Battle of Inab

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Inab


caption=The battle of Inab
partof=the Crusades
date=June 29, 1149
place=Inab, Syria
result=Zengid victory
combatant1=Principality of Antioch
Hashshashin
combatant2=Zengids of Aleppo
Damascus
commander1=Raymond of Antioch† Ali ibn-Wafa†
commander2=Nur ad-Din
Unur of Damascus
strength1=Unknown
strength2=About 6,000
casualties1=Heavy
casualties2=Unknown
In the Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, the Syrian army of Nur ad-Din destroyed the Crusader army of Raymond of Antioch and the allied followers of Ali ibn-Wafa on June 29, 1149.

Background

Nur ad-Din had gained control of Aleppo on the death of his father Zengi in 1146. He began to attack the Principality of Antioch and successfully defended Damascus against the Second Crusade in 1147, which had arrived to avenge Zengi's capture of the County of Edessa's capital city in 1144. In June of 1149, Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch and besieged the fortress of Inab, with aid from Unur of Damascus and a force of Turcomans. Nur ad-Din had about 6000 troops, mostly cavalry, at his disposal.

Battle

Prince Raymond allied himself with Ali ibn-Wafa, leader of the Hashshashin and an enemy of Nur ad-Din. Before he had collected all his available forces, Raymond and his ally mounted a relief expedition. Upon the approach of the combined force, Nur ad-Din raised the siege of Inab and withdrew. Rather than staying close to the stronghold, Raymond and ibn-Wafa camped with their forces in open country. After Nur ad-Din's scouts noted that the allies camped in an exposed location and did not receive reinforcements, the atabeg swiftly surrounded the enemy camp during the night. [Smail, p 183]

On June 29, Nur ad-Din attacked and destroyed the army of Antioch; both Raymond and ibn-Wafa were killed. Much of the territory of Antioch was now open to Nur ad-Din, the most important of which was a route to the Mediterranean. Nur ad-Din rode out to the coast and bathed in the sea as a symbol of his conquest. One author says the Crusader defeat at Inab was "as disastrous at that of the Ager Sanguinis" [Smail, p 33] a generation earlier. In the aftermath, castles at Harim and Afamiya fell to the victorious atabeg. Harim was not recovered until 1157, then lost permanently in 1164.

Nur ad-Din then went on to besiege Antioch itself, but was unable to take it. Although devastated by the loss of its prince, the city was vigorously defended by Raymond's widow Constance and the Patriarch Aimery of Limoges. King Baldwin III of Jerusalem also marched north to relieve the siege.

Aftermath

After the victory at Inab, Nur ad-Din became a hero throughout the Islamic world. His goal became the destruction of the Crusader states, and the strengthening of Islam through "jihad"; he had already set up religious schools and new mosques in Aleppo, and expelled those he considered heretics from his territory, especially Shiites. "Jihad" was influenced by the presence of the Christian Crusader states as it could be used as an excuse for maintenance of a permanent state of war. Nur ad-Din went on to capture the remnants of the County of Edessa, and brought Damascus under his rule in 1154, further weakening the Crusader states.

References

* Smail, R. C. "Crusading Warfare 1097-1193." New York: Barnes & Noble Books, (1956) 1995. ISBN 1-56619-769-4
* Other sources not cited.

Footnotes