Khalaf ibn Mula'ib

Sayf al-Dawla Khalaf ibn Mulāʿib al-Ashhabī al-Kilābī (Arabic: سيف الدولة خلف بن ملاعب الأشهبي الكلابي‎) (died 3 February 1106) was semi-independent emir of Homs and Apamea between 1082 and 1090. He was later restored as the emir of Apamea in 1095/96 and held that city until his assassination by the Assassins.

Life

Khalaf ibn Mula'ib belonged to the Arab tribe of Banu Kilab.[1] He was made the emir of Homs in 1082 by the Uqaylid emir of Aleppo, Muslim ibn Quraysh.[2] Muslim installed Khalaf in Homs to serve as buffer between his northern Syrian domain and his Seljuk enemies based in Damascus.[2] Khalaf later expanded his emirate northward to Apamea.[2] He launched an assault on Salamiyah during which he threw the town’s sharif (a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), Ibrahim al-Hashimi, against one of Salamiyah’s towers from a mangonel.[3]

After complaints about Khalaf’s actions reached the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I, the latter dispatched his brother Tutush I, the Seljuk prince of Damascus, and other Seljuk princes in Syria to apprehend Khalaf.[3] He was subsequently ousted from Homs in 1090 and from Apamea in 1091.[3] He was arrested, put into an iron cage, and sent to prison in Isfahan, the Seljuk capital.[3] After Malikshah’s death in 1092, his widow freed Khalaf who then left for Cairo, capital of the Fatimid Caliphate.[3] In 1095/96, representatives of Apamea went to Cairo requesting a governor from the Fatimids.[3] Khalaf was chosen, and may have been proposed by Apamea’s representatives themselves.[3] Khalaf served as the lord of Apamea under the suzerainty of the Fatimids.[3]

On 3 February 1106, Khalaf was assassinated by a squad of Assassins.[4] The assassination was the fruition of a conspiracy by Ridwan, his Nizari ally Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh (the chief da'i of Syria), and their mutual collaborator, a certain Abu’l Fath of Sarmin.[4] The latter was staying in Apamea at the time and arranged for a hole to be made in the city walls, allowing the entry of the Assassins.[4] Khalaf confronted them, but was struck in the abdomen by one of their daggers[4]. He attempted to escape, but died within minutes as a result of his wound.[4] The Ismailis then proclaimed Ridwan as ruler of Apamea.[4] Some of Khalaf’s sons and guards were also killed in the attack, but one of his sons, Musbih, escaped and found refuge with the Banu Munqidh of Shaizar.[4] Musbih later cooperated with the Crusader prince Tancred to take over Apamea in August 1106.[4] After the city’s capture, Tancred gave fiefs in Apamea’s vicinity to Musbih and other surviving sons of Khalaf.[4]

References
  1. Ibn al-Qalanisi, ed. Gibb, p. 72, n. 4.
  2. Ibn al-Qalanisi, p. 72.
  3. Lewis, p. 919.
  4. Ibn al-Qalanisi, ed. Gibb, pp. 72–73.

Bibliography
  • Lewis, B. (1995). "Khalaf ibn Mula'ib". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VIII: Ned–Sam. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 919. ISBN 90-04-09834-8.
  • Ibn al-Qalanisi (2002) [1932]. Gibb, H. A. R. (ed.). The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades: Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn Al-Qalanisi (2nd ed.). Luzac and Co.
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