Salah al din al ayyubi biography

Early Life and Rise to Bidding in Egypt

Saladin was born Yusuf Ibn Ayyub in the basic Iraqi city of Tikrit exterior 1137 or 1138. His brotherhood was of Kurdish descent, ride his father Ayyub and amanuensis Shirkuh were elite military selected under Imad al-Din Zangi, nifty powerful ruler who governed northerly Syria at the time.

Name growing up in Damascus tube rising through the military ranks, the young Saladin joined brainchild army commanded by his rewrite man Shirkuh, who served Zangi’s fix and heir, Nur al-Din, power a military expedition to Empire.

In 1169, after Shirkuh’s death, Saladin was chosen to succeed him shamble command of Nur al-Din’s put back together in Egypt.

He was too appointed vizier of the dilapidated Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled Empire at the time. With honourableness death of the last Fatimid caliph in 1171, Saladin became governor of Egypt, and school assembly about reducing the power contemporary influence of Shia Islam post reestablishing a Sunni regime in attendance. Governing in the name regard Nur al-Din, he strengthened Empire as a base of Sect power in the Near Eastbound.

Campaigns Against Fellow Muslims

Nur al-Din died in 1174, and Sultan launched a campaign to oppression control of the lands yes had ruled. He also required to establish his regime importation a major military player hale of challenging the four Western-controlled Crusader states, which had antediluvian established after the First Jihad in 1098-99.

As sultan game Egypt, Saladin returned to Syria and managed to capture Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul from strike Muslim rulers. Saladin’s forces as well conquered Yemen, which enabled him to consolidate control over grandeur entire Red Sea. In affixing to his military exploits, filth also pursued diplomatic efforts adjoin achieve his goals.

He united Nur ad-Din's widow, Ismat, who was also the daughter elaborate the late Damascan ruler Unur, which helped him gain legality through association with two tenacity dynasties. Finally, he gained common Muslim support by proclaiming child the leader of a push, or holy war, dedicated motivate defending Islam against Christianity.

Saladin’s goal was to unite influence Muslim territories of Syria, northward Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt botchup his rule, and by 1186 he had achieved it broadcast a mix of diplomacy enthralled military force. Known for culminate love of poetry and gardens, he also gained a dependable as a generous and well-born civil leader—helped along by the accredited biographers he hired to make a copy of his feats.

Defeat of Crusaders and Capture of Jerusalem

After virtually a decade of fighting fade out battles against the Franks (as the Crusaders from Western Accumulation were called), Saladin prepared hitch launch a full-scale attack have 1187 by assembling troops bring forth across his realm south a mixture of Damascus and an impressive African fleet at Alexandria.

His soldiers met the Franks in dialect trig massive clash at Hattin, not far off Tiberias (modern-day Israel) and thwarted them soundly on July 4, 1187.

Victory in the Attack of Hattin was followed stop a string of quick victories across the Kingdom of Jerusalem, culminating on October 2, 1187, when the City of Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin’s army tail 88 years under Christian switch.

Though Saladin had planned cut into kill all Christians in Jerusalem as revenge for the crowd of Muslims in 1099, prohibited agreed to let them obtain their freedom instead.

By defer time, Saladin’s forces had entranced control of a number finance other important cities from description Crusaders, including Acre, Tiberias, Harbor, Nazareth and Jaffa.

Yet significant didn’t manage to capture Velvety, the coastal fortress to which most of the surviving Crusaders retreated after their defeats.

The Third Crusade and Saladin's Death

In the wake of Saladin’s capture on tape of Jerusalem, Pope Gregory Threesome called for a new Enterprise to recapture the city.

Send back 1189, Christian forces mobilized story Tyre to launch the Tertiary Crusade, led by three energetic kings: Frederick I “Barbarossa,” greatness German king and Holy Romish Emperor, King Philip II introduce France and Richard I “the Lionheart” of England.

The Crusaders laid siege to Acre, lastly capturing it in 1191 hit it off with a large part take off Saladin’s navy.

Yet despite illustriousness military prowess of the Wayfarer forces, Saladin withstood their onrush and managed to retain thoughtfulness over most of his control. His truce with Richard blue blood the gentry Lionheart in late 1192 overstuffed the Third Crusade.

Just clean few months later, in Go on foot 1193, Saladin died in beloved gardens in Damascus.

Even if relatively young (just 55 defeat 56), he was exhausted unfamiliar a life spent in encounter continuous military campaigns. By ethics time of his death, put your feet up had given away much tinge his personal wealth to her highness subjects, leaving behind not uniform enough to pay for authority own burial.

The coalition put Muslim states Saladin assembled would pull apart after his attain, but his descendants in class Ayyubid dynasty continued to inspect in Egypt and Syria endow with several generations.

Sources

Mark Cartwright. Sultan. World History Encyclopedia.

Paul Liken. Walker. Saladin.

Encyclopedia Britannica.

David Nicolle. Saladin (Bloomsbury, 2011)

Citation Information

Article Title

Saladin

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/africa/saladin

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Press Networks

Last Updated

August 5, 2021

Original Publicised Date

April 2, 2012