Fall of Saruj

{{Short description|12th c. military conflict}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict=Fall of Saruj

| image=

| caption=

| partof=

| date= Early January 1145

| place=Saruj

| result=Zengid victory

| combatant1=Zengids

| combatant2=County of Edessa

| commander1=Imad al-Din Zengi

| commander2=Unknown

| strength1=Unknown

| strength2=Unknown

| casualties1=None

| casualties2=None

}}

{{Campaignbox Zengid-Crusader War}}

The Fall of Saruj in 1145 saw the main surviving Frankish fortress of Edessa fall to the Zengids.

Following the capture of Edessa in 1144, the Zengid ruler, Imad al-din Zengi, wanted to exploit his victory by clearing the remaining Crusader fortresses on the east of Euphrates, which was his main goal. In early January 1145, Imad al-Din marched towards the city of Saruj, the second-greatest Crusader fortress on the east of Euphrates. The Crusader garrison and the inhabitants evacuated the town to Birecik before the arrival of the Zengids. Imad al-Din captured the city without a fight. Zengi went to besiege Birecik after that, but after three months of siege, he retreated.Taef El-Azhari (2016), Zengi and the Muslim Response to the Crusades, The Politics of Jihad, p. 101 [https://books.google.com/books?id=nCfeCwAAQBAJ&dq=Saruj+1145&pg=PA101][https://books.google.com/books?id=a0LO9u6xKvcC&dq=Saruj++January+1145&pg=PA153 Jean Richard (1999), The Crusades, C.1071-c.1291, p. 153][https://books.google.com/books?id=QL88AAAAIAAJ&dq=Saruj++January+1145&pg=RA1-PA237 Steven Runciman (1987), A History of the Crusades, Vol. II, p. 237]