Saladin, famous Sultan of Egypt, and founder
of the ‘Ayyubid Dynasty’, began his military
career with a minor role, assisting his uncle.
However, soon he proved his ability, and was
given charge of more important battles. After
his uncle’s death, he took over as the vizier
of the ‘Fatimid Caliphate’ and waged several
wars, gradually increasing his power in the
Caliphate
In wars against the Christian Crusaders, he
achieved great success with the capture of
Jerusalem (October 2, 1187), ending its nearly
nine decades of occupation by the Franks.
Saladin was born into a proeminent Kurdish
family. On the night of his birth, his father,
gathered his family and moved to Aleppo, there
entering the service of ʿImad al-Dīn, the
powerful Turkish governor in northern Syria.
Growing up in Baʿlbek and Damascus, Saladin
was apparently an undistinguished youth, with
a greater taste for religious studies than
military training.
His formal career began when he joined the
staff of his uncle Asad al-Dīn an important
military commander under the emir Nūr al-Dīn,
who was the son and successor of Zangī. During
three military expeditions led by Asad al-Din
into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin
Christian (Frankish) rulers of the Latin kingdom
of Jerusalem, a complex, three-way struggle
developed between Amalric I, the king of Jerusalem;
Shāwar, the powerful vizier of the Egyptian
Fāṭimid caliph; and Shīrkūh. After Shīrkūh’s
death and after ordering Shāwar’s assassination,
Saladin, in 1169 at the age of 31, was appointed
both commander of the Syrian troops in Egypt
and vizier of the Fāṭimid caliph there.
His relatively quick rise to power must be
attributed not only to the clannish nepotism
of his Kurdish family but also to his own
emerging talents. As vizier of Egypt, he received
the title “king” (malik), although he
was generally known as the sultan.
Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin
united the Muslims of Syria and then advanced
against the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The
Christians met him in a great battle near
the lake of Galilee. It ended in the defeat
of their army and the capture of their king.
Even the Holy Cross, which they had carried
in the midst of the fight, became the spoil
of Saladin the Muslim conqueror. Saladin quickly
reaped the fruits of victory. The Christian
cities of Syria surrendered to him, and at
last Jerusalem itself surrendered after a
short siege leaving few possessions which
the crusaders had previously won in the East.
The news of the taking of Jerusalem led to
the cry for another crusade. The three greatest
rulers of Europe - King Philip Augustus of
France, King Richard I of England, and the
German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa assumed
the cross and set out, each at the head of
a large army, for the recovery of the Holy
City of Jerusalem.
Saladin was renown for his knightly virtues
which matched those of Richard the Lionheart.
When Richard the Lionheart was sick with a
fever, Saladin, knowing that he was poorly
supplied with delicacies, sent him a gift
of the choicest fruits of the land. On another
occasion, when Richard's horse had been killed
in battle, Saladin sent a fine Arabian steed
as a present for his rival. For two years
Richard the Lionheart and Saladin were involved
in almost daily combat in the crusaders attempts
to capture Jerusalem from the Muslims.
Richard the Lionheart remained for longer
in the Holy Land than the other leaders of
the crusades. King Richard the Lionheart and
Saladin finally concluded a truce by the terms
of which Christians were permitted to visit
Jerusalem without paying tribute, that they
should have free access to the holy places,
and remain in undisturbed possession of the
coast from Jaffa to Tyre. King Richard the
Lionheart then set sail for England, and with
his departure from the Holy Land the Third
Crusade came to an end, leaving Jerusalem
still in the possession of Saladin and the
Muslims.
Soon the long campaigning seasons and the
endless hours in the saddle caught up with
him, and he died. While his relatives were
already scrambling for pieces of the empire,
his friends found that the most powerful and
most generous ruler in the Muslim world had
not left enough money to pay for his grave.
Saladin’s family continued to rule over
Egypt and neighbouring lands as the Ayyūbid
dynasty, which succumbed to the Mamlūk dynasty
in 1250.
