High Chief al-Muwahhid Abdallah Taqi al-Din of Edessa (1 January 1241-18 March 1265) was a prince of the Ayyubid Caliphate and later a vassal of Hulegu Khan. Due to his hostility to Hulegu, he was a dangerous faction leader; Hulegu killed him after a series of failed attempts.
Biography[]
al-Muwahhid Abdallah Taqi al-Din was born in 1241 to the Ayyubids, a dynasty of Sunni Muslim Levantines. His father was al-Muazzam Turanshah, the Sultan of the Ayyubid Caliphate from 1249 to 1250, who was murdered by a group of angry Mamelukes under Baibars at the end of his reign. al-Muwahhid Taqi al-Din became a prince of Egypt, albeit of a different line than the reigning Sultan Qutuz, who was a non-Levantine Mamluk. al-Muwahhid Taqi al-Din reigned over the city of Edessa (present-day Sanliurfa, Turkey) as its high chief under the Qutuzid Sultanate, and he lived lavishly, having four wives. In 1261, Hulegu Khan's Ilkhanate conquered Syria and al-Muwahhid Taqi al-Din became a vassal of the Mongols.
Life under Hulegu Khan made al-Muwahhid Taqi al-Din hostile, as he was opposed to the Tengri pagan (later Orthodox Christian) ruler and his Christianization of the empire. He became a dangerous faction leader against Hulegu Khan, so Hulegu began a plot against his life, involving several loyal Mongol courtiers plotting his doom. A group of archers led by Chief Hasi ad-Din of Qazwin failed to assassinate him on 8 September 1263, and he found out that Hulegu sent them. He refused to attend the 1263 Great Feast of Qom, although he attended the 1264 Ilkhanate Nerge, where he came to blows with Chief Jamugha of Vaspurakan. On 8 November 1264 another attempt on his life by Chief Chanai of Nisibin's bowmen also failed, and on 7 January 1265 he escaped a sabotaged carriage before it crashed into a ravine.
On 18 March 1265, Chief Kaidu of Amman poisoned al-Muwahhid's wine at a banquet, and it seemed as if the wine did not agree with him. He died without knowing the name of his killer, and his huge threat to the Ilkhanate was erased due to Hulegu's efforts. The next month, Hulegu died peacefully and his son Teguder Khan did not have to face the massive threat that al-Muwahhid had posed to his father.