Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi is widely known as one of the most important people in the Middle
East during medieval times. He is the one that founded the Ayyubid dynasty,
and he was also the first person that held the title of Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques.
Why
is Salahuddin Al Ayyubi so significant from a historical standpoint?
Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi lived between 1137 and 1193. He was both the Sultan of Syria and
Egypt, and the reason why he is widely known is that he got to defeat
multiple Crusader states at the Battle of Hattin. He also captured Jerusalem in
1187. He got to unify the eastern part of Egypt down to Arabia, he got to
maintain his supremacy.
In
doing so, Salahuddin Al Ayyubi repelled the third crusade and he also managed
to destroy the Latin East states. He is indeed an iconic person from that time,
both thanks to his political and warfare skill, but also thanks to his
personality. Early days His father was a Kurdish mercenary, and he was born at
the castle of Tikrit, near Baghdad.
What
makes Salahuddin Al Ayyubi unique however is the fact that even from a young
age, he was a very good polo player and he was also a very skilled horseman. After
acquiring a variety of different skills near his home, he went with his uncle
named Shirkuh in a campaign, as he became the ruler of Egypt in 1169. As time
went by, Salahuddin Al Ayyubi became governor in Egypt thanks to Nur ad-Din, taking
over from the relative.
People
from that era say that Salahuddin Al Ayyubi was short, he had a round face and
black eyes, as well as a black beard. He always tried to add family members in
authority positions to ensure that he had control, which was incredibly
important during that time.
Once
Nur ad-Din lost his life in May 1174, the Muslim state coalition started to
break down, and that's when Salahuddin Al Ayyubi stood out, claiming he was the
rightful heir. It was at that time when he managed to take over Egypt,
something that was hard to fathom at that time.
Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi unified the Muslim world after he became the sultan of Egypt, he went
on to capture Damascus in 1174. At that time, he claimed to be the Sunni
Orthodoxy protector. The fact that he was removed from the Shiite caliph in
Cairo actively brought a lot of weight to his claim.
He
was accepted as protector, and then he went on to unify the Muslim world or at
least create a coalition. Since there were so many city rulers and states, that
felt very difficult in the beginning, yet Salahuddin Al Ayyubi was one of those
people that never gave up. In order to create the coalition, Salahuddin Al
Ayyubi had to rely on a combination of diplomacy and warfare.
He
fought and defeated an army at Hama in 1175, so he had to deal with some
battles here and there. Another thing to note here is the fact that he cemented
his power mostly thanks to the caliph of Baghdad recognized him to be the governor
of Yemen, Egypt and Syria. Despite that, Aleppo was still independent, and it
was ruled by Nur ad-Din's son.
The
son was bringing quite a lot of trouble from a diplomatic perspective. Since
the Sultan of Egypt survived 2 attacks, Salahuddin Al Ayyubi replied to that by
attacking the Masyaf Assassin castle. Not only did he defeat them, but he also
pillaged the entire area, which was quite the achievement for that time. But Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi wasn't always about warfare.
He
usually tried to get things done the diplomatic way. He married Nur ad-Din's
widow, as well as Unur's daughter later on. He managed to associate himself
with 2 important ruling dynasties at that time. The franks defeated Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi at Mont Gisard in 1177, however he did capture a Jordan fortress and
he also had a victory in 1179 at Mont Gisard.
He
managed to show everyone that he wanted to eliminate westerners from the Middle
East, something that brought him a lot of support during that time. Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi also had a reputation when it came to the way he behaved and how he
worked with other people. He was focused on bringing justice into the fold, all
while being very generous.
On
top of that, people saw him as the defender of Islam, more specifically against
the Christians. His position became even more impressive in 1183 when he got to
capture Aleppo. He created an Egyptian fleet to prepare for any possible
attacks that would come from Christianity. By the time 1185 arrived, Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi was in complete control over Mosul and he signed a treaty.
Him
and the Byzantine Empire would work together to combat the Seljuks. They were a
thorn in both empire's sides, so it's easy to see why Salahuddin Al Ayyubi
wanted to get rid of them. Around that time, there were issues regarding who
would rule Jerusalem, and the franks were also distracted by a variety of
conflicts.
The
franks attacked the castle of Kerak in April 1187, which was commanded by Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi's son at that time. Due to the attack, he started gathering a huge
army that had Jazira, Aleppo, Syria and Egypt. Of course the franks created
their own army, and they battled at Hattin. The battles of Jerusalem and Hattin
At the beginning of July, mounted archers attacked and also retreated, making
sure they harassed the Franks.
On
the 4 of July that year, they brought a larger attack. Salahuddin Al Ayyubi
brought around 20000 troops to the battle of Hattin, and he faced franks that were
commanded by Guy of Lusignan, which at that time was the King of Jerusalem. They
had around 1300 knights and 15000 infantry, so Salahuddin Al Ayyubi's army had
a lot more people.
On
top of that, franks were short on water and supplies in general. Salahuddin Al
Ayyubi's army set the dry grass on fire and that made the enemy situation even
worse at that time. Raymond of Tripoli and his cavalry force did eventually
manage to break Muslim attack team, but the others had nowhere to go, Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi brought a massive victory at Hattin thanks to that.
Some
of the captured nobles were released for a ransom, including Guy of Lusignan. Others
were executed, such as Reynald of Chatillon being a prime example. The Knights
Hospitaller and Knights Templar were also executed. In September 1187, Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi went ahead and captured Jerusalem, which was pretty much undefended
at that time.
The
Christians from the eastern side were allowed to stay in the city, even if most
churches were turned into mosques. He went on to conquer Caesarea, Jaffa,
Nazareth, Tiberia and Acre, among others. The third crusade Salahuddin Al
Ayyubi brought the idea of a holy war against the Christians for a long time. It
was in 1187 when Pope Gregory IIIrd called for a new crusade with the idea of
getting Jerusalem back.
At
that time, the kings of Germany, England and France responded and they created
an alliance. They joined Guy of Lusignan and then they tried to siege Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi's land. The Crusader army eventually captured Acre in July 1191, as
well as 70 ships from Salahuddin Al Ayyubi's army. Then they went south to
Jerusalem. There was a massive battle in September 1191 on the plains of Arsuf.
The
crusaders won there, however Salahuddin Al Ayyubi's army didn't suffer major
losses. The loss of Arsuf, Acre and Jaffa ended up damaging Salahuddin Al
Ayyubi's reputation.
Death
and legacy
Despite
the fact that the crusaders acquired some towns, the truth is that he did end up
acquiring a lot of artifacts. That being said, he didn't profit that much from
the Crusader departure, since he died on the 4th March 1193. He was only 56
years old at that time, and it's speculated that his death came from the time
and effort spent on all the campaigns.
As
you can imagine, the Muslim coalition was extremely volatile even when he
created it, so it disbanded very fast once Salahuddin Al Ayyubi died. Salahuddin
Al Ayyubi is widely known for the fact that he created the Ayyubid dynasty that
continued to rule Syria until 1260 and Egypt until 1250. These regions were
both acquired by mamluks at those respective dates.
It's
important to note that Salahuddin Al Ayyubi left a massive legacy in the
military world, but he also shared a literary legacy too. His diplomatic skills
and leadership skills in particular were the topic for many books. A lot of
people still respect and appreciate his work and the unique way he managed to control
so many different regions throughout his lifetime!
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