Bektasch

Bektasch , also Baktak or Irtrach († after 1107) was the last nominal ruler (malik) of Damascus from the Turkish-born dynasty of the Seljuks for one month in 1104 .

Bektasch was the youngest son of the Seljuk ruler of Syria , Tutusch I († 1095). When his father died, he was interned in Baalbek by his half-brother Duqaq . After Duqaq's death on June 8, 1104 (12th Ramaḍān 497 AH), his underage son Tutusch II was enthroned as the new ruler in Damascus, but the ruling Atabeg Tughtigin only a few weeks later had Bektash brought in to replace him proclaim the nephew's ruler on September 17th (24th Ḏū l-Ḥiǧǧa 947 AH).

Despite this unexpected accession to the throne, Bektasch feared for his life. He was therefore warned by his birth mother that he fled Damascus in October 1104. Possibly his intuition was not unfounded, as the young Tutusch II died unexpectedly only a little later. This ended the Seljuk rule in Damascus and Atabeg Tughtigin took over sole rule.

Bektasch fled to Bosra , from where he recruited allies, including the Franks of the Crusader states . In the summer of 1105 he was expelled from Tughtigin to ar-Rahba , where he finally fell on May 23, 1107 (28th Ramaḍān 500 AH) into the captivity of the Emir Jawali, who conquered the city on behalf of the Seljuk sultan Muhammad I. Tapar . After that, no more news came from Bektasch.

source

• Abū Yaʿlā ibn Asad ibn al-Qalānisī , “Continuation of the story of Damascus” (Ḏail taʾrīḫ Dimašq), ed. and translated into English by Hamilton AR Gibb , The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades (1932), pp. 63-65, 71, 77-79.

predecessor	Office	successor
Tutusch II.	Ruler of Damascus (Seljuq dynasty) 1104	Tughtigin ( Burid Dynasty )