outriding his followers, he drove his lance against the gate of the city, and fought the enemy single-handed, escaping without hurt. For a long time he served various masters, successive rulers of Mosul, the Caliph of Bagdad and finally the Seljuk Sultan Mahmud. Everywhere he rose quickly to the top and was rewarded with high dignities and rich offices, and in 1127 he became governor of Mosul and Jezira, and was entrusted with the bringing up of the Sultan's two sons, a dignity which carried with it the title of Atabeg, or Governor of Princes. The honors and power thus acquired might have satisfied any other man of his time, but for Zenghi they were only the means with which to accomplish his greater ambition — to wrest from the Franks the possessions they had taken from his people. For the rest of his life he devoted himself single-heartedly to this work. His first task was to convince the other Moslem chiefs that he must not be interfered with and, at this time, the only way to accomplish this was to overcome in outright fighting those who would be his rivals. These were no mean opponents. The Ortukid princes were wont to sweep down from their mountain fortresses in raids which carried terror throughout the surrounding territory, and were held in respect by even the domineering Franks. The Caliph of Bagdad himself nursed a grudge against Zenghi for his support of Mahmud.