granted Hisn Kayfa as a [[Iqta'|iqtâ]] to the Artuqids in AH 495 (1101/1102). In 1104, Joscelin I of Edessa, at that time the count of Turbessel, was imprisoned at Hisn Kayfa by Sökmen after he was captured at the Battle of Harran along with his kinsman Baldwin II of Jerusalem, then count of Edessa. Baldwin was imprisoned at Mosul by the Seljuk atabeg Jikirmish. After the death of Jikirmish in 1107 and the payment of a significant ransom, Baldwin II and Joscelin I were released. Coincidentally, both men later became prisoners of Belek Ghazi in 1122/1123. Control of trade along the Diyarbakır–Mosul road paralleling the Tigris, and north–south between Lake Van and the Euphrates generated prosperity for the Artuqids and ensured their power in the region. Consequently, the existence of a reliable river crossing for goods and people was a priority, and the Artuqids built a bridge across the Tigris at some time between 1147 and 1172. This period was something of a golden age for Hisn Kayfa, with the Artuqids and their successors, the Ayyubids, building the Small Palace and the Great Palace as well as the Tigris bridge. The infrastructure, location and significance of the city helped increase trade and made Hisn Kayfa a staging post on the Silk Road. In Shaʿban 600 (April 1204), the Artuqid emir al-Salih Mahmud, who controlled both Amida and Hisn Kayfa, joined with al-Ashraf, the Ayyubid ruler of Harran, and princes from Mayafaraqin, Cizre, Sinjar and Irbil to rout the army of Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I, the Zengid ruler of Mosul, in a battle near Nusaybin. In the second half of , al-Salih Mahmud also lent his forces to help al-Ashraf attack Harput, which was controlled by another branch of the Artuqids. By , al-Salih's successor, Rukn al-Din Madud, was allied with the Khwarazmshah Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu against the Ayyubid rulers al-Ashraf and al-Kamil. By 1232, control of Amida and Hisn Kayfa had passed to the Artuqid prince al-Masʿud. Troubled by the alliance with Khwarazm, al-Ashraf and al-Kamil resolved to attack Amida, and used as a pretext reports of al-Masʿud's misrule, including his abuse of local women. The combined Ayyubid armies, swelled by contributions from many of their vassals, besieged Amida on 20 Dhu-l-Hijja 629/5 October 1232. By 1 Muhharam 630/18 October 1232, al-Masʿud surrendered Amida to al-Kamil. Al-Kamil then sent his brother, al-Ashraf, along with al-Muzaffar Ghazi of Mayafaraqin to