Battle of al-Sannabra
Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin
- v
- t
- e
- Xerigordos
- Civetot
- Nicaea
- 1st Dorylaeum
- 1st Antioch
- Samosata
- 2nd Antioch
- Ma'arra
- Arqa
- 1st Jerusalem
- 1st Ascalon
Period post-First Crusade
- Arsuf
- Melitene
- Mersivan
- 1st Heraclea
- 2nd Heraclea
- 1st Ramla
- 2nd Ramla
- 1st Tripoli
- 1st Acre
- Harran
- 3rd Ramla
- Artah
- Beirut
- Sidon
- 1st Shaizar
- Al-Sannabra
- Sarmin
- Ager Sanguinis
- Hab
- Jaffa and Tyre
- Yibneh
- 1st Aleppo
- Azaz
- Marj al-Saffar
- al-Atharib
- Rafaniyya
- Antioch
- Qinnasrin
- Ba'rin
- 2nd Aleppo
- 2nd Shaizar
- Edessa 1144
- Edessa 1146
- Bosra
- 1st Constantinople
- 2nd Dorylaeum
- Ephesus
- Meander Valley
- Mount Cadmus
- Damascus
Period post-Second Crusade
- Inab
- Aintab
- 2nd Ascalon
- Lake Huleh
- Butaiha
- al-Buqaia
- Harim
- 1st Bilbeis
- al-Babein
- 2nd Bilbeis
- 1st Damietta
- Ayla
- Alexandria
- Montgisard
- Hama
- Banias
- Marj Ayyun
- Jacob's Ford
- 2nd Acre
- Red Sea
- 1st Belvoir Castle
- Al-Fule
- 1st Kerak
- Cresson
- 2nd Kerak
- Hattin
- 2nd Jerusalem
- 3rd Tyre
- 2nd Belvoir Castle
- Laodicea
- Sahyun
- Al-Shughur
- Bourzey
- Safed
- 3rd Acre
- Philomelion
- Iconium
- 1st Arsuf
- 1st Jaffa
Period post-Third Crusade
- 2nd Jaffa
- Toron
- Zara
- 2nd Constantinople
- 3rd Constantinople
- Mount Tabor
- Machghara
- 2nd Damietta
- 1st Fariskur
- 1st Mansurah
Sixth Crusade and aftermath
- Gaza
- 3rd Jerusalem
- Forbie
- 3rd Ascalon
- 3rd Damietta
- 2nd Mansurah
- 2nd Fariskur
End of the Crusader states in the Levant
- 2nd Arsuf
- Caesarea
- Haifa
- Safed
- 2nd Antioch
- Eighth Crusade
- Krak des Chevaliers
- 2nd Tripoli
- Lord Edward's Crusade
- Homs
- Margat
- 3rd Tripoli
- 4th Acre
- Ruad
In the Battle of al-Sannabra (1113), a Crusader army led by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem was defeated by a Muslim army sent by the Sultan of the Seljuk Turks and commanded by Mawdud ibn Altuntash of Mosul.
Background
Beginning in 1110, the Seljuk Sultan Muhammad I in Baghdad ordered invasions of the Crusader states for six successive years. "In 1110, 1112, and 1114 the city of Edessa was the objective; in 1113 Galilee was invaded, and in 1111 and 1115 the Latin possessions which lay east of the Orontes between Aleppo and Shaizar."[1]
The attack on Edessa in 1110 failed to take the city. In 1111, Mawdud of Mosul led a host which fought Baldwin I's Frankish army to a draw in the Battle of Shaizar. Afterward, the Muslim leader's army dispersed because of its lack of success and plunder. In 1112 and 1114, the Muslim counterattack against Edessa was weak. In the other four years, the Crusader states - the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli and County of Edessa - joined forces in defense.
Battle
In 1113, Mawdud joined Toghtekin of Damascus and their combined army aimed to cross the Jordan River south of the Sea of Galilee. Baldwin I offered battle near the bridge of al-Sannabra. Mawdud used the device of a feigned flight to entice Baldwin I into rashly ordering a charge.[2] The Frankish army was surprised and beaten when it unexpectedly ran into the main Turkish army.
The surviving Crusaders kept their cohesion and fell back to a hill west of the inland sea where they fortified their camp. In this position they were reinforced from Tripoli and Antioch but remained inert.[1] A number of Christian pilgrims also rallied to the army after al-Sannabra.
Unable to annihilate the Crusaders, Mawdud watched them with his main army while sending raiding columns to ravage the countryside and sack the town of Nablus. In this, Mawdud anticipated the strategy of Saladin in two later campaigns that were marked by the Battle of Belvoir Castle (1182) and the Battle of Al-Fule (1183). As in these campaigns, the Frankish field army could oppose the main Muslim army, but it could not stop raiding forces from doing great damage to crops and towns.
While the Turkish raiders roamed freely through Crusader lands, the local Muslim farmers entered into friendly relations with them. This deeply troubled the Frankish land magnates, who ultimately depended upon rents from cultivators of the soil.
Aftermath
Mawdud was unable to make any permanent conquests after his victory. Soon afterward, he was assassinated and Aq-Sunqur Bursuqi took command of the failed attempt against Edessa in 1114.[3] Roger of Salerno routed the last Seljuk invading army at the Battle of Sarmin after a protracted campaign in 1115.
References
- Smail, R. C. Crusading Warfare 1097-1193. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, (1956) 1995. ISBN 1-56619-769-4