Editing Homs (section)

===Saljuqid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk rule===
{{Further|Abbasid dynasty|Seljuk Sultanate|Ayyubids|Mamluk Sultanate}}
The [[First Crusade]] was launched in 1096, and in 1098, the Crusaders captured [[Antioch]] to the northwest, looted [[Ma'arrat al-Nu'man]], and finally besieged Homs itself. Although they managed to cut the city off from its main port [[Tartus]], they failed in taking the city. Soon after, Homs came under the control of the Saljuqid ruler of [[Damascus]], [[Duqaq (Seljuk ruler of Damascus)|Duqaq]], who transformed it into a large, fortified camp and key fortress effectively preventing the Crusaders from penetrating deeper into Muslim territory. Immune from attack, Homs became a point where the Muslims could marshal their forces and launch raids against Crusader holdings along the Mediterranean coast.<ref name="Dumper"/> In the early 12th century, the Saljuqids engaged in internal fighting, during which Homs was often a prize. In 1149 the [[Mosul]]-based [[Zangid]]s under [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Nur al-Din]] captured the city.<ref name="Dumper2">Dumper, 2007, p. 173.</ref>

Muslim geographer [[al-Idrisi]] noted in 1154 that Homs was populous, had paved streets, possessed one of the largest mosques in Syria, contained open markets, and was frequented by travellers attracted to its "products and rarities of all kinds." He also reported that its residents were "pleasant; living with them is easy, and their manners are agreeable. The women are beautiful and are celebrated for their fine skin."<ref>le Strange, 1890, p. 354.</ref> A series of earthquakes in 1157 inflicted heavy damage upon Homs and its fortress, then in 1170, a minor quake finished off the latter. However, because of its strategic importance, being opposite of the Crusader [[County of Tripoli]], the city and its fortifications were soon restored. In 1164, Nur al-Din awarded Homs to [[Asad ad-Din Shirkuh]] as a [[Iqta'|''iqtâ''']], but reclaimed it five years later following Shirkuh's death. The latter's nephew, [[Saladin]], occupied Homs in early December 1174, but the garrison at the citadel resisted.{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=61}} He later departed for Aleppo, and left a small army in Homs' lower town.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=98}} The defenders of the citadel offered to set their Christian prisoners free, if [[Raymond III, Count of Tripoli]] provided military assistance for them.{{sfn|Lewis|2017|p=239}} [[William of Tyre]] later emphasized that the commanders of the crusader army doubted if the defenders of the Homs citadel actually wanted to release their prisoners.{{sfn|Lewis|2017|p=240}} Saladin returned to Homs soon after he was informed about the negotiations between the crusaders and the garrison.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=99}} Instead of attacking him, the crusader army retreated to Krak des Chevaliers;{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=99}} this enabled Saladin to capture the citadel on 17 March 1175.{{sfn|Lock|2006|p=62}} In 1179, after reorganising his territories in northern Syria, Saladin restored Homs to his [[Ayyubid dynasty]]. Shirkuh's descendants retained Homs for nearly a century until 1262 with the death of [[al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs|al-Ashraf Musa]]. In 1225, Arab geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] mentioned that Homs was large, celebrated and walled, having a strongly fortified castle on its southern hill.<ref name="Hamawi"/>

[[File:1281BattleOfHoms.JPG|thumb|Mamluks chasing archers at the [[Second Battle of Homs|Homs Battle of 1281]] (manuscript of ''[[La Fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient]]'', [[BnF]], NAF 886, ''folio'' No. 27, ''verso'')]]
[[File:BattleOfHoms1299.JPG|thumb|Mamluks being chased by archers at the [[Third Battle of Homs|Homs Battle of 1299]] (same manuscript, ''folio'' No. 31, ''verso'')]]
Towards the end of Ayyubid rule, Homs remained a centrepiece of the wars between them and the Crusaders, as well as internecine conflicts with the [[Mongol Empire]] and the [[Mamluk]]s.<ref name="Dumper2"/> The [[First Battle of Homs]] between the Mongols and the Mamluks took place on 10 December 1260, ending in a decisive Mamluk victory. The [[Second Battle of Homs]] was fought on 29 October 1281, also ending in a Mamluk victory. The Mamluks were finally defeated in the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar]], also known as the "Third Battle of Homs", in 1299.<ref name="Dumper2"/>

Homs declined politically after falling to the Mamluks under [[Baibars]] because their campaigns effectively drove out the Crusaders and the Mongols from the entirety of Syria. At the beginning of the 14th century, the city was merely the capital of the smallest province of Syria and was often attached to the province of Damascus.<ref name="Dumper2"/> [[Ibn Battuta|Ibn Batuta]] visited Homs in 1355, writing that it had fine trees, good markets, and a "fine Friday Mosque", noting that all of its inhabitants were Arabs.<ref>Ibn Batuta quoted in le Strange, 1890, p. 357.</ref> [[Timur]] seized the city in 1400. Nevertheless, he did not sack it as he did in Aleppo, Hama and later Damascus, due to a man called "'Amr bin al-Rawas" who conciled with him offering precious gifts to save the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mohammad Amin Sheikho|title=حقيقة تيمورلنك العظيم تظهر في القرن الواحد والعشرين- الجزء الثاني|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TAEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT42|publisher=دار نور البشير|year=2011|page=43|language=ar|author-link=Mohammad Amin Sheikho|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923075043/https://books.google.com/books?id=_TAEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT42|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in the 15th century as Mamluk weakness had brought insecurity to the countryside, Homs was ravaged by [[Bedouin]] raids; In 1510 a powerful tribe led by al-Fadl bin Nu'ayr was sent on an expedition by the governor of Damascus to loot the city markets as Homs had failed to pay compensation for his "services".<ref name="Dumper2"/>