# Muzaffar al-Din Gökböri
Muzaffar al-Din Gokbori (مظفر الدين كوكبوري) was a Turcoman emir of the Begteginid house who ruled [Erbil](https://www.edgepedia.org/erbil) and the Jaziran towns of Harran and Edessa in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, serving first the [Zengid atabegs of Mosul](https://www.edgepedia.org/zengid-atabegs-of-mosul) and then Saladin and the Ayyubids. Born on 13 April 1154 in Mosul, he died in AH 630.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) He fought at the [Battle of Hattin](https://www.edgepedia.org/battle-of-hattin) in 1187 and afterward ruled Erbil.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [3](https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/warfare-public-piety-remarkable-career-turkic-nobleman-time-saladin-crusades)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 April 1154, Mosul[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) |
| First major office | Iqta of Harran, granted by Atabeg Sayf al-Din Ghazi II in 569/1174[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) |
| Joined Saladin | AH 578 (1182–1183); married Rabia Khatun, sister of Saladin[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [4](https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552) |
| Battle of Hattin | 25 Rabi II 583 (4 July 1187)[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) |
| Independent rule | Struck his own coinage after Saladin's death (589/1193)[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) |
| Died | 18 Ramadan AH 630 (28 June 1233), at Balad[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) |
## Origins and family
Gokbori's father was Ali, called Ali Kuchuk in the TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi and given in a Kirkuk University study as Ebu Hasan Ali bin Beytekin bin Muhammed; the family therefore traces to the Begteginid line founded by Beytekin.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [5](https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_185533_2fa05dc7437ad7687b4995f238e82e83.pdf) A prosopographical database records him as Muzaffar al-Din b. Zayn al-Din Ali Kujak, ruler of Mosul and Edessa.[6](https://medievalmideast.org/person/8857.html)
His father died in AH 563 (1167–1168), when Gokbori was fourteen, and Gokbori nominally succeeded to Erbil.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) The atabeg Mujahid al-Din Kaymaz imprisoned him and installed his brother Yusuf Yinal Tegin in his place.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori)
## Career
After his release Gokbori entered the service of the Mosul atabeg Sayf al-Din Ghazi II, who granted him Harran as an iqta in 569/1174; he ruled Harran from AH 569 to 578.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) In Shawwal AH 571 (1175–1176), during the war between the atabegs and Saladin, he fought on the right wing of Atabeg Sayf al-Din and defeated Saladin's left wing.[7](https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_189902_b187782c44b28135dc2ef8057f72cf43.pdf)
The turn to Saladin came in AH 578 (1182–1183), when Gokbori defected to him and urged the campaign against Mosul; Saladin granted him Edessa (Urfa), captured in Jumada I 578 (September 1182), in addition to Harran.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [4](https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552) The Ayyubid connection was sealed by marriage: Saladin wed his sister Rabia Khatun to Gokbori.[4](https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552)
Gokbori then served in Saladin's wars against the Crusaders, taking part in the siege of Kerak in Jumada I 580 (August 1184), routing the Crusader army at Saffuriya in Safar 583 (April 1187), and distinguishing himself at Hattin on 25 Rabi II 583 (4 July 1187) alongside Taqi al-Din Umar; the biographer [Ibn Khallikan](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-khallikan) said this single success would have repaid all his services.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori)
After Saladin's death in 589/1193 Gokbori struck coins in his own name, which indicates that he declared independence.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) The Institute of Historical Research describes him as ruler of Irbil from 1190 onwards.[3](https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/warfare-public-piety-remarkable-career-turkic-nobleman-time-saladin-crusades)
## Political influence
He held Erbil, Harran, and Edessa at different times, entered the Ayyubid house by marriage, and after 589/1193 asserted independence through his own coinage.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288) • [4](https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552) A study of his career describes how he negotiated between Franks, Ayyubids, Zengids, and other powers of northern Syria and Iraq in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.[3](https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/warfare-public-piety-remarkable-career-turkic-nobleman-time-saladin-crusades)
## Death and successors
The TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi gives his death on 18 Ramazan 630 (28 June 1233) at Balad.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) His will directed burial in Mecca; the funeral party set out with the hajj caravan but in 631/1234 returned without reaching Mecca, and he was buried at Kufa, near the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori)
## Historians' assessment
Serious sources disagree on several dates. His birth is given as 27 Muharrem 549 (13 April 1154) by the TDV encyclopedia, while a Kirkuk University article gives a differing year.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [5](https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_185533_2fa05dc7437ad7687b4995f238e82e83.pdf) His shift from the Zengids to Saladin is dated to 578/1182 by the TDV encyclopedia and to 14 Jumada I AH 580 (1184) by the Kirkuk study of the Erbil emirate.[1](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori) • [7](https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_189902_b187782c44b28135dc2ef8057f72cf43.pdf)
Assessment also depends on the chronicler. [Ibn al-Athir](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-al-athir), the principal annalist for this period, wrote at the recommendation of [Badr al-Din Lu'lu'](https://www.edgepedia.org/badr-al-din-lulu), the ruler of Mosul (AH 606–660 / 1209–1261), and a Mosul University study notes that the competition between the Zengid and Ayyubid families may have colored his treatment of Erbil.[4](https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552)
## Legacy
His coinage, including a dirham with a lion-rider type struck at Irbil, remains the numismatic record of his independent rule.[2](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288)
## References
1. KÖKBÖRİ – TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kokbori
2. Gökböri (Muzaffar al-Din Kokburi) – Numista coin catalogue. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ruler.php?id=10288
3. Warfare and Public Piety: The Remarkable Career of a Turkic Nobleman at the Time of Saladin and the Crusades – Institute of Historical Research. https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/warfare-public-piety-remarkable-career-turkic-nobleman-time-saladin-crusades
4. Muzaffar al-Din Kawkbari in the Al-Kamil fi Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari (journal article). https://doi.org/10.33899/moss.2022.174552
5. Muzafferüddin Gökböri, Kirkuk University Journal for Humanities Studies. https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_185533_2fa05dc7437ad7687b4995f238e82e83.pdf
6. Gökböri Muzaffar al-Din b. Zayn al-Din Ali Kujak – Medieval Middle East prosopographical database. https://medievalmideast.org/person/8857.html
7. Erbil emirate and Gökböri, Kirkuk University Journal for Humanities Studies. https://kujhs.uokirkuk.edu.iq/article_189902_b187782c44b28135dc2ef8057f72cf43.pdf
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Crusades, Zengids, and Ayyubids (1097 to 1260) › Rulers and dynasties*
*Initially written Sep 24, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license