE). When he failed to conquer it, he returned to Turbessel, but Aleppo was not safe from Crusader siege after Joscelin returned to Turbessel; it was faced with another siege by the Crusaders of Antioch, which led to the severing of communications between it and other Muslim cities in Syria, the land which had been supplying it with food.303 Balak ibn Bahram ibn Artuq found that he had no choice but to seek help from Aq Sunqur al-Bursuqi, ruler of Mosul, and Dhaheer ad-Deen Tughtigin, ruler of Damascus, to relieve the people of Aleppo of this humiliation and strike a blow at the Crusaders, after which Balak would be able to return to Aleppo and restore order there. The Emir of Mosul, Aq Sunqur al-Bursuqi, and the Emir of Damascus, Tughtigin, reached Aleppo in 518 AH/1124 CE, leading their forces across the Euphrates and camping in 4 Azaz. However, the Crusaders who were gathered there managed to drive the Muslims out and each of these rulers returned to his own country. Balak ibn Bahram entered Aleppo in 518 AH/1124 CE, eliminated some of his opponents and put an end to the chaos caused by bandits. He also married one of the daughters of Radwan ibn Tutush in order to strengthen his ties with the Seljuks. He made Aleppo his capital in Syria and used it as a base from which to launch strikes against the Crusaders. He did not stop there; he transferred his prisoners there from Harran, and detained them in the Citadel of Aleppo. It seems that Balak's transfer of his prisoners was done so that he could ensure that they did not attempt to escape when he was far away from them.