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109-464: In the early 13th-century, during Ayyubid rule, Yaqut al-Hamawi noted Katana as "one of the villages of Damascus". Tamerlane camped at Qatana during the siege of Damascus in 1400–1401; hence, the region was called as "Wadi Al-Ajam" afterwards. In 1838, it was noted as a predominantly Sunni Muslim village. In October 1947, the Syrian army began using Qatana as a training camp in preparation for

218-543: A sharif (tribal head related to the Islamic prophet Muhammad ), Qatada ibn Idris , seized power in Mecca and was recognized as the emir of the city by al-Adil. Al-Afdal attempted unsuccessfully to take Damascus his final time. Al-Adil entered the city in triumph in 1201. Thereafter, al-Adil's line, rather than Saladin's line, dominated the next 50 years of Ayyubid rule. However, az-Zahir still held Aleppo and al-Afdal

327-590: A Syrian invasion of Egypt, but Frederick refused. Al-Kamil's position was strengthened when al-Mu'azzam died in 1227 and was succeeded by his son an-Nasir Dawud . Al-Kamil continued negotiations with Frederick in Acre in 1228, leading to a truce signed in February 1229. The agreement gave the Crusaders control over an unfortified Jerusalem for over ten years, but also guaranteed Muslim control over Islamic holy places in

436-567: A common cause against Mamluk-dominated Egypt. By 1250, he took Damascus with relative ease and except for Hama and Transjordan, an-Nasir Yusuf's direct authority stood unbroken from the Khabur River in northern Mesopotamia to the Sinai Peninsula . In December 1250, he attacked Egypt after hearing of al-Mu'azzam Turan-Shah's death and the ascension of Shajar al-Durr. An-Nasir Yusuf's army was much larger and better-equipped than that of

545-530: A conflict in Palestine. Qatana has a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification : BSk ). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Qatana is 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). About 296 mm (11.65 in) of precipitation falls annually. 33°26′N 36°05′E  /  33.433°N 36.083°E  / 33.433; 36.083 This article about

654-612: A consequence for assisting Zangi, the Abbasid authorities sought punitive measures against Ayyub. Simultaneously, in a separate incident, Shirkuh killed a close confidant of Bihruz on charges that he had sexually assaulted a woman in Tikrit. The Abbasid court issued arrest warrants for both Ayyub and Shirkuh, but before the brothers could be arrested, they departed Tikrit for Mosul in 1138. When they arrived in Mosul, Zangi provided them with all

763-562: A critical position. He managed to cross the Nile to launch a surprise attack against Mansurah. Meanwhile, as-Salih Ayyub died, but Shajar al-Durr and as-Salih Ayyub's Bahri Mamluk generals, including Rukn al-Din Baybars and Aybak , countered the assault and inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. Simultaneously, Egyptian forces cut off the Crusader's line of supply from Damietta, preventing

872-670: A hill near al-Shajara . On 4 July the Crusaders advanced toward the Horns of Hattin and charged against the Muslim forces, but were overwhelmed and defeated decisively . Four days after the battle, Saladin invited al-Adil to join him in the reconquest of Palestine , Galilee and Lebanese coast. On 8 July the Crusader stronghold of Acre was captured by Saladin, while his forces seized Nazareth and Saffuriya ; other brigades took Haifa , Caesarea , Sebastia and Nablus, while al-Adil conquered Mirabel and Jaffa . On 26 July, Saladin returned to

981-587: A location in Rif Dimashq Governorate , Syria is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ayyubid dynasty The Ayyubid dynasty ( Arabic : الأيوبيون , romanized :  al-Ayyūbīyūn ; Kurdish : ئەیووبییەکان , romanized :  Eyûbiyan ), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate , was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of

1090-526: A meeting of all the war generals and thus became commander-in-chief of the Egyptian forces. She ordered the fortification of Mansurah and then stored large quantities of provisions and concentrated her forces there. She also organized a fleet of war galleys and scattered them at various strategic points along the Nile River. Crusader attempts to capture Mansurah were thwarted and King Louis found himself in

1199-708: A number of local governors in Syria, did not entirely back Saladin. Saladin consolidated his control in Egypt after ordering Turan-Shah to put down a revolt in Cairo staged by the Fatimid army 's 50,000-strong Nubian regiments. After this success, Saladin began granting his family members high-ranking positions in the country and increased Sunni Muslim influence in Shia Muslim-dominated Cairo by ordering

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1308-560: A powerful faction of Emirs, the Ashrafiyya, were conspiring to depose him and replace him with his uncle, as-Salih Ismail, who had regained control of Damascus after his departure. As-Salih shut himself in the Cairo citadel, and could no longer trust even the once-loyal Emirs who had brought him to power. The lack of loyal soldiers led him to begin buying large numbers of Kipchak slaves, who were available in unusually large numbers following

1417-533: A quick peace before the Zengids suffered territorial losses at the hands of the Ayyubids. Al-Adil's son al-Mu'azzam took possession of Karak and Transjordan. Soon, however, Saladin's sons squabbled over the division of the empire. Saladin had appointed al-Afdal to the governorship of Damascus with the intention that his son should continue to see the city as his principal place of residence in order to emphasize

1526-447: A second siege. An agreement was laid out, however, whereby Gumushtigin , the governor of Aleppo, and his allies at Hisn Kayfa and Mardin , would recognize Saladin as the sovereign of the Ayyubids' possessions in Syria, while Saladin allowed for Gumushtigin and as-Salih al-Malik to continue their rule over Aleppo. While Saladin was in Syria, his brother al-Adil governed Egypt, and in 1174–75, Kanz al-Dawla of Aswan revolted against

1635-457: A serious illness which caused Saladin to withdraw to Harran . Upon Abbasid encouragement, Saladin and Mas'ud negotiated a treaty in March 1186 that left the Zengids in control of Mosul, but had to cede the eastern region beyond lesser Zab to Shahrizor to direct Ayyubid control, and under the obligation to supply the Ayyubids with military support when requested. Saladin besieged Tiberias in

1744-543: A single power. However, when Turan-Shah was transferred from his governorship in Yemen in 1176, uprisings broke out in the territory and were not quelled until 1182 when Saladin assigned his other brother Tughtekin Sayf al-Islam as governor of Yemen. The Ayyubid na'ib (deputy governor) of Yemen, Uthman al-Zandjili, conquered the greater part of Hadramaut in 1180, upon Turan-Shah's return to Yemen. From Yemen, as from Egypt,

1853-447: A strong presence in an increasingly anarchic Egypt . Shirkuh enlisted Ayyub's son, Saladin , as an officer under his command. They successfully drove out Dirgham, the vizier of Egypt , and reinstated his predecessor Shawar . After being reinstated, Shawar ordered Shirkuh to withdraw his forces from Egypt, but Shirkuh refused, claiming it was Nur al-Din's will that he remain. Over the course of several years, Shirkuh and Saladin defeated

1962-631: The Almohads by 1185–1186. By this point, Qaraqush had also entered into alliance with the Banu Ghaniya , led by Ali ibn Ghaniya, another enemy of the Almohads. The Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur reconquered Ifriqiya from 1187 to 1188, defeating both of them. The Ayyubids made no further attempts to intervene in the Maghreb after this. In 1173, Saladin sent Turan-Shah to conquer Yemen and

2071-713: The Bahri Mamluks . The members of the Bahriyya who were recruited by As-Salih himself are also sometimes referred to as the Salihiyya. During his lifetime these terms were synonymous. The period 1240–1243 was largely occupied with complex military and diplomatic manoeuvres involving the Crusader states in Palestine and the European armies that arrived during the Barons' Crusade , other Ayyubid family rulers in Syria, and

2180-641: The Battle of Jacob's Ford . In the campaign of 1182, he sparred with Baldwin again in the inconclusive Battle of Belvoir Castle in Kawkab al-Hawa . In May 1182, Saladin captured Aleppo after a brief siege; the new governor of the city, Imad al-Din Zangi II , had been unpopular with his subjects and surrendered Aleppo after Saladin agreed to restore Zangi II's previous control over Sinjar , Raqqa , and Nusaybin , which would thereafter serve as vassal territories of

2289-569: The Caliphate by having sovereignty over the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina . The conquests and economic advancements undertaken by Saladin effectively established Egypt's hegemony in the region. Although still nominally a vassal of Nur al-Din, Saladin adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy. This independence became more publicly pronounced after Nur al-Din's death in 1174. Thereafter, Saladin set out to conquer Syria from

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2398-585: The Crusader states , including the Kingdom of Jerusalem , fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders reconquered the coast of Palestine in the 1190s. After Saladin's death in 1193, his sons contested control of the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil ultimately became the sultan in 1200. All of the later Ayyubid sultans of Egypt were his descendants. In

2507-613: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques , a title that would be held by all subsequent sultans of Egypt until the Ottoman conquest of 1517. Saladin's military campaigns in the first decade of his rule, aimed at uniting the various Arab and Muslim states in the region against the Crusaders , set the general borders and sphere of influence of the sultanate of Egypt for the almost three and a half centuries of its existence. Most of

2616-651: The Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt . A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din , leading Nur ad-Din's army in battle against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt , where he was made Vizier . Following Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin was proclaimed as the first Sultan of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate , and rapidly expanded the new sultanate beyond

2725-534: The Hejaz . Muslim writers Ibn al-Athir and later al-Maqrizi wrote that the reasoning behind the conquest of Yemen was an Ayyubid fear that should Egypt fall to Nur al-Din, they could seek refuge in a faraway territory. In May 1174, Turan-Shah conquered Zabid and later that year captured Aden . Aden became the principal maritime port of the dynasty in the Indian Ocean and the principal city of Yemen, although

2834-769: The Khwarezmians of Diyar Mudar who had previously been allied to as-Salih. Just as his Bahri Mamluks were important in enabling him to maintain order in Egypt, the Khwarezmians were useful in dominating the other Ayyubid rulers in neighbouring regions. In 1244, at As-Salih's invitation, the remainder of the Khwarezmian army which had just been crushed and routed out by the Mongols, advanced through Syria and Palestine and sacked Jerusalem , which had been handed over to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor by al-Kamil during

2943-687: The Lake Van region to the Ayyubids of Damascus . A Crusader military campaign was launched on 3 November 1217, beginning with an offensive towards Transjordan. Al-Mu'azzam urged al-Adil to launch a counter-attack, but he rejected his son's proposal. In 1218, the fortress of Damietta in the Nile Delta was besieged by the Crusaders. After two failed attempts, the fortress eventually capitulated on 25 August. Six days later al-Adil died of apparent shock at Damietta's loss. Al-Kamil proclaimed himself sultan in Cairo, while his brother al-Mu'azzam claimed

3052-578: The Sixth Crusade . Later that year as-Salih, again allied to the Khwarezmians, defeated as-Salih Ismail in Syria , who had allied with the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , at the Battle of La Forbie . In 1245 as-Salih captured Damascus , and was awarded the title of sultan by the caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad . As-Salih was not however able to extend his rule far beyond Damascus, although he

3161-511: The Zengids ; and on November 23 he was welcomed in Damascus by the governor of the city. By 1175, he had taken control of Hama and Homs but failed to take Aleppo after besieging it. Control of Homs was handed to the descendants of Shirkuh in 1179 and Hama was given to Saladin's nephew, al-Muzaffar Umar. Saladin's successes alarmed Emir Saif al-Din of Mosul , the head of the Zengids at

3270-677: The eunuch Badr al-Din Sawabi to act as his governor in Karak. In 1248, a Crusader fleet of 1,800 boats and ships arrived in Cyprus with the intent of launching a Seventh Crusade against the Muslims by conquering Egypt. Their commander, Louis IX , attempted to enlist the Mongols to launch a coordinated attack on Egypt, but when this failed to materialize, the Crusader force sailed to Damietta and

3379-544: The 1230s, the emirs of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and the Ayyubid realm remained divided until Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored its unity by subduing most of Syria, except Aleppo , by 1247. By then, local Muslim dynasties had driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hijaz, and parts of Mesopotamia. After his death in 1249, as-Salih Ayyub was succeeded in Egypt by his son al-Mu'azzam Turanshah . However,

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3488-574: The Almohads, who had one of the largest navies in the Mediterranean. In 1189–1190, he sent letters to Yaqub al-Mansur requesting naval support in Palestine, which the Almohad caliph declined. Various explanations for this refusal have been suggest by historians, including the Almohads' focus on al-Andalus , ideological differences between the two Muslim states, and the distrust caused by Qaraqush's invasion of Ifriqiya . The Crusaders, now under

3597-478: The Asadiyya and Salahiyya, both of which Shirkuh and Saladin had purchased. The Salahiyya backed al-Adil in his struggles against al-Afdal. With their support, al-Adil conquered Cairo in 1200, and forced al-Afdal to accept internal banishment. He proclaimed himself Sultan of Egypt and Syria afterward and entrusted the governance of Damascus to al-Mu'azzam and al-Jazira to his other son al-Kamil . Also around 1200,

3706-581: The Ayyubid dynasty, Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi , belonged to the Kurdish Rawadiya tribe, itself a branch of the large Hadhabani tribe. Ayyub's ancestors settled in the town of Dvin , in northern Armenia . The Rawadiya were the dominant Kurdish group in the Dvin district, forming part of the political-military elite of the town. Circumstances became unfavorable in Dvin when Turkish generals seized

3815-461: The Ayyubid empire in jeopardy. Thus, in 1194, Uthman openly demanded the sultanate. Uthman's claim to the throne was settled in a series of assaults on Damascus in 1196, forcing al-Afdal to leave for a lesser post at Salkhad . Al-Adil established himself in Damascus as a lieutenant of Uthman, but wielded great influence within the empire. When Uthman died in a hunting accident near Cairo, al-Afdal

3924-488: The Ayyubid family and thus undermining its position in Egypt. Nur al-Din satisfied Saladin's request that he be joined by his father Ayyub. However, Ayyub was sent primarily to ensure that Abbasid suzerainty was proclaimed in Egypt, which Saladin was reluctant to undertake due to his position as the vizier of the Fatimids. Although Nur al-Din failed to provoke the Ayyubids into rivalry, the extended Ayyubid family, particularly

4033-427: The Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341. Despite their relatively short tenure, the Ayyubid dynasty had a transformative effect on the region, particularly Egypt. Under the Ayyubids, Egypt, which had previously been a formally Shi'a caliphate , became the dominant Sunni political and military force, and the economic and cultural centre of the region, a status that it would retain until it

4142-546: The Ayyubid-Crusader truce. Al-Kamil's forces reached Damascus to enforce the proposed agreement in May 1229. The ensuing siege levied significant pressure on the inhabitants, but they rallied to an-Nasir Dawud, having been supportive of his father's stable rule and angered at the treaty with Frederick. After one month, an-Nasir Dawud sued for peace and was granted a new principality, centered around Karak, while al-Ashraf,

4251-638: The Ayyubids aimed to dominate the Red Sea trade routes which Egypt depended on and so sought to tighten their grip over the Hejaz, where an important trade stop, Yanbu , was located. To favor trade in the direction of the Red Sea, the Ayyubids built facilities along the Red Sea- Indian Ocean trade routes to accompany merchants. The Ayyubids also aspired to back their claims of legitimacy within

4360-571: The Ayyubids into conflict with the Almohads who ruled the Maghreb . In 1177, Saladin led a force of some 26,000 soldiers, according to Crusader chronicler William of Tyre , into southern Palestine after hearing that most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem 's soldiers were besieging Harem, Syria west of Aleppo. Suddenly attacked by the Templars under Baldwin IV of Jerusalem near Ramla , the Ayyubid army

4469-447: The Ayyubids marched south to Ascalon. Facing stubborn resistance from the Crusader garrison, an Egyptian flotilla was sent by as-Salih Ayyub to support the siege and on 24 October, Fakhr ad-Din's troops stormed through a breach in the walls and killed or captured the entire garrison. The city was razed and left deserted. As-Salih Ayyub returned to Damascus to keep an eye on developments in northern Syria. Al-Ashraf Musa of Homs had ceded

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4578-458: The Ayyubids raided Samaria , burning down Nablus . Saladin returned to Damascus in September 1184 and a relative peace between the Crusader states and the Ayyubid empire subsequently ensued in 1184–1185. Saladin launched his last offensive against Mosul in late 1185, hoping for an easy victory over a presumably demoralized Mas'ud, but failed due to the city's unexpectedly stiff resistance and

4687-680: The Ayyubids with the intention of restoring Fatimid rule. His main backers were the local Bedouin tribes and the Nubians, but he also enjoyed the support of a multitude of other groups, including the Armenians . Coincidental or possibly in coordination, was an uprising by Abbas ibn Shadi who overran Qus along the Nile River in central Egypt. Both rebellions were crushed by al-Adil. For the rest of that year and throughout early 1176, Qaraqush continued his raids in western North Africa , bringing

4796-610: The Ayyubids, like their Fatimid predecessors, were discouraged from further southward expansion into Nubia due to the poverty of the region, but required Nubia to guarantee the protection of Aswan and Upper Egypt . The Ayyubid garrison in Ibrim withdrew to Egypt in 1175. Throughout the 1170s, the Ayyubids continued to push west as well. Sharaf al-Din Qaraqush , a commander under al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar, led most of these expeditions on

4905-472: The Ayyubids, whose control of it had been weakened due to their troubled situation in Yemen proper. Following Mas'ud ibn Kamil's death in 1229, Nur ad-Din Umar declared his independence and discontinued the annual tribute payment to the Ayyubids in Egypt. Under Frederick II , a Sixth Crusade was launched, capitalizing on the ongoing strife between al-Kamil of Egypt and al-Mu'azzam of Syria. Subsequently, al-Kamil offered Jerusalem to Frederick to help prevent

5014-413: The Ayyubids. Aleppo formally entered Ayyubid hands on 12 June. The day after, Saladin marched to Harim, near the Crusader-held Antioch and captured the city when its garrison forced out their leader, Surhak , who was then briefly detained and released by al-Muzaffar Umar. The surrender of Aleppo and Saladin's allegiance with Zangi II had left Izz al-Din al-Mas'ud of Mosul the only major Muslim rival of

5123-463: The Ayyubids. Mosul had been subjected to a short siege in the autumn of 1182, but after mediation by the Abbasid caliph an-Nasir , Saladin withdrew his forces. Mas'ud attempted to align himself with the Artuqids of Mardin , but they became allies of Saladin instead. In 1183, Irbil too switched allegiance to the Ayyubids. Mas'ud then sought the support of Pahlawan ibn Muhammad , the governor of Azerbaijan , and although he did not usually intervene in

5232-424: The Bahri Mamluks revolted against the sultan and killed him in April 1250. Aybak married Shajar al-Durr and subsequently took over the government in Egypt in the name of al-Ashraf II who became sultan, but only nominally. Intent on restoring the supremacy of Saladin's direct descendants within the Ayyubid family, an-Nasir Yusuf was eventually able to enlist the backing of all of the Syria-based Ayyubid emirs in

5341-619: The Crusader army could not be defeated in a direct fight. Prolonged campaigns also involved the difficulties of maintaining a coherent Muslim coalition. The trend under al-Adil was the steady growth of the empire, mainly through the expansion of Ayyubid authority in al-Jazira and incorporation of Shah-Armen domains (in eastern Anatolia ). The Abbasids eventually recognized al-Adil's role as sultan in 1207. By 1208 Kingdom of Georgia challenged Ayyubid rule in eastern Anatolia and besieged Khilat (possessions of al-Awhad). In response al-Adil assembled and personally led large Muslim army that included

5450-515: The Egyptian army, consisting of the forces of Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and those of Saladin's only surviving sons, Nusrat ad-Din and Turan-Shah ibn Salah ad-Din. Nonetheless, it suffered a major defeat at the hands of Aybak's forces. An-Nasir Yusuf subsequently returned to Syria, which was slowly slipping out of his control. As-Salih Ayyub Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (5 November 1205 – 22 November 1249), nickname: Abu al-Futuh ( Arabic : أبو الفتوح ), also known as al-Malik al-Salih ,

5559-469: The Egyptians, in return for a promise that Ayyub would reinstall him in Damascus. Al-Adil was imprisoned by his own troops, and Ayyub and An-Nasir made a triumphal entry into Cairo in June 1240, hence As-Salih became the paramount ruler of the Ayyubid family. Once installed in Cairo, As-Salih was far from secure. The complex nature of the Ayyubid state meant that the ruling family itself, as well as associated Kurdish clans, had divided loyalties. Within Egypt,

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5668-533: The Khwarizmids at Hirbiya , near Gaza. A large battle ensued , resulting in a major victory for as-Salih Ayyub and the virtual collapse of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1244–1245, as-Salih Ayyub had seized the area approximate to the modern-day West Bank from an-Nasir Dawud; he gained possession of Jerusalem, then marched on to take Damascus, which fell with relative ease in October 1245. Shortly afterward, Sayf al-Din Ali surrendered his exposed principality of Ajlun and its fortress to as-Salih Ayyub. The rupture of

5777-592: The Mamluks, the sultanate built by Saladin and the Ayyubids would continue in Egypt, the Levant and the Hijaz for another 267 years. Medieval Arab historians such as ibn ilyas , al-Khazrajî , al-Maqrizi , Ibn Taghribirdi and ibn khaldun referred to the Ayyubid dynasty as the 'State of the Kurds' or 'Kurdish regime' 'Kurdish Kings/Kingdom', or 'Ayyubid Kurdish State' by Taqi al-Din al-Subki ( Arabic : ملوک الأکراد ,دولة الأکراد,الدولة الأيوبية الکردية , romanized :  Dawlat al-Akrād, Al-Dawlat Al-Ayyūbīya Al-Kurdīya, Mūlūk Al-Akrād ). The progenitor of

5886-469: The Mongol invasions in central Asia. They soon formed the core of his army, and were known as Mamluks . As-Salih was not the first Ayyubid ruler to make use of Mamluks, but he was the first to depend on them so heavily. Rather than just recruiting small numbers of Mamluks, As-Salih established two complete corps of them, numbering up to 1000 men. One unit was known as the 'River Corps' or Baḥrīyah or Bahriyya, because they were garrisoned at Rawḍah island in

5995-446: The River Nile. The second, smaller corps was the Jamdārīyah, which appears to have operated as a body guard for As-Salih. As the Mamluks would eventually overthrow the Ayyubid dynasty and take power on their own, their early rise to prominence under As-Salih Ayyub is of considerable historical importance. In English, references to the Bahriyya after As-Salih's death, when they became the dominant power in Egypt, usually describe them as

6104-434: The Sultanate. In August 1239, Ayyub began pressuring Al-Salih Ismail to join him at Nablus for the campaign to take over Egypt from al-Adil II. Ayyub began to grow suspicious of Ismail's perceived procrastination and sent a noted physician, Sa'd al-Din al-Dimashqi, to find out what his vassal was doing. Ismail's vizier discovered Ayyub's scheme and secretly forged al-Dimashqi's records to mislead Ayyub into thinking Ismail

6213-499: The alliance between the Khwarizmids and as-Salih Ayyub ended with the virtual destruction of the former by al-Mansur Ibrahim , the Ayyubid emir of Homs, in October 1246. With the Khwarizimid defeat, as-Salih Ayyub was able to complete the conquest of southern Syria. His general Fakhr ad-Din went on to subdue an-Nasir Dawud's territories. He sacked the lower town of Karak, then besieged its fortress. A stalemate followed with neither an-Nasir Dawud or Fakhr ad-Din strong enough to dislodge

6322-445: The alms-tax ( zakat ). The latter was to be collected from their livestock. In late 1172, Aswan was besieged by former Fatimid soldiers from Nubia and the governor of the city, Kanz al-Dawla —a former Fatimid loyalist—requested reinforcements from Saladin who complied. The reinforcements had come after the Nubians had already departed Aswan, but Ayyubid forces led by Turan-Shah advanced and conquered northern Nubia after capturing

6431-515: The arrangement and al-Aziz Uthman held Cairo, while his eldest son, al-Afdal retained Damascus, which also included Palestine and much of Mount Lebanon . Al-Adil then acquired al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), where he held the Zengids of Mosul at bay. In 1193, Mas'ud of Mosul joined forces with Zangi II of Sinjar and together the Zengid coalition moved to conquer al-Jazira. However, before any major results could be achieved, Mas'ud fell ill and returned to Mosul, and al-Adil then compelled Zangi to make

6540-485: The arrival of reinforcements. As-Salih Ayyub's son and the newly proclaimed Ayyubid sultan al-Mu'azzam Turan-Shah reached Mansurah at this point and intensified the battle against the Crusaders. The latter ultimately surrendered at the Battle of Fariskur , and King Louis and his companions were arrested. Al-Mu'azzam Turan-Shah alienated the Mamluks soon after their victory at Mansurah and constantly threatened them and Shajar al-Durr. Fearing for their positions of power,

6649-444: The city well, gaining them popularity from the local inhabitants. In the meantime, Imad ad-Din Zangi , the ruler of Mosul , was defeated by the Abbasids under Caliph al-Mustarshid and Bihruz. In his bid to escape the battlefield to Mosul via Tikrit, Zangi took shelter with Ayyub and sought his assistance in this task. Ayyub complied and provided Zangi and his companions boats to cross the Tigris River and safely reach Mosul. As

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6758-532: The city, which fell in December 1246. By May 1247, as-Salih Ayyub was master of Syria south of Lake Homs , having gained control over Banyas and Salkhad. With his fellow Ayyubid opponents subdued, except for Aleppo under an-Nasir Yusuf , as-Salih Ayyub undertook a limited offensive against the Crusaders, sending Fakhr ad-Din to move against their territories in the Galilee. Tiberias fell on 16 June, followed by Mount Tabor and Kawkab al-Hawa soon thereafter. Safad with its Templar fortress seemed out of reach, so

6867-520: The city. Although the treaty held little military significance, an-Nasir Dawud used it as a pretext to provoke the sentiments of Syria's inhabitants. A Friday sermon by a popular preacher at the Umayyad Mosque "reduced the crowd to violent sobbing and tears". The settlement with the Crusaders was accompanied by a proposed redistribution of the Ayyubid principalities whereby Damascus and its territories would by governed by al-Ashraf, who recognized al-Kamil's sovereignty. An-Nasir Dawud resisted, incensed by

6976-430: The coast and received the surrender of Sarepta , Sidon , Beirut , and Jableh . In August, the Ayyubids conquered Ramla , Darum , Gaza , Bayt Jibrin , and Latrun . Ascalon was taken on 4 September. In September–October 1187, the Ayyubids besieged Jerusalem , taking possession of it on 2 October, after negotiations with Balian of Ibelin . Karak and Mont Real in Transjordan soon fell, followed by Safad in

7085-402: The combined forces of the Crusaders and Shawar's troops, first at Bilbais , then at a site near Giza , and in Alexandria , where Saladin would stay to protect while Shirkuh pursued Crusader forces in Lower Egypt . Shawar died in 1169 and Shirkuh became vizier, but he too died later that year. After Shirkuh's death, Saladin was appointed vizier by the Fatimid caliph al-Adid because there

7194-481: The construction of a college for the Maliki school of jurisprudence of Sunni Islam in the city, and another for the Shafi'i school, to which he belonged, in al-Fustat . In 1171, al-Adid died and Saladin took advantage of this power vacuum, effectively taking control of the country. Upon seizing power, he switched Egypt's allegiance to the Baghdad -based Abbasid Caliphate which adhered to Sunni Islam. Saladin went to Alexandria in 1171–72 and found himself facing

7303-489: The cross. The campaign took several years to organise, but in 1249 Louis invaded Egypt on the Seventh Crusade , and occupied Damietta . As-Salih was away fighting his uncle in Syria when news of the Crusader invasion came, but he quickly returned to Egypt and encamped at al-Mansourah , where he died on 22 November after having his leg amputated in an attempt to save his life from a serious abscess. As-Salih did not trust his heir, al-Muazzam Turanshah , and had kept him at

7412-482: The dilemma of having many supporters in the city, but little money. A family council was held there by the Ayyubid emirs of Egypt where it was decided that al-Muzaffar Taqi al-Din Umar , Saladin's nephew, would launch an expedition against the coastal region of Barqa ( Cyrenaica ) west of Egypt with a force of 500 cavalry. In order to justify the raid, a letter was sent to the Bedouin tribes of Barqa, rebuking them for their robberies of travelers and ordering them to pay

7521-430: The dynastic disputes which followed, as-Salih took control of Damascus in 1239 and set about using it as a base for enlarging his domain. He received representations from his father's old Emirs in Egypt, who appealed to him to remove his brother. While making ready to invade Egypt he was informed that his brother had been captured by his soldiers and was being held prisoner. As-Salih was invited to come at once and assume

7630-407: The early 1240s, as-Salih Ayyub carried out reprisals against those who supported al-Adil II, and he then quarreled with an-Nasir Dawud who had reconciled with as-Salih Ismail of Damascus. The rival sultans as-Salih Ayyub and Ismail attempted to ally with the Crusaders against the other. In 1244, the breakaway Ayyubids of Syria allied with the Crusaders and confronted the coalition of as-Salih Ayyub and

7739-455: The eastern Galilee on 3 July 1187 and the Crusader army attempted to attack the Ayyubids by way of Kafr Kanna . After hearing of the Crusaders' march, Saladin led his guard back to their main camp at Kafr Sabt , leaving a small detachment at Tiberias. With a clear view of the Crusader army, Saladin ordered al-Muzaffar Umar to block the Crusaders' entry from Hattin by taking a position near Lubya , while Gökböri and his troops were stationed at

7848-514: The emirs of Homs, Hama and Baalbek as well as contingents from other Ayyubid principalities to support al-Awhad. During the siege, Georgian general Ivane Mkhargrdzeli accidentally fell into the hands of the al-Awhad on the outskirts of Khilat and was released in 1210, only after the Georgians agreed to sign a Thirty Years' Truce . The truce ended the Georgian menace to Ayyubid Armenia, leaving

7957-420: The facilities they needed and he recruited the two brothers into his service. Ayyub was made commander of Ba'albek and Shirkuh entered the service of Zangi's son, Nur ad-Din . According to historian Abdul Ali, it was under the care and patronage of Zangi that the Ayyubid family rose to prominence. In 1164, Nur al-Din dispatched Shirkuh to lead an expeditionary force to prevent the Crusaders from establishing

8066-517: The frontier. He captured Siwa in 1172 and conquered Cyrenaica before 1174. He subsequently conquered Tripoli with an army of Turks and Kurds, joined by Arab troops from some of the region's Bedouin tribes. The exact date of Tripoli's capture is uncertain, but happened sometime in the 1170s or early 1180s. While some Ayyubid forces fought the Crusaders in the Levant, Qaraqush's forces went on to capture most of Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia ) from

8175-459: The frontiers of Egypt to encompass most of the Levant (including the former territories of Nur ad-Din), in addition to Hijaz , Yemen , northern Nubia , Tarabulus , Cyrenaica , southern Anatolia , and northern Iraq , the homeland of his Kurdish family. By virtue of his sultanate including Hijaz, the location of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, he was the first ruler to be hailed as

8284-471: The governor of Diyar Bakr, assumed the governorship of Damascus. Meanwhile, the Seljuks were advancing towards al-Jazira. The descendants of Qatada ibn Idris challenged Ayyubid rule in Mecca. The Rasulids took advantage of this to end Ayyubid suzerainty in the Hejaz and bring the region under their control, which they accomplished in 1238 when Nur al-Din Umar captured Mecca. Al-Ashraf's rule in Damascus

8393-494: The important stronghold of Salamiyah to as-Salih Ayyub the previous winter, perhaps to underline their patron-client relationship. This troubled the Ayyubids of Aleppo who feared it would be used as a base for a military take-over of their city. An-Nasir Yusuf found this intolerable and decided to annex Homs in the winter of 1248. The city surrendered in August and an-Nasir Yusuf's terms forced al-Ashraf Musa to hand over Homs, but he

8502-406: The latter was soon overthrown by his Mamluk generals who had repelled a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta . This effectively ended Ayyubid power in Egypt. Attempts by the emirs of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to wrest back Egypt failed. In 1260, the Mongols sacked Aleppo and conquered the Ayyubids' remaining territories soon after. The Mamluks, who expelled the Mongols, maintained

8611-431: The local population there fled as soon as they landed. When as-Salih Ayyub, who was in Syria at the time, heard of this, he rushed back to Egypt, avoiding Damietta, instead reaching Mansurah. There, he organized an army and raised a commando force which harassed the Crusaders. As-Salih Ayyub was ill and his health deteriorated further due to the mounting pressure from the Crusader offensive. His wife Shajar al-Durr called

8720-455: The next year, in 1193. Rather than establishing a centralized empire, Saladin had established hereditary ownership throughout his lands, dividing his empire among his kinsmen, with family members presiding over semi-autonomous fiefs and principalities. Although these princes ( emirs ) owed allegiance to the Ayyubid sultan, they maintained relative independence in their own territories. Upon Saladin's death, az-Zahir took Aleppo from al-Adil per

8829-449: The northeastern Galilee. By the end of 1187 the Ayyubids were in control of virtually the entire Crusader kingdom in the Levant with the exception of Tyre , which held out under Conrad of Montferrat . In December 1187, an Ayyubid army consisting of the garrisons of Saladin and his brothers from Aleppo, Hama, and Egypt besieged Tyre. Half of the Muslim naval fleet was seized by Conrad's forces on 29 December, followed by an Ayyubid defeat on

8938-399: The official capital of Ayyubid Yemen was Ta'iz . The advent of the Ayyubids marked the beginning of a period of renewed prosperity in the city which saw the improvement of its commercial infrastructure, the establishment of new institutions, and the minting of its own coins. Following this prosperity, the Ayyubids implemented a new tax which was collected by galleys . Turan-Shah drove out

9047-402: The other's forces. A settlement was eventually reached whereby an-Nasir Dawud would retain the fortress, but cede the remainder of his principality to as-Salih Ayyub. Having settled the situation in Palestine and Transjordan, Fakhr ad-Din moved north and marched to Bosra , the last place still held by Ismail. During the siege, Fakhr ad-Din fell ill, but his commanders continued the assault against

9156-414: The primacy of the jihad (struggle) against the Crusader states. Al-Afdal, however, found that his attachment to Damascus contributed to his undoing. Several of his father's subordinate emirs left the city for Cairo to lobby Uthman to oust him on claims he was inexperienced and intended to oust the Ayyubid old guard. Al-Adil further encouraged Uthman to act in order prevent al-Afdal's incompetence putting

9265-530: The proclamation of younger brother al-Adil II as sultan in Cairo. As-Salih Ayyub eventually occupied Damascus in December 1238, but his uncle Ismail retrieved the city in September 1239. Ismail's cousin an-Nasir Dawud had Ismail detained in Karak in a move to prevent the latter's arrest by al-Adil II. Ismail entered into an alliance with Dawud who released him the following year, allowing him to proclaim himself sultan in place of al-Adil II in May 1240. Throughout

9374-490: The region, the possibility of Pahlawan's intervention made Saladin cautious about launching further attacks against Mosul. An arrangement was negotiated whereby al-Adil was to administer Aleppo in the name of Saladin's son al-Afdal , while Egypt would be governed by al-Muzaffar Umar in the name of Saladin's other son Uthman . When the two sons were to come of age they would assume power in the two territories, but if any died, one of Saladin's brothers would take their place. In

9483-422: The reinforcements from Europe. From 1189 to 1191, Acre was besieged by the Crusaders, and despite initial Muslim successes, it fell to Crusader forces. A massacre of 2,700 Muslim prisoners of war ensued, and the Crusaders then made plans to take Ascalon in the south. As the Ayyubids faced a Crusader naval blockade in Acre and a steady flow of Crusader reinforcements arriving by sea, Saladin sought assistance from

9592-431: The remaining Hamdanid rulers of Sana'a , conquering the mountainous city in 1175. With the conquest of Yemen, the Ayyubids developed a coastal fleet, al-asakir al-bahriyya , which they used to guard the sea coasts under their control and protect them from pirate raids. The conquest held great significance for Yemen because the Ayyubids managed to unite the previous three independent states (Zabid, Aden, and Sana'a) under

9701-704: The restoration of Palestine to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with the exception of the forts of Mont Real and Karak. This was refused by the leader of the Fifth Crusade , Pelagius of Albano , and in 1221, the Crusaders were driven out of the Nile Delta after the Ayyubid victory at Mansura . In the east, the Khwarezemids under Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu captured the town of Khilat from al-Ashraf, while

9810-577: The shoreline of the city. On 1 January 1188, Saladin held a war council where a withdrawal from Tripoli was agreed. Pope Gregory VIII called for a Third Crusade against the Muslims in early 1189. Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire , Philip Augustus of France, and Richard the Lionheart of England formed an alliance to reconquer Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Crusaders and the Ayyubids fought near Acre that year and were joined by

9919-707: The summer of 1183, after ravaging eastern Galilee , Saladin's raids there culminated in the Battle of al-Fule in the Jezreel Valley between him and the Crusaders under Guy of Lusignan . The mostly hand-to-hand fighting ended indecisively. The two armies withdrew to a mile from each other and while the Crusaders discussed internal matters, Saladin captured the Golan Plateau , cutting the Crusaders off from their main supplies source. In October 1183 and then on 13 August 1184, Saladin and al-Adil besieged Crusader-held Karak , but were unable to capture it. Afterward,

10028-402: The throne in Damascus. Al-Kamil attempted to retake Damietta, but was forced back by John of Brienne . After learning of a conspiracy against him, he fled, leaving the Egyptian army leaderless. Panic ensued, but with the help of al-Mu'azzam, al-Kamil regrouped his forces. By then, however, the Crusaders had seized his camp. The Ayyubids offered to negotiate for a withdrawal from Damietta, offering

10137-633: The time, who regarded Syria as his family's estate and was angered that it was being usurped by a former servant of Nur al-Din. He mustered an army to confront Saladin near Hama. Although heavily outnumbered, Saladin and his veteran soldiers decisively defeated the Zengids. After his victory, Saladin proclaimed himself king and suppressed the name of as-Salih Ismail al-Malik (Nur al-Din's adolescent son) in Friday prayers and Islamic coinage, replacing it with his own name. The Abbasid caliph, al-Mustadi , graciously welcomed Saladin's assumption of power and gave him

10246-510: The title of "Sultan of Egypt and Syria". In the spring of 1176, another major confrontation occurred between the Zengids and the Ayyubids, this time at the Sultan's Mound , 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Aleppo. Saladin again emerged victorious, but Saif al-Din managed to narrowly escape. The Ayyubids proceeded to conquer other Syrian cities in the north, namely Ma'arat al-Numan , A'zaz , Buza'a, and Manbij , but failed to capture Aleppo during

10355-508: The town from its Kurdish prince . Shadhi left with his two sons Ayyub and Asad ad-Din Shirkuh . His friend Mujahid ad-Din Bihruz—the military governor of northern Mesopotamia under the Seljuks —welcomed him and appointed him governor of Tikrit . After Shadhi's death, Ayyub succeeded him in governance of the city with the assistance of his brother Shirkuh. Together they managed the affairs of

10464-481: The town of Ibrim . Turan-Shah and his Kurdish soldiers temporarily lodged there. From Ibrim, they raided the surrounding region, halting their operations after being presented with an armistice proposal from the Makurian king . Although Turan-Shah's initial response was hawkish , he later sent an envoy to Dongola, who upon returning, described the poverty of the city and of Nubia in general to Turan-Shah. Consequently,

10573-556: The traditionally loyalist Rasulids began to encroach on Ayyubid holdings in Arabia . In 1222 the Ayyubids appointed the Rasulid leader Ali ibn Rasul as governor of Mecca. Ayyubid rule in Yemen and the Hejaz was declining and the Ayyubid governor of Yemen, Mas'ud ibn Kamil, was forced to leave for Egypt in 1223. He appointed Nur ad-Din Umar as his deputy governor while he was absent. In 1224 a local dynasty gained control of Hadramaut from

10682-405: The unified command of Richard, defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf , allowing for the Crusader conquest of Jaffa and much of coastal Palestine, but they were unable to recover the interior regions. Instead, Richard signed a treaty with Saladin in 1192, restoring the Kingdom of Jerusalem to a coastal strip between Jaffa and Beirut. It was the last major war effort of Saladin's career, as he died

10791-418: Was "no one weaker or younger" than Saladin, and "not one of the emirs obeyed him or served him", according to medieval Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Athir . Saladin soon found himself more independent than ever before in his career, much to the dismay of Nur al-Din who attempted to influence events in Egypt. He permitted Saladin's elder brother, Turan-Shah , to supervise Saladin in a bid to cause dissension within

10900-483: Was able to retain the emirate of Baalbek under Saʿd al-Din al-Humaidi . In 1246 he decided that his Khwarezmian allies were dangerously uncontrollable, so he turned on them and defeated them near Homs, killing their leader and dispersing the remnants throughout Syria and Palestine. As-Salih's capture of Jerusalem after the Khwarezmian sacking led to the call for a new Crusade in Europe, and Louis IX of France took up

11009-567: Was again made sultan (although Uthman's son al-Mansur was the nominal ruler of Egypt), al-Adil having been absent in a campaign in the northeast. Al-Adil returned and managed to occupy the Citadel of Damascus , but then faced a strong assault from the combined forces of al-Afdal and his brother az-Zahir of Aleppo. These forces disintegrated under al-Afdal's leadership and in 1200, al-Adil resumed his offensive. Upon Uthman's death, two clans of mamluks (slave soldiers) entered into conflict. They were

11118-604: Was allowed to retain nearby Palmyra and Tell Bashir in the Syrian Desert . As-Salih Ayyub sent Fakhr ad-Din to recapture Homs, but Aleppo countered by sending an army to Kafr Tab , south of the city. An-Nasir Dawud left Karak for Aleppo to support an-Nasir Yusuf, but in his absence, his brothers al-Amjad Hasan and az-Zahir Shadhi detained his heir al-Mu'azzam Isa and then personally went to as-Salih Ayyub's camp at al-Mansourah in Egypt to offer him control of Karak in return for holdings in Egypt. As-Salih Ayyub agreed and sent

11227-533: Was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. Throughout the sultanate, Ayyubid rule ushered in an era of economic prosperity, and the facilities and patronage provided by the Ayyubids led to a resurgence in intellectual activity in the Islamic world . This period was also marked by an Ayyubid process of vigorously strengthening Sunni Muslim dominance in the region by constructing numerous madrasas (Islamic schools of law) in their major cities. Even after being toppled by

11336-438: Was defeated at the Battle of Montgisard , with the majority of its troops killed. Saladin encamped at Homs the following year and a number of skirmishes between his forces, commanded by Farrukh Shah , and the Crusaders occurred. Undeterred, Saladin invaded the Crusader states from the west and defeated Baldwin at the Battle of Marj Ayyun in 1179. The following year, he destroyed the newly built Crusader castle of Chastellet at

11445-562: Was given Samosata in Anatolia. Al-Adil redistributed his possessions between his sons: al-Kamil was to succeed him in Egypt, al-Ashraf received al-Jazira, and al-Awhad was given Diyar Bakr , but the latter territory shifted to al-Ashraf's domain after al-Awhad died. Al-Adil aroused open hostility from the Hanbali lobby in Damascus for largely ignoring the Crusaders, having launched only one campaign against them. Al-Adil believed that

11554-594: Was indeed on his way to Nablus. Eventually, Ismail, with the support of the Ayyubids of Kerak , Hama and Homs , captured Damascus from Ayyub in September 1239. Ayyub was abandoned by his troops and taken captive by local Bedouin who transferred him to al-Nasir Dawud 's control, in which he was held as a prisoner in Kerak, along with Shajar al-Durr who gave birth to their son Khalil, and his Mamluk Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Salihi . In April 1240, An-Nasir, quarreling with al-Adil II, released Ayyub and allied with him against

11663-676: Was reconstructed and restored to Egypt. In 1232, he was given Hasankeyf in the Jazirah (now part of Turkey ), which his father had captured from the Artuqids . In 1234 his father sent him to rule Damascus , removing him from the succession in Egypt after suspecting him of conspiring against him with the Mamluks . In 1238, al-Kamil died leaving as-Salih his designated heir in the Jazira, and his other son Al-Adil II as his heir in Egypt. In

11772-536: Was stable, but he and the other emirs of Syria sought to assert their independence from Cairo. Amid these tensions, al-Ashraf died in August 1237 after a four-month illness and was succeeded by his brother as-Salih Ismail . Two months later, al-Kamil's Egyptian army arrived and besieged Damascus, but as-Salih Ismail had destroyed the suburbs of the city to deny al-Kamil's forces shelter. In 1232, al-Kamil installed his eldest son as-Salih Ayyub to govern Hisn Kayfa, but upon al-Kamil's death in 1238, as-Salih Ayyub disputed

11881-463: Was the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249. As-Salih was born in 1205, the son of Al-Kamil and a Nubian concubine. Her name was Ward Al-Muna and she was also the servant of Al-Kamil's other wife, Sawda bint Al-Faqih, the mother of Adil . In 1221, he became a hostage at the end of the Fifth Crusade , while John of Brienne became a hostage of as-Salih's father Al-Kamil , until Damietta

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