Shams al-Mulk Isma'il

Shams al-Mulk Isma'il, born in 1113,[1] was the son of Taj al-Muluk Buri, the atabeg of Damascus, and his wife Zumurrud.[2][3] Two Assassins wounded Buri in the stomach in May 1132 in revenge for the massacre of their fellows in Damascus.[4][5] Buri suffered for 13 months before he died in June 1133.[4][5] Ismail succeeded his father and decided to seize Banias, which had previously been taken by Baldwin II of Jerusalem with the Assassins' assistance.[6] Ismail attacked Banias and captured it on 11 December 1132.[4][5]

Ailba, a female slave of Ismail's grandfather, Toghtekin, made an attempt on Ismail's life in 1134.[1] After being captured, she listed the names of many peoples who desired Ismail's death because of his tyrannical acts.[7] He ordered the arrest of the alleged conspirators, including his half-brother, Sawinj, who starved to death in the prison.[8] Fearing for his life, Ismail left Damascus and settled in the fortress of Salkhad.[7] He also sent envoys to his father's old enemy, Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Aleppo and Mosul, seeking his protection in exchange for Damascus.[7]

Ismail was murdered on February 1, 1135.[9] The author of the contemporaneous Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades accused Ismail's mother of ordering his servants to kill him, because Ismail also wanted to kill her lover.[7] She appointed her younger son Shihab al-Din Mahmud to rule Damascus.[7]