Sultan salahuddin ayyubi wiki

Saladin was unnerved at the attempt on his life, which he accused Gumushtugin and the Assassins of plotting, and so increased his efforts in the siege. A'zaz capitulated on 21 June, and Saladin then hurried his forces to Aleppo to punish Gumushtigin. His assaults were again resisted, but he managed to secure not only a truce, but a mutual alliance with Aleppo, in which Gumushtigin and as-Salih were allowed to continue their hold on the city, and in return, they recognized Saladin as the sovereign over all of the dominions he conquered.

When the treaty was concluded, the younger sister of as-Salih came to Saladin and requested the return of the Fortress of A'zaz; he complied and escorted her back to the gates of Aleppo with numerous presents. Saladin had by now agreed to truces with his Zengid rivals and the Kingdom of Jerusalem the latter occurred in the summer of , but faced a threat from the Isma'ili sect known as the Assassins , led by Rashid ad-Din Sinan.

Based in the an-Nusayriyah Mountains , they commanded nine fortresses , all built on high elevations. As soon as he dispatched the bulk of his troops to Egypt, Saladin led his army into the an-Nusayriyah range in August He retreated the same month, after laying waste to the countryside, but failing to conquer any of the forts. Most Muslim historians claim that Saladin's uncle, the governor of Hama, mediated a peace agreement between him and Sinan.

Saladin had his guards supplied with link lights and had chalk and cinders strewed around his tent outside Masyaf —which he was besieging—to detect any footsteps by the Assassins. Presently, Saladin awoke to find a figure leaving the tent. He saw that the lamps were displaced and beside his bed laid hot scones of the shape peculiar to the Assassins with a note at the top pinned by a poisoned dagger.

The note threatened that he would be killed if he did not withdraw from his assault. Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that had left the tent. Another version claims that Saladin hastily withdrew his troops from Masyaf because they were urgently needed to fend off a Crusader force in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon.

After leaving the an-Nusayriyah Mountains, Saladin returned to Damascus and had his Syrian soldiers return home. He left Turan Shah in command of Syria and left for Egypt with only his personal followers, reaching Cairo on 22 September. Having been absent for roughly two years, he had much to organize and supervise in Egypt, namely fortifying and reconstructing Cairo.

The city walls were repaired and their extensions laid out, while the construction of the Cairo Citadel was commenced. The chief public work he commissioned outside of Cairo was the large bridge at Giza , which was intended to form an outwork of defence against a potential Moorish invasion. Saladin remained in Cairo supervising its improvements, building colleges such as the Madrasa of the Sword Makers and ordering the internal administration of the country.

In November , he set out upon a raid into Palestine; the Crusaders had recently forayed into the territory of Damascus, so Saladin saw the truce as no longer worth preserving. The Christians sent a large portion of their army to besiege the fortress of Harim north of Aleppo, so southern Palestine bore few defenders. William of Tyre recorded that the Ayyubid army consisted of 26, soldiers, of which 8, were elite forces and 18, were black soldiers from Sudan.

This army proceeded to raid the countryside, sack Ramla and Lod , and disperse themselves as far as the Gates of Jerusalem. Although the Crusader force consisted of only knights, Saladin hesitated to ambush them because of the presence of highly skilled templar generals. On 25 November, while the greater part of the Ayyubid army was absent, Saladin and his men were surprised near Ramla in the battle of Montgisard possibly at Gezer , also known as Tell Jezar.

Before they could form up, the Templar force hacked the Ayyubid army down by body-to-body of sword. Initially, Saladin attempted to organize his men into battle order, but as his bodyguards were being killed, he saw that defeat was inevitable and so with a small remnant of his troops mounted a swift camel, riding all the way to the territories of Egypt.

Not discouraged by his defeat at Montgisard, Saladin was prepared to fight the Crusaders once again. In the spring of , he was encamped under the walls of Homs, and a few skirmishes occurred between his generals and the Crusader army. His forces in Hama won a victory over their enemy and brought the spoils, together with many prisoners of war, to Saladin who ordered the captives to be beheaded for "plundering and laying waste the lands of the Faithful".

He spent the rest of the year in Syria without a confrontation with his enemies. Saladin's intelligence services reported to him that the Crusaders were planning a raid into Syria. He ordered one of his generals, Farrukh-Shah, to guard the Damascus frontier with a thousand of his men to watch for an attack, then to retire, avoiding battle, and to light warning beacons on the hills, after which Saladin would march out.

In April , the Crusaders and Templars led by King Baldwin expected no resistance and waited to launch a surprise attack on Muslim herders grazing their herds and flocks east of the Golan Heights. Baldwin advanced too rashly in pursuit of Farrukh-Shah's force, which was concentrated southeast of Quneitra and was subsequently defeated by the Ayyubids.

With this victory, Saladin decided to call in more troops from Egypt; he requested al-Adil to dispatch 1, horsemen. In the summer of , King Baldwin had set up an outpost on the road to Damascus and aimed to fortify a passage over the Jordan River , known as Jacob's Ford , that commanded the approach to the Banias plain the plain was divided by the Muslims and the Christians.

Saladin had offered , gold pieces to Baldwin to abandon the project, which was particularly offensive to the Muslims, but to no avail. He then resolved to destroy the fortress, called "Chastellet" and defended by the Templars knights, moving his headquarters to Banias. As the Crusaders hurried down to attack the Muslim forces, they fell into disorder, with the infantry falling behind.

Despite early success, they pursued the Muslims far enough to become scattered, and Saladin took advantage by rallying his troops and charging at the Crusaders. The engagement ended in a decisive Ayyubid victory, and many high-ranking knights were captured. Saladin then moved to besiege the fortress , which fell on 30 August In the spring of , while Saladin was in the area of Safad , anxious to commence a vigorous campaign against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, King Baldwin sent messengers to him with proposals of peace.

Because droughts and bad harvests hampered his commissariat , Saladin agreed to a truce. Raymond of Tripoli denounced the truce but was compelled to accept after an Ayyubid raid on his territory in May and upon the appearance of Saladin's naval fleet off the port of Tartus. This was intended to cement an alliance with the Artuqids and to impress other emirs in Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

The latter demanded that Nur ad-Din return the lands given to him as a dowry for marrying his daughter when he received reports that she was being abused and used to gain Seljuk territory. Nur ad-Din asked Saladin to mediate the issue, but Arslan refused. Saladin was later enraged when he received a message from Arslan accusing Nur ad-Din of more abuses against his daughter.

He threatened to attack the city of Malatya , saying, "it is two days march for me and I shall not dismount [my horse] until I am in the city. Saladin felt that Arslan was correct to care for his daughter, but Nur ad-Din had taken refuge with him, and therefore he could not betray his trust. It was finally agreed that Arslan's daughter would be sent away for a year and if Nur ad-Din failed to comply, Saladin would move to abandon his support for him.

According to Abu Shama , he intended to spend the fast of Ramadan in Egypt and then make the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in the summer. For an unknown reason, he apparently changed his plans regarding the pilgrimage and was seen inspecting the Nile River banks in June. He was again embroiled with the Bedouin; he removed two-thirds of their fiefs to use as compensation for the fief-holders at Fayyum.

The Bedouin were also accused of trading with the Crusaders and, consequently, their grain was confiscated and they were forced to migrate westward. Later, Ayyubid warships were deployed against Bedouin river pirates, who were plundering the shores of Lake Tanis. Saladin's intimates accused Majd ad-Din of misappropriating the revenues of Zabid, but Saladin himself believed there was no evidence to back the allegations.

He had Majd ad-Din released in return for a payment of 80, dinars. The controversial detainment of Majd ad-Din was a part of the larger discontent associated with the aftermath of Turan-Shah's departure from Yemen. Although his deputies continued to send him revenues from the province, centralized authority was lacking and an internal quarrel arose between Izz ad-Din Uthman of Aden and Hittan of Zabid.

Saladin wrote in a letter to al-Adil: "this Yemen is a treasure house We conquered it, but up to this day we have had no return and no advantage from it. There have been only innumerable expenses, the sending out of troops Prior to his death, he had his chief officers swear an oath of loyalty to Izz ad-Din, as he was the only Zengid ruler strong enough to oppose Saladin.

Izz ad-Din was welcomed in Aleppo, but possessing it and Mosul put too great of a strain on his abilities. Saladin offered no opposition to these transactions in order to respect the treaty he previously made with the Zengids. On 11 May , Saladin, along with half of the Egyptian Ayyubid army and numerous non-combatants, left Cairo for Syria.

On the evening before he departed, he sat with his companions and the tutor of one of his sons quoted a line of poetry: "enjoy the scent of the ox-eye plant of Najd , for after this evening it will come no more". Saladin took this as an evil omen and he never saw Egypt again. Meeting no opposition, Saladin ravaged the countryside of Montreal , whilst Baldwin's forces watched on, refusing to intervene.

In July, Saladin led his army across the Jordan and into Galilee , where he marched south to sack Bethsan. He was met by a substantial Crusader force in an inconclusive battle near Belvoir Castle , but he was unable to destroy the Christian army and could not logistically sustain his own army any longer, so he withdrew across the river.

In August, he passed through the Beqaa Valley to Beirut , where he rendezvoused with the Egyptian fleet and laid siege to the city. Failing to make any headway, he withdrew after a few days to deal with matters in Mesopotamia. He complied and the truce between him and the Zengids officially ended in September Once he reached Bira, near the river, he was joined by Kukbary and Nur ad-Din of Hisn Kayfa and the combined forces captured the cities of Jazira, one after the other.

Upon seeing the large size of Saladin's army, he made little effort to resist and surrendered on the condition that he would retain his property. Saladin promptly impressed the inhabitants of the town by publishing a decree that ordered a number of taxes to be canceled and erased all mention of them from treasury records, stating "the most miserable rulers are those whose purses are fat and their people thin".

Saladin proceeded to take Nusaybin which offered no resistance. A medium-sized town, Nusaybin was not of great importance, but it was located in a strategic position between Mardin and Mosul and within easy reach of Diyarbakir. He replied, "Let them He also destroyed his own citadel at A'zaz to prevent it from being used by the Ayyubids if they were to conquer it.

As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced the issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action. An-Nasir sent Badr al-Badr a high-ranking religious figure to mediate between the two sides. Saladin arrived at the city on 10 November Izz ad-Din would not accept his terms because he considered them disingenuous and extensive, and Saladin immediately laid siege to the heavily fortified city.

After several minor skirmishes and a stalemate in the siege that was initiated by the caliph, Saladin intended to find a way to withdraw without damage to his reputation while still keeping up some military pressure. It fell after a day siege on 30 December. After establishing a garrison at Sinjar, he awaited a coalition assembled by Izz ad-Din consisting of his forces, those from Aleppo, Mardin, and Armenia.

Each force returned to their cities and al-Fadil wrote: "They [Izz ad-Din's coalition] advanced like men, like women they vanished. It was not an attempt to extend the Crusader influence into that sea or to capture its trade routes, but merely a piratical move. Ibn Jubair was told that sixteen Muslim ships were burnt by the Crusaders, who then captured a pilgrim ship and caravan at Aidab.

He also reported that they intended to attack Medina and remove Muhammad 's body. Al-Maqrizi added to the rumor by claiming Muhammad's tomb was going to be relocated to Crusader territory so Muslims would make pilgrimages there. They broke the Crusader blockade, destroyed most of their ships, and pursued and captured those who anchored and fled into the desert.

From the point of view of Saladin, in terms of territory, the war against Mosul was going well, but he still failed to achieve his objectives and his army was shrinking; Taqi ad-Din took his men back to Hama, while Nasir ad-Din Muhammad and his forces had left. This encouraged Izz ad-Din and his allies to take the offensive. The previous coalition regrouped at Harzam some km from Harran.

In early April, without waiting for Nasir ad-Din, Saladin and Taqi ad-Din commenced their advance against the coalition, marching eastward to Ras al-Ein unhindered. He handed the city to Nur ad-Din Muhammad together with its stores, which consisted of 80, candles, a tower full of arrowheads, and 1,, books. In return for a diploma—granting him the city, Nur ad-Din swore allegiance to Saladin, promising to follow him in every expedition in the war against the Crusaders, and repairing the damage done to the city.

The fall of Amid, in addition to territory, convinced Il-Ghazi of Mardin to enter the service of Saladin, weakening Izz ad-Din's coalition. Saladin attempted to gain the Caliph an-Nasir's support against Izz ad-Din by sending him a letter requesting a document that would give him legal justification for taking over Mosul and its territories.

Saladin aimed to persuade the caliph claiming that while he conquered Egypt and Yemen under the flag of the Abbasids, the Zengids of Mosul openly supported the Seljuks rivals of the caliphate and only came to the caliph when in need. He also accused Izz ad-Din's forces of disrupting the Muslim "Holy War" against the Crusaders, stating "they are not content not to fight, but they prevent those who can".

Saladin defended his own conduct claiming that he had come to Syria to fight the Crusaders, end the heresy of the Assassins, and stop the wrong-doing of the Muslims. He also promised that if Mosul was given to him, it would lead to the capture of Jerusalem, Constantinople , Georgia , and the lands of the Almohads in the Maghreb , "until the word of God is supreme and the Abbasid caliphate has wiped the world clean, turning the churches into mosques".

Saladin stressed that all this would happen by the will of God, and instead of asking for financial or military support from the caliph, he would capture and give the caliph the territories of Tikrit , Daquq , Khuzestan , Kish Island , and Oman. Saladin turned his attention from Mosul to Aleppo, sending his brother Taj al-Muluk Buri to capture Tell Khalid, km northeast of the city.

A siege was set, but the governor of Tell Khalid surrendered upon the arrival of Saladin himself on 17 May before a siege could take place. According to Imad ad-Din, after Tell Khalid, Saladin took a detour northwards to Aintab , but he gained possession of it when his army turned towards it, allowing him to quickly move backward another c. On 21 May, he camped outside the city, positioning himself east of the Citadel of Aleppo , while his forces encircled the suburb of Banaqusa to the northeast and Bab Janan to the west.

He stationed his men dangerously close to the city, hoping for an early success. Zangi did not offer long resistance. He was unpopular with his subjects and wished to return to his Sinjar, the city he governed previously. An exchange was negotiated where Zangi would hand over Aleppo to Saladin in return for the restoration of his control of Sinjar, Nusaybin, and Raqqa.

Zangi would hold these territories as Saladin's vassals in terms of military service. On 12 June, Aleppo was formally placed in Ayyubid hands. Two emir s, including an old friend of Saladin, Izz ad-Din Jurduk, welcomed and pledged their service to him. A massacre of 2, 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 the Almohads, who had one of the largest navies in the Mediterranean. 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 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 , 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 the next year, in 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. However, before any major results could be achieved, Mas'ud fell ill and returned to Mosul, and al-Adil then compelled Zangi to make a quick peace before the Zengids suffered territorial losses at the hands of the Ayyubids.

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 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 the Ayyubid empire in jeopardy. Thus, in , Uthman openly demanded the sultanate.

Uthman's claim to the throne was settled in a series of assaults on Damascus in , 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 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 , al-Adil resumed his offensive. They were 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 , [ 88 ] and forced al-Afdal to accept internal banishment. Al-Afdal attempted unsuccessfully to take Damascus his final time. Al-Adil entered the city in triumph in 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 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 In response al-Adil assembled and personally led large Muslim army that included 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 , only after the Georgians agreed to sign a Thirty Years' Truce.

A Crusader military campaign was launched on 3 November , beginning with an offensive towards Transjordan. Al-Mu'azzam urged al-Adil to launch a counter-attack, but he rejected his son's proposal. 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 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 the restoration of Palestine to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with the exception of the forts of Mont Real and Karak.

In the east, the Khwarezemids under Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu captured the town of Khilat from al-Ashraf, [ 93 ] while the traditionally loyalist Rasulids began to encroach on Ayyubid holdings in Arabia. 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 He appointed Nur ad-Din Umar as his deputy governor while he was absent.

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

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 the Ayyubid-Crusader truce.

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, the governor of Diyar Bakr, assumed the governorship of Damascus.

Meanwhile, the Seljuks were advancing towards al-Jazira. The Rasulids took advantage of this to end Ayyubid suzerainty in the Hejaz and bring the region under their control, which they accomplished in when Nur al-Din Umar captured Mecca. Al-Ashraf's rule in Damascus 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 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. As-Salih Ayyub eventually occupied Damascus in December , but his uncle Ismail retrieved the city in September 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 Throughout the early s, 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. A large battle ensued , resulting in a major victory for as-Salih Ayyub and the virtual collapse of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In —, 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 The rupture of 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 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 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.

Sultan salahuddin ayyubi wiki

During the siege, Fakhr ad-Din fell ill, but his commanders continued the assault against the city, which fell in December 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. Safad with its Templar fortress seemed out of reach, so 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 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 In , a Crusader fleet of 1, 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 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 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 a critical position. He managed to cross the Nile to launch a surprise attack against Mansurah. Simultaneously, Egyptian forces cut off the Crusader's line of supply from Damietta, preventing 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. Fearing for their positions of power, the Bahri Mamluks revolted against the sultan and killed him in April 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 a common cause against Mamluk-dominated Egypt.

By , 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. An-Nasir Yusuf subsequently returned to Syria, which was slowly slipping out of his control. The Mamluks forged an alliance with the Crusaders in March and agreed to jointly launch a campaign against an-Nasir Yusuf.

King Louis, who had been released after al-Mu'azzam Turan-Shah's murder, led his army to Jaffa, while Aybak intended to send his forces to Gaza. Upon hearing of the alliance, an-Nasir Yusuf immediately dispatched a force to Tell al-Ajjul , just outside Gaza, in order to prevent the junction of the Mamluk and Crusader armies. Meanwhile, the rest of the Ayyubid army was stationed in the Jordan Valley.

Realizing that a war between them would greatly benefit the Crusaders, Aybak and an-Nasir Yusuf accepted Abbasid mediation via Najm ad-Din al-Badhirai. In April , a treaty was signed whereby the Mamluks would retain control over all of Egypt and Palestine up to, but not including, Nablus, while an-Nasir Yusuf would be confirmed as the ruler of Muslim Syria.

Thus, Ayyubid rule was officially ended in Egypt. For over a year after the settlement with the Mamluks, calm settled over an-Nasir Yusuf's reign, but on 11 December he sent two envoys to the Abbasids in Baghdad seeking formal investiture from the caliph, al-Musta'sim , for his role as "Sultan". This request was connected to an-Nasir's rivalry with Aybak, as the title would be useful in future disputes with the Mamluks.

However, the Mamluks had sent their envoys to Baghdad previously to precisely ensure that an-Nasir Yusuf would not gain the title, putting al-Musta'sim in a difficult position. In early , Aybak was killed in a conspiracy, and was succeeded by his year-old son, al-Mansur Ali , while Saif ad-Din Qutuz held an influential position. Soon after al-Mansur Ali's ascendancy rumors of another conspiracy to which an-Nasir Yusuf had an alleged connection emerged.

The Bahri Mamluks in Syria led by Baibars pressured an-Nasir Yusuf to intervene by invading Egypt, but he would not act, fearing the Bahri dynasty would usurp his throne if they gained Egypt. Relations between an-Nasir Yusuf and the Bahri Mamluks grew tense after the former refused to invade Egypt. In October , Baibars and his fellow Mamluks left Damascus or were expelled from the city and together they moved south to Jerusalem.

When the governor Kutuk refused to aid them against an-Nasir Yusuf, Baibars deposed him and had al-Mugith Umar, the emir of Karak, pronounced in the khutba at the al-Aqsa Mosque ; over the years, al-Mugith Umar had allowed the political dissidents of Cairo and Damascus, who sought protection from either the Mamluk and Ayyubid authorities, a safe haven within his territory.

A battle ensued and the Mamluks ultimately fled across the Jordan River to the Balqa area. From there they reached Zughar at the southern tip of the Dead Sea where they sent their submission to Karak. To ensure his independence, al-Mughith Umar began to distribute the territories of Palestine and Transjordan among the Bahri Mamluks. In spite of initial gains in Palestine and al-Arish, they withdrew after seeing how overwhelmingly outnumbered they were by the Egyptian army.

Al-Mughith Umar and Baibars were not discouraged, however, and launched an army 1, regular cavalry to Sinai at the beginning of , but again were defeated by the Mamluks of Egypt. The Ayyubids had been under the nominal sovereignty of the Mongol Empire after a Mongol force targeted Ayyubid territories in Anatolia in An-Nasir Yusuf sent an embassy to the Mongol capital Karakorum in , shortly after assuming power.

The latter raised an army of , and in , sacked Baghdad and slaughtered its inhabitants, including Caliph al-Musta'sim and most of his family after the Ayyubids failed to assemble an army to protect the city. An-Nasir Yusuf sent a delegation to Hulagu afterward, repeating his protestations to submission. Hulagu refused to accept the terms and so an-Nasir Yusuf called on Cairo for aid.

This plea coincided with a successful coup by the Cairo-based Mamluks against the remaining symbolic Ayyubid leadership in Egypt, with strongman Qutuz officially taking power. Meanwhile, an Ayyubid army was assembled at Birzeh , just north of Damascus to defend the city against the Mongols who were now marching towards northern Syria.

Aleppo was soon besieged within a week and in January it fell to the Mongols. The Great Mosque and the Citadel of Aleppo were razed and most of the inhabitants were killed or sold into slavery. Hama also capitulated without resisting, but did not join forces with the Mongols. Hulagu departed for Karakorum and left Kitbuqa , a Nestorian Christian general, to continue the Mongol conquest.

Damascus capitulated after the arrival of the Mongol army, but was not sacked like other captured Muslim cities. However, from Gaza, an-Nasir Yusuf managed to rally the small garrison he left in the Citadel of Damascus to rebel against the Mongol occupation. The Mongols retaliated by launching a massive artillery assault on the citadel and when it became apparent that an-Nasir Yusuf was unable to relieve the city with a newly assembled army, the garrison surrendered.

The Mongols proceeded by conquering Samaria, killing most of the Ayyubid garrison in Nablus, and then advanced south, as far as Gaza, unhindered. An-Nasir Yusuf was soon captured by the Mongols and used to persuade the garrison at Ajlun to capitulate. Afterward, the junior Ayyubid governor of Banyas allied with the Mongols, [ ] who had now gained control of most of Syria and al-Jazira, effectively ending Ayyubid power in the region.

Five days later, the Mamluks took Damascus and within a month, most of Syria was in Bahri Mamluk hands. Many of the Ayyubid emirs of Syria were discredited by Qutuz for collaborating with the Mongols, but since al-Ashraf Musa defected and fought alongside the Mamluks at Ain Jalut, he was allowed to continue his rule over Homs. Al-Mansur of Hama had fought alongside the Mamluks from the start of their conquest and because of this, [ ] Hama continued to be ruled by the Ayyubid descendants of al-Muzaffar Umar.

The next year, al-Mughith Umar was tricked into surrendering Karak to Baibars and was executed soon after for having previously sided with the Mongols. The last Ayyubid ruler of Hama died in and Hama briefly passed through direct Mamluk suzerainty. However, in , under the patronage of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad , Hama was restored to the Ayyubids under the well-known geographer and author Abu al-Fida.

The latter died in and was succeeded by his son al-Afdal Muhammad , who eventually lost the favor of his Mamluk overlords. He was removed from his post in and Hama was formally placed under Mamluk rule. He would spend most of his money on Sadqa optional charity , and he never possessed enough wealth that would have required him to pay Zakat obligatory alms.

Although he always wanted to perform Hajj, he was occupied in jihad, so he did not have enough money to perform Hajj, and he died without performing it. He never spoke badly about anyone and never allowed anyone to do so in his presence. He never uttered a rude word and never used his pen to humiliate a Muslim. The Crusaders, who were hungry and poverty-stricken, were astonished at that noble chivalry and mercy from their enemy.

Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi died at the age of His estate was only 47 dirhems and one dinar. He left no real estate or any other heredity. May Allah honor him in the hereafter, lighten his grave, and raise his rank in Paradise. Talha Ibn Obaidullah ra. Imam Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi. An-Nawawi on the Virtue of Kindness to Women. Aqeedah of Imam At-Tahawi.

Hazrat Sayedna Bilal Habashi. Abdullah ibn Abbas. How the Quran can be used effectively to govern empires that are embraced by people of all religions. Selahaddin Eyyubi will use sixteen writers over its three seasons. The historical series is being written by Turkish historians with the assistance of Pakistan's paleographers and research writers.

The initial work on the series was completed in September, after that, screen testing began once the casting was done. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Turkish television series based on Saladin. Historical Adventure Action. Plot [ edit ].

Cast [ edit ]. Selahaddin Eyyubi [ edit ]. Season 2 Characters [ edit ]. Season 2 deceased characters [ edit ]. Season 1 [ edit ]. Episodes [ edit ]. Series overview [ edit ]. Season 1 — [ edit ]. Salahuddin captured Mevdud and managed to confront Bernard as a result of a trap he set.