Saladin

Ayyubid sultan  

Egyptian, Syrian, Yemeni, and Palestinian Muslim pharaoh who founded the Ayyubid dynasty and is often considered the greatest hero in Muslim history. He was born around 1137 or 1138 in what is now northern Iraq, in the region of Mesopotamia. He died on March 4, 1193, in Damascus (now in Syria). His full name is Saladin in Arabic. After the Franks had occupied the city for over a decade, Saladin took Jerusalem on October 2, 1187, scoring a decisive success in his operations against the Christian Crusaders. Saladin was the first Emperor of Egyptian and Syrian rulers and a military commander from the Kurdish Muslim community. Famous for leading Muslim troops to victory against the Christian army and retaking Jerusalem at the War of Hattin in 1187, he is most recognized for his actions during the Crusades. He was revered by his Muslim and Christian people alike for being a fair and honorable leader. Both in the Arab world and the West, Saladin is remembered as an important historical figure, typically serving as a symbol of defiance against European colonialism.

Background and time spent in the military:

 Saladin was born to Kurdish parents in the city of Tikrit in Iraq in 1137. He was born into a military family and served under his uncle Shirkuh in the Muslim empire's Egyptian capital of Cairo's army. The Fatimid Caliphate selected Saladin as governor of Egypt in 1169 after he had become a prominent leader in his own right. Almost immediately, he solidified his control and founded the Ayyubid dynasty, which would go on to govern Egypt, Syria, and other portions of the Muslim world for many decades. Saladin is remembered as a military commander because of his operations against the Crusader nations that had been created in the Holy Land. One of his most notable victories was in 1187, in the Battle of Hattin, when he drove back the Christian army and took Jerusalem back. The decisive victory of Saladin, a devoted Muslim and brilliant military tactician, marked a turning point in the Crusades. His benevolence and velour, especially toward his opponents, are also remembered with fondness by his Muslim and Christian people.

Everything Saladin did was motivated by his unyielding faith in jihadi, or holy war. His programme relied heavily on supporting the expansion of Muslim places of worship. He sought out their intellectuals, built universities and mosques for them, and commissioned their preachers and teachers to write instructive writings, particularly on the jihad. As moral renewal was an integral part of the Muslim way of life, he sought to recreate some of that fervor and excitement in his own realm, just as it had been for the initial generations of Muslims five centuries ago, when they seized half the known world.

The Crusades and Saladin

 Saladin did not use any particularly innovative tactics, but by uniting and disciplining his many soldiers, he was able to swing the balance of power in his favour. When he was finally able to put all of his focus on the 1187 conflict with both the Latin Crusader states, his armies proved to be formidable adversaries. On July 4, 1187, near Acre, north of Tiberias around Palestine, Saladin crushed a tired & dehydrated army of Crusaders with the assistance of his own military ability and the amazing lack of wisdom on the part of his foes. There was just one battle, but the Crusaders lost so many men that the Muslims were able to quickly take over practically all of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Acre, Toron, Beirut, Sidon, Nazareth, Caesarea, Nazareth, Nablus, Jaffa (Yafo), and Ascalon all fell within a three-month time frame (Ashqelon). After the Franks had controlled the city for 88 years, on October 2, 1187, Saladin took control of the city, which is holy both Muslims and Christians alike. In 1099, in revenge for the carnage in the Muslim city, Saladin planned to kill all Christians in Jerusalem, but he finally chose to let them purchase their freedom in return for the protection of the city's Muslim citizens.

 His failure to capture Tyre, a fortress city on the shore to which the scattered Christians who had survived the previous battles had fled, cast a shadow on his otherwise surprising victory. Only three towns were under Crusader control in 1189.


 For the Latin resistance, this was to be their focal point. In all likelihood, Saladin did not expect the West to react so strongly to his seizure of Jerusalem, which resulted in a renewed cry for a Crusade. This third Crusade not only attracted a large number of notable nobles and outstanding knights, but also the participation of the monarchs of three separate kingdoms. Saladin's reputation as a gallant and heroic opponent thanks to the scope and effect of the Christian effort was enhanced in ways that his military triumphs alone could not have accomplished.

Despite Richard I's apparent (though occasionally irresponsible) military prowess, the Crusade was difficult and time-consuming (the Lion-Heart). Saladin's greatest, most underrated achievement occurred right here. He fought the strongest soldiers in Christendom to draws using weary, reluctant aristocratic recruits who were only ready to fight for a short season each year. The Crusaders' tenuous grip over the Levantine coast began to weaken after Emperor Richard's return from the Mid-East in October 1192. Saladin fled to his stronghold of Damascus after the assault.

Extended campaigning seasons and a lot of time spent riding took their toll on him. After the death of the Muslim empire's most powerful and kind monarch, his allies learned that he had not left enough money to pay for his own burial, and his family was already fighting over the empire's riches. The Ayybid kingdom, which also included Saladin's successors, ruled Egypt and its neighbors from around 1171 until 1250, when the Mamlk dynasty overthrew them.