Fatimid Intervention in the Syrian Situation

Timeline

1. 1106Apamea · Hama GovernorateKhalaf ibn Mula'ib, who ruled Apamea under Fatimid suzerainty, was assassinated by Nizari Ismaili assassins. The plot was orchestrated by Ridwan of Aleppo and the Syrian da'i Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh, among others; a breach was cut in the city walls to let the assassins in. Ridwan promptly took over Apamea, and the Fatimids' key northern proxy was destroyed.
2. 1106Sayda · LebanonKing Baldwin I of Jerusalem forced the local governor of Sayda to pay a heavy tribute and sign a two-year truce. That same year crusaders attacked Fatimid-held Sayda; the Fatimid navy dispatched fleets from Tyre, Sayda, and elsewhere to defend coastal strongholds, maintaining the remnant line of control from south of Tripoli to the Palestinian coast.
3. 1106Apamea · SyriaAfter Khalaf's son Mus'ib fled to the Numayrid family of Shaizar, he joined forces with Tancred, regent of the Principality of Antioch, and captured Apamea in August. Ridwan briefly held the city before losing it to the crusaders, and the Fatimid attempt to intervene in inland Syria through this proxy system was completely thwarted. Vizier al-Afdal in Cairo instead relied on the navy and port cities such as Tyre and Acre to maintain indirect rule over the Syrian coast.