Editing Kerbogha

{{Short description|11/12th-century ruler of Mosul}}
'''Qiwam al-Dawla Kerbogha''' ({{langx|tr|Kürboğa}}), <!--Named "Curbara" in ''Gesta Francorum'' (source #5)?--> known as '''Kerbogha''' or '''Karbughā''', was [[List of rulers of Mosul#Seljuk Atabegs|atabeg of Mosul]] during the [[First Crusade]] and was renowned as a soldier.<ref>Taefl El-Azhari (2006).  In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. pp. 704–705.</ref><ref>Runciman, Steven. ''A History of the Crusades''. [[Cambridge University Press]], 1987. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IfY8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA215&dq=kerbogha+atabeg+turkish&hl=tr&sig=ewqkFqphdCaAKU20Xj5B5yFxTxA p. 215]</ref>

[[File:Kerbogha Antiochie.jpg|thumb|250px|Kerbogha besieges Antioch in 1098. Miniature from 1337.]]

== Early life ==

Kerbogha was a [[Seljuks|Seljuk Turk]] who owed his success to his military talent.<ref>Bradbury, Jim. ''The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare''. [[Routledge]], 2004. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1C54r8GgrUIC&pg=PA55&dq=kerbogha+atabeg+turk&hl=tr&sig=DUPERrgdQH5AKG_fkHUPz317B2Y p. 55]</ref> He supported [[Malik-Shah I]]'s wife [[Terken Khatun (wife of Malik-Shah I)|Terken Khatun]] and her four-year-old son [[Mahmud I of Great Seljuk|Mahmud I]] who was installed on the throne at [[Baghdad]].{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=103}} Kerbogha was sent with an army to secure [[Isfahan]] and to arrest [[Berkyaruq]].{{sfn|Peacock|2015|p=76}} However, Mahmud's supporters were defeated by Berkyaruq' forces at Isfahan in January 1093.{{sfn|Bosworth|1997|pp=12–13}} A month later, he joined the Seljuk prince Ismail ibn Yaquti against Berkyaruq army which was victorious once more. Later on, Kerbogha joined Berkyaruq, then he was sent in 1094 to fight against [[Tutush I]] who declared himself Sultan in [[Syria]], but he was imprisoned along with his brother Altuntaş in [[Aleppo]] then [[Homs]]. Upon the death of Tutush, he was released by [[Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan]].

In 1095, he served under the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[Al-Mustazhir]] in his attempted reconquest of [[Aleppo]]. In 1096, he managed to capture [[Harran]], [[Nisbis]] and [[Mosul]], in which he ended the [[Uqaylid Dynasty]] rule.

== The First Crusade ==

In 1098, when he heard that the Crusaders had [[Siege of Antioch|besieged Antioch]], he gathered his troops and marched to relieve the city. He departed from Mosul on 31 March.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brosset |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-24 |title=The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha's Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=36 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=281–303 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205 |issn=0950-3110|doi-access=free }}</ref> On his way, he attempted to regain [[Edessa]] following its recent conquest by [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem|Baldwin I]], so as not to leave any Frankish garrisons behind him on his way to [[Antioch]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Runciman|first1=Steven|title=A History of the Crusades I: The First Crusade|date=1951–52|publisher=Penguin Classics|isbn=978-0-141-98550-3|page=191}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brosset |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-24 |title=The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha's Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=36 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=10–11 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205 |issn=0950-3110|doi-access=free }}</ref> For three weeks he pointlessly besieged the city before deciding to continue on to Antioch. His reinforcements could have perhaps ended the Crusade before the walls of Antioch, and, indeed, the whole Crusade was perhaps saved by his time wasted at Edessa.{{According to whom|date=January 2025}} By the time he arrived, around June 7, the Crusaders had already won the siege, and had held the city since 3 June. They were not able to restock the city before Kerbogha, in turn, began his siege.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

During the siege, on 27 June, [[Peter the Hermit]] was sent as emissary to Kerbogha by the Crusaders to suggest that the parties settle all differences by a duel. Presumably feeling his position secure, Kerbogha did not see this course of action as being in his interest, and he declined.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brosset |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-24 |title=The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha's Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=36 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=18–19 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205 |issn=0950-3110|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Meanwhile, inside the city, [[Peter Bartholomew]] claimed to have discovered the [[Holy Lance]] through a vision. This discovery re-energized the Christian army. At the same time, disagreements and infighting broke out within the Atabeg's army. Kerbogha's mighty army was actually made up of semi-nomadic Turkmen, adding to regular armies and levies from Mosul, [[Al-Jazira (caliphal province)|Jazira]], Palestine, and Damascus,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brosset |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-24 |title=The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha's Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=36 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=13–14 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205 |issn=0950-3110|doi-access=free }}</ref> and the internal quarrels amongst the Emirs took precedence over any unity against the Franks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Brosset |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-24 |title=The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha's Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=36 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=281–303 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205 |issn=0950-3110|doi-access=free }}</ref> The only thing that united his allies was a common fear of Kerbogha's real goal, which was the conquest of all their lands. If Antioch fell to him, he would have been invincible.<ref>Jones, Terry., Ereira, Alan. "''Crusades''". [[Penguin Books]], 1996. p. 43</ref>

On 28 June, when [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond]], the leader of the Christian army, decided to [[Battle of Antioch (1098)|attack]], the Emirs decided to humble Kerbogha by abandoning him at the critical moment.<ref name=":0" /> Kerbogha was taken by surprise by the organization and discipline of the Christian army. This motivated, unified Christian army was in fact so large that Kerbogha's strategy of dividing his own forces was ineffective.<ref>''Gesta Francorum:The Defeat of Kerbogha'', excerpt online at [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gesta-cde.html Medieval Sourcebook], accessed November, 2008.</ref> He was quickly routed by the Crusaders. He was forced to retreat, and returned to Mosul a broken man.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== Later life ==
Despite his defeats outside the cities of both Edessa and Antioch, Kerbogha's position in Mosul went unchallenged through the rest of his life. He spent time raising [[Imad ad-Din Zengi]], the namesake of the [[Zengid dynasty]], who took power in Mosul in 1127 following the rule of a series of Seljuk vassals after Kerbogha's death in 1102.

==See also==
*[[Baldwin and Arnold of Beauvais]]
*[[Baldwin I of Jerusalem]]
*[[First Crusade]]
*[[Siege of Antioch]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book | title = The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Saljuq and Mongol periods | year = 1968 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | editor-last = Frye | editor-first = R. N. | last = Bosworth | first = C. E. | author-link = C. E. Bosworth | chapter = The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217) | pages = 1–202 | isbn = 0-521-06936-X | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=16yHq5v3QZAC&pg=PA1}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Ebn Dārost, Tāj al-Molk Abu'l-Ḡanā'em Marzbān | last =  Bosworth | first = C. E. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ebn-darost-taj-al-molk | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1 | pages = 12–13 | year = 1997 }}
* Thomas Brosset, "The First Crusade and the Failure of Kerbogha’s Campaign from Mosul to Antioch (March–June 1098): A Re-evaluation", ''Al-Masāq'', 24 Avril 2024, p. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2024.2342205.
* {{cite book | title = The Great Seljuk Empire | year = 2015 | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | last = Peacock | first = A. C. S. | author-link = A. C. S. Peacock | pages = 1–378 | isbn = 9780748638260 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vx_BPQAACAAJ }}

[[Category:Muslims of the First Crusade]]
[[Category:Atabegs]]
[[Category:11th-century military personnel]]
[[Category:Government officials of the Seljuk Empire]]
[[Category:11th-century monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:Emirs of Mosul]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1102 deaths]]