Relations of Nur al-Din Zengi with Christian States on the northern border

During the critical period of the Crusaders invading the East, it was predicted that the Zengids who managed to keep a large part of Anatolia, Syria and Iraq would be eradicated following the death of Imad al-Din Zengi in 1146. But one of his sons, Nur al-Din Mahmud, distinguished amongst his sibling, with characteristics such courage and determination to fight against his rivals together with the ambition of expanding his territory proved him to be a good successor to his father. Nur al-Din who made Aleppo his capital in Syria, was well aware of the crusaders as the greatest danger to his realm and to the Muslim world as a whole. Amongst the neighbouring crusader territory was the Principality of Antioch which had been the focus for securing Nur al-Din’s northern borders. Additional threats on the northern borders emanated from the Armenian principality which held a significant portion of the Mediterranean coastal area and the Byzantine empire which attack the northern region periodically and were both challenging adversaries to Nur al-Din. This paper will examine the policy of Nur al-Din on the northern borders with non-Muslim states, namely the Crusaders, Armenians and Byzantines