Irtash

Irtash^[b] (born c. 1092) was a Seljuk emir of Damascus in 1104. Irtash was born to Taj ad-Dawla Tutush, the brother of the Seljuk Sultan Malik-Shah I who established a principality in Syria after his brother gave the region and the adjacent areas to him. Following the death of Malik-Shah, Tutush claimed the Seljuk crown, but he was killed by the forces of his nephew Berkyaruq near Ray. Subsequently, Irtash's brother Ridwan moved to Aleppo and proclaimed himself the new emir. Irtash's other brother Duqaq's declaration of a new emirate in Damascus separated the Syrian Seljuk state into two and started a rivalry between the two brothers. Duqaq then imprisoned Irtash for nine years in Baalbek.

Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus,^[c] elevated the twelve-year-old Irtash to emir after Duqaq's death in 1104. He ruled there for three months until sneaking out of the city to ally with Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem, against Toghtekin, who Irtash thought was conspiring against him. However, preoccupied with the Fatimid threat from Egypt, Baldwin did not assist Irtash and his ally Aytakin al-Halabi, the emir of Bosra. They left Baldwin's side and moved to Bosra which was surrendered to Toghtekin in 1106. Irtash then moved to al-Rahba, which was the scene of a war between the Seljuk emir Chavli Saqaveh and Muhammad Ibn Sabbak, the fort's ruler who had pledged loyalty to Saqaveh's opponent, Kilij Arslan I, the Seljuq Sultan of Rûm. Chavli captured al-Rahba and Irtash joined his ranks. There is no further information about Irtash, and he is regarded as one of the most unknown figures in Seljuk history.^[4]

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