The Crusaders' Sultan: Reinterpreting the Battle of Tell Bashir and Its Implications for Twelfth-century Franco-turkish Political Relations in Northern Syria
This thesis focuses on the political backdrop to the battle of Tell Bashir in 1108. This battle marks an interesting change of alliances wherein Frankish and Turkish armies fought on both sides of the battle only a decade after the First Crusade had arrived in Syria. Historians have relied heavily on western sources to explain the odd political divisions and the ramifications for the crusader states. The result is a mess, few things are asserted strongly, and the narrative that does come through is deeply problematic. Ibn alAthir, a thirteenth century Arab chronicler, gives a thoroughly different account from either the Latin sources or those maintained by modern historians. Following the battle of Harran (1104), Count Baldwin II of Edessa had been left imprisoned in Mosul while a series of intra-Turkish wars ravaged the region. Baldwin II's release at the hands of Jawuli Saqao—the then Emir of Mosul—came at the price of giving assistance to Jawuli who was making an attempt to overthrow Sultan Muhammad in favor of an oft forgotten Saljuq prince, Baktash ibn Tutush. An alliance between Tancred, the prince of Antioch, and Ridwan ibn Tutush, the Prince of Aleppo, resisted Jawuli, leading to the battle of Tell Bashir. This battle was about imperial Saljuq politics, and the crusader lords of Antioch and Edessa were aligned on opposite sides for reasons separate from their personal conflicts. This is a major departure from traditional views that hold that the battle was fought to determine which crusader lord was to rule Edessa.978133969555
