The Ayyubid Sultanate was the ruling dynasty over Egypt from 1170 until their collapse in 1250, once ruling over parts of both North Africa and the Near East at its height in 1189. Led by the charismatic Kurdish warrior Saladin, the Ayyubid dynasty was founded when he conquered the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt while serving under Nur ad-Din of Aleppo, but he later rebelled against Nur ad-Din and made Egypt his own power base. In the two decades following his seizure of power, Saladin conquered the city of Jerusalem and the lands of the Zengid dynasty in Outremer, forming a transcontinental empire. He would be forced to a standstill by the Third Crusade in 1189-1193, and the Ayyubid dynasty gave Jerusalem over to the crusaders in 1228 without much fighting. In 1250, mamluk slave soldiers led by Aybak seized power after repelling a crusader invasion of Egypt at Damietta, and the Ayyubid Sultanate was destroyed. The Ayyubid dynasty ruled over small possessions within the string of succeeding mamluk dynasties, ruling Hama in Syria until 1341 and Hasankeyf in Turkey until the early 16th century.
History[]
Early history[]
The Ayyubid Sultanate was founded by Najm ad-Din, a Mameluk slave soldier who was in the service of the Zengids of Syria. Najm invaded the Shiite Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt in 1170 and overthrew the last Fatimid caliph, although Al-Fayed of Aila held out until 1184. This ruling dynasty was close in relations with the Zengids and The Turks, and were enemies of Amalric I of Jerusalem, who attempted to overthrow the rule of Shirkuh, the brother of Najm ad-Din. Najm was devoted to consolidating his domains in northern and central Egypt, called the "Ayyubids" after his personal name, Ayyub.
Expansion[]
In 1173 Salah ad-Din, his son, became Sultan when Najm died in a horse riding accident. "Saladin", as he was internationally known, expanded the empire from 1174 until 1193, when he died. Salah ad-Din was responsible for defeating the last remnants of the Fatimid Caliphate, and he became the ruler of all of Egypt. Saladin campaigned against both the Zengids and the crusaders, conquering Damascus, Aleppo, and other Saracen cities before turning against his crusader enemies. He proceeded to capture the city of Ascalon in 1180, followed by Arsuf and then Jerusalem in 1189, achieving a great success. He captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem before a Third Crusade was called in 1189 in response to the rapid Muslim expansion in the Holy Lands. In 1190 Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, drowned while crossing the Kalycadnus (Saleph) River, and his sorrowful knights returned home. From 1190 until 1192 he fought against the crusader kings Richard the Lionheart of England and King Philip Augustus of France, the latter of whom returned home early. Richard lifted the siege of Tyre and took Acre, and the Ayyubids were fought to a standstill at Arsuf by Richard. In 1193, the crusaders and Saracens agreed to peace at Ramla, and Saladin allowed the crusaders to keep the lands that they had conquered, while Saladin maintained control over the city of Jerusalem. After Saladin's death later that year, there was a succession war that would last until 1200.
Succession War[]
Al-Adil, his brother, exercised control over the diplomatic situations after his death, but Al-Afdal, Al-Aziz, and Al-Zahir fought over the empire. Al-Aziz won the war after capturing Al-Afdal's Middle Eastern territories, and he was Sultan until his death in 1198. Al-Afdal reigned briefly before his death, and Al-Adil reigned until his death in 1218. The succession war had little short-term impact, but it showed the first cracks in the regime.
Recapture of Jerusalem[]
The Ayyubids fought off the Fifth Crusade, with Al-Kamil defeating Andrew III of Hungary's 50,000 troops. In 1228 he negotiated a peaceful handover of Jerusalem to Frederick II of Germany, but when he died the following year, the Ayyubids instantly recaptured the city. This would be the last attempt to recapture Jerusalem on land, and the last successful Crusader occupation.
Fall of the Regime[]
Louis IX of France planned several ventures of attacking Jerusalem through Egypt, and in 1248, he assaulted Damietta. He failed in his attack, losing at the Battle of Mansurah. However, the regime changed when the Mamelukes, slave soldiers led by Baybars, threw off their shackles and created their own regime in 1250, ousting the Ayyubids as Aybak became the new sultan.
The event widely seen as the fall of the Ayyubids occurred when Qutuz was assassinated in 1260 by Baybars after returning home from the Battle of Ain Jalut, in which Baybars defeated the Mongol Empire. Baybars took over Egypt and the Middle East, but Principality of Hama ruled for years later. In 1341 the final ruler of the Principality of Hama was deposed by the Mamelukes, and their last castle, Hasankeyf, was taken over by the Ottoman Empire in 1515.
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