Battle of Inab

The Battle of Inab took place on June 29 between Nur ad-Din and Raymond of Antioch.

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 defended Damascus against the Second Crusade in 1147, which had arrived to avenge the loss of the County of Edessa in 1144. In June of 1149 he 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.

Inab was defended by Prince Raymond, who had allied with Ali ibn-Wafa, leader of the Hashshashin and an enemy of Nur ad-Din. On June 29, Nur ad-Din 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 Sea. Nur ad-Din rode out to the coast and bathed in the sea as a symbol of his conquest.

He 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.

After the victory at Inab, Nur ad-Din became a hero throughout the Islamic world. His goal was now 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 1153, further weakening the Crusader states.

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