Farrukh Shah

This article is about Farrukhshah the 12th century amir of Baalbek. For Farrukh-Shah the 12th century amir of Kerman. For please see Farrukh-Shah

Al-Malik al-Mansur Izz ad-Din Abu Sa'id Farrukhshah Dawud was the Ayyubid Emir of Baalbek between 1179 and 1182 and Na'ib (Viceroy) of Damascus.^[1] He was the son of Saladin’s younger brother Nur ad-Din Shahanshah and the older brother of Taqi ad-Din Umar who became Emir of Hama.

In 1178 Saladin decided that the administration of his brother Shams ad-Din Turanshah in Damascus was too lax, and its relations with the Zangid rulers of Aleppo rather too friendly. He therefore moved Turanshah and selected his nephew Farrukhshah as his successor. Farrukhshah had already proved himself to be a good soldier and he appears to have met Saladin’s expectations as an administrator, as he remained viceroy of Damascus until his death in October 1182 (Jumada 1 578).

Turanshah was compensated for his loss of Damascus with the domain of Baalbek, but he did not hold it for long. In May 1179 (Dhu’l Qa’da 574) Saladin moved him again and made him governor of Alexandria. For a second time, Farrukhshah was the beneficiary of Turanshah’s removal and Saladin gave him Baalbek.^[2] Much of his reign was occupied in supporting Saladin’s wars against the crusaders.^[3] Shortly after his appointment to Baalbek, Farrukhshah won a victory near the fortress of Belfort against Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, killing Humphrey II of Toron.^[4]

Farrukhshah died in September 1182 (Jumada I 578) leaving a young boy, al-Amjad Bahramshah, as his successor.^[5]

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