The Role of Personal Bias in Historical Narratives: ‘Imād al-Dīn al-Isfahānī’s Portrayal of ‘Imād al-Dīn Zangī

Abstract

Bu makale tarihsel anlatılarda kişisel ön yargının rolünü incelemekte ve tarihçi İmâdüddin el-İsfahânî’nin Nuṣretü’l-fetre adlı eserinde İmâdüddin Zengî’yi nasıl tasvir ettiğine odaklanmaktadır. İsfahânî’nin Zengî’yi betimlemesi dikkate değer derecede olumsuzdur; onu Nizârî İsmâilî Haşhaşîler’le ittifak yapmak ve zalimce davranışlar sergilemek gibi çeşitli olumsuz özelliklerle ilişkilendirir. Çalışma İsfahânî’nin ön yargısının kişisel husumet ile Eyyûbîler tarafından Zengîliler’i itibarsızlaştırmayı amaçlayan propaganda etkisinden kaynaklandığını ileri sürmektedir. Bu bakış açısı, Zengî’yi âdil ve yetenekli bir hükümdar olarak tasvir eden müslüman, hıristiyan ve Süryânî kaynakları dahil olmak üzere diğer çağdaş anlatılarla karşılaştırılmaktadır; özellikle onun topraklarını güvence altına alma ve geliştirme çabaları vurgulanmaktadır. Makale tarihsel kaynakların eleştirel bir yaklaşımla değerlendirilmesinin, özellikle kişisel ön yargıların anlatının doğruluğunu etkileyebileceği durumlarda, önemine dikkat çekmektedir.

Keywords

• ʿİmād al-Dīn Zengī
• ʿİmād al-Dīn el-İsfahānī
• Zengîler
• Eyyûbî propagandası
• Tarih yazımı

The Role of Personal Bias in Historical Narratives: ‘Imād al-Dīn al-Isfahānī’s Portrayal of ‘Imād al-Dīn Zangī

Abstract

The article examines the role of personal bias in historical narratives, focusing on the portrayal of ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī by the historian ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī in his work Nuṣrat al-fatra. Al-Iṣfahānī’s depiction of Zangī is notably hostile, attributing various negative traits and actions to him, such as alliances with the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī Assassins and tyrannical behavior. The study suggests that al-Iṣfahānī’s bias stems from personal animosity and Ayyubid propaganda, which aimed to undermine the Zangids. This view is contrasted with other contemporary sources, including Muslim, Christian, and Syriac accounts, which often portray Zangī in a more favorable light as a just and capable ruler, particularly in his efforts to secure and develop his territories. The article highlights the importance of critically assessing historical sources, especially when personal biases may influence the accuracy of the narrative.

Keywords

• Imād al-Dīn Zangī
• Imād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī
• Zangids
• Ayyubid propaganda
• Historiography.

Supporting Institution

non

References

1. Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad, Akhlāq al-wazīrayn, ed. Muḥammad b. Tawit Altanji, Beirut: Dār Sādir, 1991.
2. Abū Hudhūd, Tāriq, Ibn al-Athīr wa-dawruhu fī al-Kitābāt al-Tārīkhīyah, Amman: Dār fiḍā’āt, 2009.
3. Abū Shamah, ʿAbd al-Raḥman b. Ismaʿīl, al-Rawḍatayn fī akhbār al-dawlatayn al-nūrīyah wa-al-ṣalāḥīyah, ed. Ibrāhīm al-Zeibag, Beirut: Mu’assasat al-risālah, 1997.
4. Aḥmad, Muḥammad Hilmy, “Some Notes on Arabic Historiography during the Zengid and Ayyubid Periods (521/1127-648/1250)” in Historians of the Middle East, ed. Bernard Lewis - P. M. Holt, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962.
5. al-ʿAshmāwī, Shīrīn, Kitābāt Ibn Abī Ṭay’ fī al-maṣādir al-Islāmīyah, Dirāsah taḥlīlīyah, Cairo: Maktabat al-thaqāfah al-dīnīyah, 2010.
6. al-ʿAzīmī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Ḥalabī, Kitab al-Tārīkh al-ʿazīmī (al-ʿAzīmī history book), ed. ʿIssām Oqleh, London: Mu’assasat al-Furqān lil-turāth al-Islāmī, 2024.
7. al-Bundārī, al-Fatḥ b. ʿAlī, Sanā al-barq al-Shāmī, ed. Fatḥīyah al-Nabrāwī, Cairo: Maktabat al-Khānjī, 1979.
8. al-Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿUthmān Shams al-Dīn, Tārīkh al-Islām wa-wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa-al-aʿyān, ed. Bashār ʿAwād Maʿrūf, Beirut: Dār al-gharb al-Islāmī, 2003.

9. al-Fāriqī, Aḥmad b. Yūsuf, Tārīkh al-Fāriqī, ed. ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām Tadmurī, Beirut: al-Maktabah al-ʿaṣrīyah, 2016.
10. al-Husaynī, Ṣadr al-Dīn ʿAlī b. Nāṣir, Zubdat al-tawārīkh, ed. Muḥammad Nūr al-Dīn, Beirut: Dār iqrā’, 1985.
11. al-Iṣfahānī, ʿImād al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, Kharīdat al-qaṣr wa-jarīdat al-ʿaṣr. ed. ʿAdnān Muḥammad al-Tu’meh, Tehran, 2000.
12. al-Iṣfahānī, ʿImād al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, Kharīdat al-Qaṣr wa-Jarīdat al-ʿAṣr, ed. Muḥammad Bahjat al-Atharī, Baghdad: al-Majmaʿ al-ʿIlmī al-ʿIrāqī, 1959.
13. al-Iṣfahānī, ʿImād al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, Nuṣrat al-fatra wa-ʿuṣrat al-fiṭra, ed. ʿIssām Oqleh, London: Mu’assasat al-Furqān lil-turāth al-Islāmī, 2019.
14. al-Qalqashandī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad, Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā fī ṣināʿat al-inshā’, Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Khadiwīyah, 1915.
15. Alrawadieh, Almahdi, “The History of the Baṭaniyyah in Aleppo and Its Vicinity until the Middle of the Seventh Century AH/ Thirteenth Century AD”, Jordan Journal for History and Archaeology (JJHA), 12/3 (2018).
16. Alrawadieh, Almahdi - Issam Mustafa Okleh, “Shi‘ites in Aleppo during the Seljuq, Zangid and Ayyūbid Periods (479–658 AH/1086–1260 CE)”, Journal of Shi’a Islamic Studies, 14/3 (2021).
17. al-Ruhāwī al-Majhūl, tārīkh al-Ruhāwī al-majhūl, Trans., Albeer Abouna, Baghdad: Maṭbaʿat Shafīq, 1986.
18. Barthold, Wilhelm, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928.
19. Belotto, Nicholas, Power and Legitimacy in the Medieval Muslim World: The Career of Imad al-Din Zengi (1085-1146), M.A. Thesis, Florida Atlantic University, 2014.
20. Cahen, Claude, “The Historiography of the Seljuqid period”, in Historians of the Middle East, ed. Bernard Lewis - P. M. Holt, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1962.
21. Daftari, Firhad, The Ismaʿilis: Their History and Beliefs, Trans., Sayf al-Dīn Qaṣir, Beirut: Dār al-Sāqī, 2017.
22. Gibb, Hamilton, “al-Barq al-Shamī: The History of Saladin by the Kātib ʿImād ad-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī”, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 52 (1953).
23. Gibb, Hamilton, “Saladin al-Ayyubid”, in Studies on Islamic History, ed. Yousef Aybash, Beirut: Dār Bīsān, 1996.
24. Heidemann, Stefan, “Zangī”, The Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden, Brill. 2002, II, 451-452.
25. Hillenbrand, Carole, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives, New York: Routledge, 1999.
26. Ibn al-ʿAdīm, Kamāl al-Dīn b. Aḥmad, Bughyat al-ṭalab fī tārīkh Ḥalab, ed. Almahdi Alrawadieh, London: Mu’assasat al-Furqān lil-turāth al-Islāmī, 2016.
27. Ibn al-ʿAdīm, Kamāl al-Dīn b. Aḥmad, Zubdat al-Ḥalab min tārīkh Ḥalab, ed. Suhayl Zakkār, Damascus and Cairo: Dār al-kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1997.
28. Ibn al-Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Jazarī, al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh, Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1979.
29. Ibn al-Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Jazarī, al-Tārīkh al-bāhir fī al-dawlah al-Atabakīyah, ed. ʿAbd al-Qādir Ṭulaymāt, Cairo: Dār al-kutub al-ḥadīthah, 1963.
30. Ibn al-Dubaythī, Muḥammad b. Saʿīd, Ḍhayl tārīkh Baghdād, ed. Bashār ʿAwad Maʿrūf, Beirut: Dār al-gharb al-Islāmī, 2006.
31. Ibn al-Furāt, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm, Tārīkh al-duwal wa-al-mulūk, Part 2, (manuscript), in the National Library, Vienna, No: A.F814.
32. Ibn al-ʿIbrī, Abū al-Faraj Ghrīghūras al-Malṭī, Tārīkh al-zamān, Trans., Isḥāq Armalah, Beirut: Dār al-shurūq, 1991.
33. Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī, al-Muntaẓam fī tārīkh al-umam wa-al-mulūk, ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā - Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā, Beirut: Dār al-kutub al-ʿilmīyah, 1992.
34. Ibn al-Qalānisī, Ḥamzah b. Asad al-Tamīmī, Ḍhayl tārīkh Dimashq, ed. Suhayl Zakkār, Damascus: Dār al-fikr, 1983.
35. Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan b. Ḥibbat Allāh, Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq, ed. Muḥibb al-Dīn ʿUmar b. Gharāmah al-ʿUmarī, Beirut: Dār al-fikr, 1996.
36. Ibn Khallikān, Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, Wafīyāt al-aʿyān wa-anbā’ abnā’ al-zaman, ed. Iḥsān ʿAbbās, Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1969.
37. Ibn Shakir al-Kutubī, Muḥammad,ʿUyūn al-tāwarīkh, ed. Faysal al-Samirra’, Baghdad: Dār al-ḥurrīyah, 1977.
38. Issam Okleh - Nadjib Benkheira, “The Saljuq al-Malik Dā’ūd ibn Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad and his role in the struggle for the throne of the Saljuq Sultanate (525-538 AH/ 1131-1143 AD)”, Jordan Journal for History and Archeology (JJHA), 15/2 (2021).
39. Khaÿat, Henri Michel, “The Šite rebellions in Aleppo in the 6th A. H./12th CE Century”, Rivista degli studi orientali, 46/3-4, 1971.
40. Köhler, Michael, Alliances and Treaties between Frankish and Muslim Rulers in the Middle East, Leiden: Brill, 2013.
41. Lambton, P.K.S., “Anūshirwān b. Khālid”, The Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 1986, I, 522-523.
42. Lewis, Bernard, The Assassins: A radical Sect in Islam, Oxford University Press, 1987.
43. Massé, Henri, “ʿImād al-Din”, The Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 1986, III, 1157-1158.
44. McAuliffe, J. D. (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, I-VI, Leiden, Brill, 2001-2006.
45. Mīkhā’īl al-Siryānī (Michael the Syrian), Tārīkh Mār Mīkha’īl al-Kabīr, Trans., Mar Gregoros Ṣalībā Shamʿūn, Dār Mārdīn, Aleppo, 1996.
46. Okleh, Issam, “Emir Sewar Bracelt (sic) Bin Aitken and his role in the Muslim Conflict Crusader 1123-1146 AD-517-541 AH)”, Dirāsāt: Human and Social Sciences. University of Jordan, 41/3 (2014).
47. Peacock, Andrew, “ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī’s Nuṣrat al-fatra, Seljuq politics and Ayyubid origins”, in Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran, ed. Robert Hillenbrand - Andrew Peacock - Firuza Abdullaeva, London, New York: I. B. Tauris, 2013.
48. Plamper, Jan, “The History of Emotions”, History and Theory, 49/2 (2010).
49. Richter-Bernburg, Lutz, “ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī”, Medieval Muslim Historians and the Franks in the Levant, Brill, 2014.
50. Richter-Bernburg, Lutz, Der syrische Blitz: Saladins Sekretär zwischen Selbstdarstellung und Geschichtsschreibung, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, Beirut, 1998.
51. Richter-Bernburg, Lutz, “Funken aus dem kalten Flint: ‘Imād ad-Dīn al-Kātib al-Iṣfahānī (I), Die Welt des Orients, 20-21 (1989-1990).
52. Rosenthal, Franz, “al-Kutubī”, Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden, Brill, 1986, V, 570-571.
53. Scheer, Monique, “Are Emotions a Kind of Practice (and is that what makes them have a history)? A bourdieuian approach to understanding emotion”, History and Theory, 51/2 (2012).
54. Sibt Ibn al-Jawzī, Yūsuf b. Giz Oghli, Mirāt al-zaman, ed. Ibrāhīm al-Zeibag, Beirut: Mu’assasat al-risālah, 2013.
55. Telfah, Modar, “The Abbasid caliphate Recognition of the Ayyubid State in 1175: A study of the caliphate’s Relationship with the West Wing Powers in the Second Half of the 12th Century.” Mu’tah Lil-Buḥūth wad-Dirāsāt – Social and Human Sciences Series, 32/2 (2017).
56. Wilyam al-Ṣūrī (William of Tyre), al-Aʿmāl al-Munjazah fīmā warā’ al-Biḥār (History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea), Trans., Ḥasan Ḥabashī, Cairo: al-Hay’ah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʿāmmah lil-kitāb, 1990.
57. Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥamawī. Muʿjam al-udabā’ aw irshād al-arīb ilā maʿrifat al-adīb, ed. Iḥsān ʿAbbās, Beirut: Dār al-gharb al-Islāmī, 1993.