d. 1124 · Artuqid emir
Balak Ghazi
Artuqid emir who captured Joscelin I and Baldwin II in turn, shifting the balance of power in the 1120s.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Balak was a grandson of Artuq and a son of Behram. He built power around Suruc, Palu and Kharput while rising through the competition among branches of the Artuqid family and neighbouring Seljuk emirs. The sources present him primarily through frontier warfare and the capture of leading Frankish rulers.
Role in the Crusades
Balak captured Joscelin I in 1122 and Baldwin II of Jerusalem, who had tried to rescue him, in 1123. The detention of these prisoners at Kharput and the attempt by Armenian auxiliaries to infiltrate the fortress produced a complex sequence of escape and recapture. Balak was killed during the siege of Manbij in 1124.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.