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1197, Zengids of Sinjar, Imad al Din Zengi II. Bronze Dirham Coin. VF-

Culture: Zengids of Sinjar Denomination: AE Dirhem Reference:  Album 1879.2. Mint Period: 1170-1197 AD Ruler: Imad al Din Zengi II, 1170-1197 AD. Condition: Greenish  and rusty deposits (vendigris), otherwise VF! Diameter: 24mm Material: Bronze Weight: 7.24gm

Obverse: Double headed eagle with the name and titles of the Abbasid caliph al Nasir on breast; mint and date aroundr.   Reverse: Four line legend citing Zengi; tamghas at sides.

The Zengid (or Zangid) dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turkish origin, which ruled parts of Syria and northern Iraq on behalf of the Seljuk Empire.

The dynasty was founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi, who became the Seljuk Atabeg (governor) of Mosul in 1127. He quickly became the chief Turkish potentate in Northern Syria and Iraq, taking Aleppo from the squabbling Artuqids in 1128 and capturing the County of Edessa from the Crusaders in 1144. This latter feat made Zengi a hero in the   Muslim world, but he was assassinated by a slave two years later, in   1146.

On Zengi's death, his territories were divided, with Mosul and his lands in Iraq going to his eldest son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I, and Aleppo and Edessa falling to his second son, Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo. Nur ad-Din proved to be as competent as his father. In 1149 he defeated Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, at the battle of Inab, and the next year conquered the remnants of the County of Edessa west of the Euphrates. In 1154 he capped off these successes by his capture of Damascus from the Burid dynasty that ruled it.

Now ruling from Damascus, Nur ad-Din's success continued. Another Prince of Antioch, Raynald of Châtillon was captured, and the territories of the Principality of Antioch were greatly reduced. In the 1160s, Nur ad-Din's attention was mostly held by a competition with the King of Jerusalem, Amalric of Jerusalem, for control of the Fatimid Caliphate. Ultimately, Nur ed-Din's Kurdish general Shirkuh was successful in conquering Fatimid Egypt in 1169, but Shirkuh's nephew and successor as Governor of Egypt, Saladin, eventually rejected Nur ad-Din's control.

Nur ad-Din was preparing to invade Egypt to bring Saladin under   control when he unexpectedly died in 1174. His son and successor As-Salih Ismail al-Malik was only a child, and was forced to flee to Aleppo, which he ruled   until 1181, when he was murdered and replaced by his relation, the   Atabeg of Mosul. Saladin conquered Aleppo two years later, ending Zengid   rule in Syria.

Zengid princes continued to rule in Northern Iraq well into the 13th   century, ruling Mosul until 1234; their rule did not come finally to an   end until 1250.

Imad ad-Din Zengi (Arabic: عماد الدین زنكي‎; c. 1085 – 14 September 1146), also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was an Oghuz Turkish atabeg who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and Edessa. He was the namesake of the Zengid dynasty. 

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