Taj al-Mulk Buri

Taj al-Muluk Buri (Arabic: ﺗﺎﺝ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ ﺑﻮﺭﻱ‎‎; died 6 June 1132) was an atabeg of Damascus from 1128 to 1132. He was initially an officer in the army of Duqaq, the Seljuq ruler of Damascus, together with his father Toghtekin. When the latter took power after Duqaq's death, Buri acted as regent and later became atabeg himself. Damascus's Burid dynasty was named for him.

Buri is mentioned for the first time in 1099, when Duqaq sent him to take possession of Jableh, a town between Antioch and Tripoli which had rebelled against Fakhr al-Mulk ibn 'Ammar, qādī of Tripoli. Buri however acted as a despotic governor and the population appealed to Fakhr al-Mulk ibn 'Ammar, who captured him. Buri was however treated well and send back to Damascus.

In 1102, count Raymond IV of Toulouse besieged Tripoli. Fakhr al-Mulk sued for help to Damascus, but in vain. In 1104 Duqaq died and the power went to his vizier Toghtekin. In 1108 Fakhr al-Mulk went to Baghdad to obtain help from the caliph, accompanied by Buri. When the two returned in Damascus, they were informed that Tripoli had fallen into Crusaders' hands. In 1110, the eunuch Gümüshtegin was deposed for intriguing against Buri's father; his domain around Baalbek was given to Buri.

In 1119, Buri led an army against king Baldwin II of Jerusalem, who had raided Adra'āt and halted him on a hill, where the Crusaders entrenched and stood against Buri's assault until he was crushed. On 25 January 1126, Buri fought with his father against the Crusaders at Shaqhab, but they were both defeated by Baldwin II. The winners had however suffered heavy losses, and could not march against Damascus, which was then largely undefended.

Buri succeeded Toghtekin, uncontested, in February 1128. The following year, his vizier discovered a plot set by the Assassins to deliver Damascus to the Crusaders. Baldwin, who ignored that the plot had been brought to light, arrived with his army near Damascus and besieged it. The siege lasted until 5 December 1129, when the western troops were forced to retreat after heavy rains had turned the surroundings of the city into a marsh.

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