Al-Adil (1145-1218) was the fourth (or fifth) king of the Ayyubid Dynasty, nephew of Saladin. He was Sultan from 1200 to 1218, succeeding al-Mansur Nasir al-Din Muhammad and preceding al-Kamil.
Biography[]
Al-Malik al-Adil Sayf al-Din Abu-Bakr ibn Ayyub was a son of Najm ad-Din and the younger brother and heir of Salah ad-Din (Saladin), born in Damascus to a Kurdish family. He took part in the campaigns of his uncle Shirkuh against the Fatimids while under the service of the Zengids, and he governed Egypt on behalf of Saladin. He mobilized the resources for Saladin’s war against the Crusaders, and from 1183 to 1186, he was governor of Aleppo. On Saladin’s death in 1193 he was governor of Damascus.
After Saladin’s death Al-Adil faced a succession struggle. Al-Adil found himself in the position of honest broker between Al-Afdal and his brother Al-Aziz, and Al-Aziz became Sultan until his death in 1198. Al-Adil and Al-Afdal fought, and although he was closely besieged in Damascus in 1199, he defeated Al-Afdal at the Battle of Bilbeis in January 1200.
For much of his reign, he was on good terms with the crusaders, fixing trade agreements. His rule was a period of consolidation rather than expansion, rebuilding the treasury and creating political stability. He still defeated a French raid on Rosetta in 1204 and Damietta in 1211, and he took Ahlat from the Ahlahshahs (a Seljuk rump state) in 1207. When, in 1217 a new crusade was formed, he fought the crusaders at Acre, despite being 72 years old. No notable success was achieved, and he died on campaign while the Crusaders attacked Damietta.
