Najm ad-Dīn Ilghāzī

Najm ad-Dīn Ilghāzī was an Artuqid ruler who governed in Diyarbakır, in what is now southeastern Turkey. The Artuqid dynasty, of Turkmen origin, split into two branches: one ruling from Ḥisn Kayfā and ʿĀmid, and the other from Mardin and Mayyāfāriqīn. Ilghāzī became governor of Diyarbakır around 1107 and established Mardin as the capital for his line of the dynasty. He organized a Turkmen coalition and gained control of all of Diyarbakır by 1118. In 1119, he defeated European crusaders who were threatening Aleppo. The Artuqids later became vassals to the Zangids and subsequently to Saladin. The branch in Ḥisn Kayfā was eliminated by the Seljuqs in 1232, while the Mardin branch persisted under Mongol rule until 1408.1