Besni

The city was historically known as Bahasna. It was controlled by the Byzantines until it was captured by the Umayyad army in 670. The region was retaken by the Byzantines until 1084 or 1085, when Buldaci, one of the commanders of Suleiman ibn Qutalmish, the founder of the Sultanate of Rum, conquered several castles in the region. However, Bahasna, was controlled by the Crusaders during the First Crusade in 1097, to be ruled later by the Armenian ruler, Kogh Vasil. Later on, it became part of the County of Edessa in 1116. It remained to be controlled by the Franks, until it was taken by Mesud I in 1150. In 1156, it was captured by Nur ad-Din, then it became under the control of Kilij Arslan II until 1173, until the emergence of the Ayyubids.[4]

The region which was controlled by the Ayyubid Emir of Syria, An-Nasir Yusuf, was conquered by Hulagu Khan who then granted it to King Hethum I by 1261.[5] In 1268, King Hethum I had to surrendered several fortresses including Bahasna to Baibars,[6] who had imprisoned Hethum's son, Leo, following the Battle of Mari. However, Baibars revoked his claims to secure Sunqur al-Ashqar's release. In 1293, Al-Ashraf Khalil had recaptured the city, after devastating raids on the Cilician Armenia, and appointed Sayf al-Dīn Tughan al-Manṣūri as na'ib.[5] In 1400, the region was overrun by Timur's forces.[7]

• Raphael, Kate (2010). Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols. Routledge. ISBN 9781136925269.
• Toprak, Sejdi Vakkas (2015). Besni. Adıyaman (in Turkish). Adıyaman Üniversitesi Yayınları. ISBN 978-605-9134-01-9.