Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush

Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush al-Armanī al-Muzaffari al-Nasiri, also al-Taqavi and al-Ghuzi (died 1212) was a Turkish Mamluk in the service of the Ayyubid prince al-Muzaffar (nephew of Saladin), who engaged in a series of campaigns of conquest in Tripolitania and Ifriqiya between 1172 and the 1190s. However some historians like Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Galbun said that he was of Armenian origin. Operating on behalf of Saladin initially, but increasingly on his own account, he fought against the expanding Almohad Caliphate and allied with the Banu Ghaniya.

His conquest of Tripoli (modern-day Tripoli, Libya) occurred during his campaigns between 1172–1174. He ruled the area for many years and was still based in Tripoli circa 1185-1186, even taking control of the Tunisian Jarid with his ally Ali b. Ghaniya (Ali ibn Ishaq, 1184–1187/1188), moving his headquarters to Gabis.

In the end, he fell out with the Ghaniya, and was defeated and executed by Yahya ibn Ghaniya (Yahya ibn Ishaq, 1187/1188–1235/1236) at Waddan in 1212.

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