Editing Aleppo (section)

====Seljuq and Ayyubid periods====
In late 1077, Seljuk emir [[Tutush I]] launched a campaign to capture Aleppo during the reign of [[Sabiq ibn Mahmud]] of the [[Mirdasid dynasty]], which lasted until 1080, when his reinforcements were ambushed and routed by a coalition of Arab tribesmen led by [[Banu Kilab|Kilabi]] chief Abu Za'ida at [[Wadi Butnan]].{{sfn|Zakkar|1969|p=202}} After the death of [[Muslim ibn Quraysh|Sharaf al-Dawla]] of the [[Uqaylid dynasty]] in June 1085, the headman in Aleppo [[Sharif]] Hassan ibn Hibat Allah Al-Hutayti promised to surrender the city to Sultan [[Malik-Shah I]]. When the latter delayed his arrival, Hassan contacted the Sultan's brother Tutush. However, after Tutush defeated [[Suleiman ibn Qutalmish|Suleiman ibn Qutulmish]], who had intended to take Aleppo for himself, in the [[battle of Ain Salm]], Hassan went back on his commitment. In response, Tutush attacked the city and managed to get hold of parts of the walls and towers in July 1086, but he left in September, either due to the advance of Malik-Shah or because the Fatimids were besieging Damascus.{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=91}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=247}} In 1087, [[Aq Sunqur al-Hajib]] became the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I.<ref name="Kamāl">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |title=Zubdat al-ḥalab min tārīkh Ḥalab |author=Kamāl al-Dīn ʻUmar ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-ʻAdīm |year=1996 |access-date=15 February 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074247/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> During his bid for the Seljuk throne, Tutush had Aq Sunqur executed and after Tutush died in battle, the town was ruled by his son [[Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan|Ridwan]].{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=99, 101}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=252,254}}

The [[Siege of Aleppo (1124)|city was besieged]] by [[Crusades|Crusaders]] led by the King of Jerusalem [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]] in 1124–1125, but was not conquered after receiving protection by forces of [[Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi|Aqsunqur al Bursuqi]] arriving from Mosul in January 1125.{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=121–122}}

In 1128, Aleppo became capital of the expanding [[Zengid dynasty]], which ultimately conquered Damascus in 1154. In 1138, Byzantine emperor [[John II Komnenos]] led a campaign, which main objective was to capture the city of Aleppo. On 20 April 1138, the Christian army including Crusaders from [[Principality of Antioch|Antioch]] and [[County of Edessa|Edessa]] launched an [[Siege of Aleppo (1138)|attack on the city]] but found it too strongly defended, hence John II moved the army southward to take nearby fortresses.{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=215}} On 11 October 1138, [[1138 Aleppo earthquake|a deadly earthquake]] ravaged the city and the surrounding area. Although estimates from this time are very unreliable, it is believed that 230,000 people died, making it the [[Lists of earthquakes#Deadliest earthquakes|seventh deadliest]] earthquake in recorded history.

In 1183, Aleppo came under the control of [[Saladin]] and then the [[Ayyubid dynasty]]. When the Ayyubids were toppled in Egypt by the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]], the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo [[An-Nasir Yusuf]] became sultan of the remaining part of the Ayyubid Empire. He ruled Syria from his seat in Aleppo until, on 24 January 1260,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jackson, Peter |title=The Crisis in the Holy Land in 1260 |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |volume=95 |date=July 1980 |pages=481–513 |issue=376 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCV.CCCLXXVI.481}}</ref> the [[Siege of Aleppo (1260)|city was taken]] by the [[Mongols]] under [[Hulagu]] in alliance with their vassals the [[Franks|Frankish]] knights of the ruler of Antioch [[Bohemond VI]] and his father-in-law the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenian]] ruler [[Hethum I, King of Armenia|Hethum I]].<ref>''Histoire des Croisades'', René Grousset, p. 581, {{ISBN|2-262-02569-X}}.</ref> The city was poorly defended by Turanshah, and as a result the walls fell after six days of siege, and the [[citadel]] fell four weeks later. The Muslim population was massacred and many Jews were also killed.<ref name="Shelemay1998">{{cite book |author=Kay Kaufman Shelemay |title=Let jasmine rain down: song and remembrance among Syrian Jews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |year=1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-75211-2 |page=70 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Christian population was spared. Turanshah was shown unusual respect by the Mongols, and was allowed to live because of his age and bravery. The city was then given to the former Emir of [[Homs]], [[Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs|al-Ashraf]], and a Mongol garrison was established in the city. Some of the spoils were also given to Hethum I for his assistance in the attack. The Mongol Army then continued on to [[Damascus]], which surrendered, and the Mongols entered the city on 1 March 1260.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=307}}