Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/315)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

201 – Riḍwān ibn Tutush ibn Alp Arslān al-Seljuq

Lord of Aleppo, King Riḍwān was the son of Sultan Tutush, himself the son of Sultan Alp Arslān the Seljuq.

He assumed control of Aleppo after his father’s death and ruled for a considerable period. For a few days after Tutush was killed the khuṭbah in Damascus was delivered in Riḍwān’s name, after which he confined his authority to Aleppo. The Franks, however, wrested Antioch from him.

His conduct was reprehensible: he favoured the Bāṭiniyya (Ismāʿīlī extremists), set up for them a mission house in Aleppo so that their numbers increased, and he murdered his two brothers Abū Ṭālib and Bahrām. He himself died in 507 AH. The rule then passed to his brother al-Akhras Alp Arslān, who was sixteen years old. Al-Akhras likewise killed two of his brothers and executed the Bāṭini leader Abū Ṭāhir the Goldsmith together with a group of their notables, while others fled. One year later the amirs killed al-Akhras and placed their brother Sulṭān Shāh on the throne.

Riḍwān inclined toward the Egyptians. An envoy of al-Afḍal, the Commander of the Armies, came inviting him to pledge obedience, have the khuṭbah pronounced for them, and give allegiance to al-Mustaʿlī, promising him reinforcements and money. Riḍwān therefore ordered the khuṭbah in his territories for al-Mustaʿlī and for his vizier, the Commander of the Armies, and it continued in Aleppo for two years. Midway through 492 AH the Abbasid allegiance was restored, for the Egyptians had proved of no benefit to him. In that same year the Christians advanced on Antioch and, in 492 AH, laid siege to Jerusalem, where seventy thousand Muslims were slain. Ibn Munqidh relates that the Franks at that time appeared by sea from Constantinople and that they had dealings with the Byzantine emperor

(*) Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil, vol. 10: 246, 247, 258, 269–270, 393, 405–406, 409–410, 426, 428–429, 463, 465, 482, 486, 499; al-Dhahabi, Duwal al-Islam, 2/35; Ibn Khaldun, Al-Ibar, 4/13; Abu Shama, Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar, 2/36–37; Ibn Wasil, Uyoon al-Tawarikh, 13, plate 302; Ibn Taghribirdi, Al-Nujum al-Zahira, 5/205; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, 4/16.

٢٠١ - رِضْوَانُ بنُ تُتُشَ بنِ أَلْبَ أَرْسَلاَنَ السَّلْجُوْقِيُّ * صَاحِبُ حلب، الْملك رضوَان ابْن السُّلْطَانِ تُتُش ابْن السُّلْطَانِ أَلبْ أَرْسَلاَن السَّلْجُوْقِي. تملَّك حلب بَعْد أَبِيْهِ، وَامتدَّت أَيَّامُه، وَقَدْ خُطِبَ لَهُ بِدِمَشْقَ عِنْدَمَا قُتِلَ أَبُوْهُ أَيَّاماً، ثُمَّ اسْتَقلَّ بِحَلَبَ، وَأَخَذت مِنْهُ الفِرَنْج أَنطَاكيَة. وَكَانَ ذمِيمَ السِّيرَة، قَرَّبَ البَاطِنِيَّة، وَعَمِلَ لَهُم دَار دَعْوَة بِحَلَبَ، وَكَثُرُوا، وَقَتَلَ أَخويه أَبَا طَالَبٍ وَبهرَاماً، ثُمَّ هَلَكَ فِي سَنَةِ سَبْعٍ وَخَمْس مائَة، فَتملَّك بَعْدَهُ أَخُوْهُ الأَخرس أَلب أَرْسَلاَن، وَلَهُ سِتَّ عَشْرَةَ سَنَةً، فَقَتلَ أَخوينِ لَهُ أَيْضاً، وَقَتَلَ رَأْسَ البَاطِنِيَّة أَبَا طَاهِر الصَّائِغ، وَجَمَاعَةً مِنْ أَعيَانِهِم، وَهَرَبَ آخرُوْنَ، فَقتل الأُمَرَاءُ الأَخرس بَعْدَ سَنَةٍ، وَملَّكُوا أَخَاهُ سُلْطَان شَاه. وَكَانَ رضوَان يَمِيْلُ إِلَى المِصْرِيّين، فَجَاءَ رَسُوْلُ الأَفْضَل أَمِيْرُ الجُيُوْش يَدعُوْهُ إِلَى طَاعتِهِم وَالخُطبَةِ لَهُ، وَالبَيْعَةِ لِلمُسْتعلِي، وَوَعَدُوْهُ بِالنَّجدَة وَالمَالِ، فَخطب فِي بلاَده لِلمُسْتَعلِي، وَلِوَزِيْره أَمِيْرِ الجُيُوْشِ جُمَعاً، ثُمَّ دَامت الخُطبَةُ عَامَيْن بِحَلَبَ، ثُمَّ أُعيدت الدَّعوَةُ العَبَّاسِيَّة فِي أَثْنَاء سَنَةِ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَتِسْعِيْنَ، إِذْ لَمْ يَنفعه المِصْرِيّون بِأَمرٍ، وَقصدت النَّصَارَى أَنطَاكيَة، وَنَازلُوا بَيْتَ المَقْدِسِ سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ، وَقُتِلَ بِهِ سَبْعُوْنَ أَلفَ مُسْلِم، وَنَقَلَ ابْنُ مُنْقِذ ظُهُوْر الفِرَنْج فِي هَذَا الوَقْت مِنْ بَحر قُسْطَنْطِيْنِيَّة، وَجَرَتْ لَهُم مَعَ طَاغِيَة الرُّوْم

(*) الكامل لابن الأثير: ١٠ / ٢٤٦، ٢٤٧، ٢٥٨، ٢٦٩، ٢٧٠، ٣٩٣، ٤٠٥ - ٤٠٦، ٤٠٩، ٤١٠، ٤٢٦، ٤٢٨، ٤٢٩، ٤٦٣، ٤٦٥، ٤٨٢، ٤٨٦، ٤٩٩، دول الإسلام: ٢ / ٣٥، العبر: ٤ / ١٣، تتمة المختصر: ٢ / ٣٦ - ٣٧، عيون التواريخ: ١٣ / لوحة: ٣٠٢، النجوم الزاهرة: ٥ / ٢٠٥، شذرات الذهب: ٤ / ١٦.