Baldwin I of Jerusalem of the troops from Tripoli and Antioch. Toghtekin and Mawdud returned to Damascus where an Assassin murdered Mawdud in late September. The Seljuq sultan, Muhammad I Tapar, sent a large army to northern Syria in spring 1115. In an attempt to maintain the equilibrium in the region, Toghtekin soon sought reconciliation with the crusaders. He made an alliance with the crusader rulers, and their coalition forced the Seljuq troops to withdraw without a fight. With the pressure on the northern regions diminished, Baldwin was able to again deal with the Egyptians. The Egyptians had already approached Jerusalem in 1113, and
Baldwin I of Jerusalem his adoptive father, but he did nothing when the rioters broke into the citadel on 9March. Thoros and his wife were captured and murdered. On the following day, the townspeople acknowledged Baldwin as their ruler (or "doux"). He assumed the title of count and established the first crusader state. The Seljuqs had captured Edessa from the Byzantines in 1087, but Alexios I Komnenos did not demand that Baldwin hand over the town. MacEvitt argues that the local population did not regard Baldwin's ascension as "a change in regime, but the replacement of one strongman with vague Byzantine ties with another