Zengid dynasty

State · 1139–1259 CE · at its largest around 1169 CE

Turkic dynasty founded by Imad al-Din Zengi in Mosul and Aleppo; his son Nur al-Din united Muslim Syria against the crusaders before Saladin supplanted the line.

On its lands while it lasted

Edessa (302 BCE – 1150 CE): Capital of Kingdom of Osroene (63 BCE–214), County of Edessa (1099–1150).
Palmyra (c. 261–1929 CE): Capital of Palmyrene Empire (261–269).
Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE): The Abbasid dynasty, descended from Muhammad's uncle, took the caliphate from the Umayyads and ruled from Iraq, presiding over the Islamic Golden Age.
Knights Templar (c. 1119–1312 CE): Hugues de Payens and fellow knights founded this military order in Jerusalem around 1119 to protect pilgrims, with headquarters on the Temple Mount. It grew rich and powerful until Pope Clement V dissolved it in 1312 under pressure from Philip IV of France.
Saladin (c. 1137 CE – 1193 CE): Kurdish founder of the Ayyubid dynasty who became sultan of Egypt and Syria, defeated the crusaders at Hattin and retook Jerusalem in 1187.
Maimonides (c. 1138 CE – 1204 CE): A Jewish philosopher, legal scholar and physician from Córdoba who settled in Fustat, author of the Mishneh Torah and The Guide for the Perplexed.
Mosul (c. 1139 CE): Capital of Zengid dynasty (1139–1250), Qara Qoyunlu (1375–1467).
Krak des Chevaliers (1142 CE): A crusader castle in Syria given to the Knights Hospitaller in 1142 and greatly expanded by them, it is one of the best-preserved medieval castles.
Battle of Hattin (1187 CE): Saladin destroyed the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem near Tiberias, leading to his recapture of Jerusalem later that year.
Third Crusade (1189–1192 CE): Led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France and Frederick Barbarossa, it retook Acre and much of the coast but failed to recover Jerusalem.
Teutonic Order (1190 CE): German crusaders founded the order as a field hospital at the siege of Acre in 1190, and it became a military order in 1198. It later conquered Prussia and ruled a state on the Baltic coast until 1525.
Nicosia (c. 1192 CE): Capital of Kingdom of Cyprus (1192–1489), Republic of Cyprus (1961–today).
Rumi (1207 CE – 1273 CE): A Persian poet, jurist and Sufi mystic who lived in Konya; his Masnavi is among the most celebrated works of Persian poetry, and his followers founded the Mevlevi order.
Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517 CE): Mamluk slave-soldiers seized power in Egypt, founding a sultanate that ruled Egypt and Syria until the Ottoman conquest.
Mongol sack of Baghdad (1258 CE): Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan captured and sacked Baghdad, killing the last Abbasid caliph in Baghdad and ending the Abbasid Caliphate there.