Saladin

Saladin was a 12th-century Kurd who became Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and a major Muslim political and military leader. At the height of his power the Ayyubid dynasty, which he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen.
He was born in the castle of Tikrit in 532 AH (1137—1138 CE) and died just after dawn on 27 Safar 589 AH (4 March 1193 CE) in Damascus.[1] He is best-known for leading the Muslim armies during the Crusades and recapturing Jerusalem.
Saladin was born Yusuf Salah ad-Din Ayyub in 1138 CE to a Kurdish family in Tikrit, Iraq.
His father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub was banned from Tikrit and moved to Mosul where he met Imad ed-Din Zengi, the Turkish Atabeg (governor) of Mosul and the founder of the Zengid dynasty, who was leading Muslim forces against the Crusaders in Edessa. Imad ed-Din Zengi appointed Najm ad-Din as the commander of his fortress in Baalbek. After the death of Imad ed-Din Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din Zengi became the Atabeg of Mosul. Saladin received his name from Nur ad-Din and was sent to Damascus to continue his education.
He received his initial military education from his uncle, Shirkuh, Nur ad-Din's lieutenant who was representing him on campaigns against a faction of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt in the 1160s. Saladin eventually defeated the Fatimid faction and succeeded his uncle as vizier in 1169. There, he inherited a difficult role defending Egypt against the incursions of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem under Amalric I. His position was tenuous at first; he was not expected to last long in Egypt where there had been many changes of government in previous years due to a long line of child caliphs fought over by competing viziers. With a Sunni Syrian base he had little control over the Egyptian army, which had been dominated by Shias since the rise of the Fatimids, and which was led in the name of the now otherwise powerless caliph al-Adid.
When the caliph died, in September 1171, Saladin had the ulema pronounced the name of Al-Mustadi, the Sunni and, more importantly, Abbassid caliph in Baghdad, at sermon before Friday prayers; authority simply deposed the old line. Saladin ruled Egypt, but officially as the representative of the Turkish Seljuk ruler Nur ad-Din, who himself conventionally recognized the Abbassid caliph. Saladin revitalized the economy of Egypt, reorganized the military forces and, following his father's advice, stayed away from any conflicts with Nur ad-Din, his formal lord, after he had become the real ruler of Egypt. He waited until Nur ad-Din's death before starting serious military actions: at first against smaller Muslim states, then directing them against the Crusaders.
With Nur ad-Din's death (1174), he assumed the title of Sultan in Egypt founding the Ayyubid dynasty and restoring Sunnism in Egypt. He extended his territory westwards in the Maghreb, and when his uncle was sent up the Nile to pacify some resistance of the former Fatimid supporters, he continued on down the Red Sea to conquer Yemen. He is also regarded as a Waliullah, a person religiously close to God in the Sunni Muslim tradition.
On two occasions, in 1170 and 1172, Saladin retreated from an invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. These had been launched by Nur ad-Din, and Saladin hoped that the Crusader kingdom would remain intact, as a buffer state between Egypt and Syria, until Saladin could gain control of Syria as well. Nur ad-Din and Saladin were headed towards open war on these counts when Nur ad-Din died in 1174. Nur ad-Din's heir, as-Salih Ismail al-Malik, was a mere boy, in the hands of court eunuchs, and died in 1181.
Immediately after Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin marched on Damascus and was welcomed into the city. He reinforced his legitimacy there in the time-honored way, by marrying Nur ad-Din's widow Ismat ad-Din Khatun. Aleppo and Mosul, on the other hand, the two other largest cities that Nur ad-Din had ruled, were never taken, but Saladin managed to impose his influence and authority on them in 1176 and 1186 respectively. While he was occupied in besieging Aleppo, on May 22, 1176, the shadowy Ismaili assassin group, the Hashshashin, attempted to murder him. They made two attempts on his life, the second time coming close enough to inflict wounds.
While Saladin was consolidating his power in Syria, he usually left the Crusader kingdom alone, although he was generally victorious whenever he did meet the Crusaders in battle. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard on November 25, 1177. He was defeated by the combined forces of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Raynald of Chatillon and the Knights Templar. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt.
A truce was declared between Saladin and the Crusader States in 1178. Saladin spent the subsequent year recovering from his defeat and rebuilding his army, renewing his attacks in 1179 when he defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Jacob's Ford. Crusader counter-attacks provoked further responses by Saladin. Raynald of Chatillon, in particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes with a fleet on the Red Sea, a water route that Saladin needed to keep open. In response, Saladin built a fleet of 30 galleys to attack Beirut in 1182. Raynald threatened to attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation, Saladin besieged Kerak, Raynald's fortress in Oultrejordain, in 1183 and 1184. Raynald responded by looting a caravan of pilgrims on the Hajj in 1185. According to the later thirteenth-century Old French Continuation of William of Tyre, Raynald captured Saladin's sister in a raid on a caravan, although this claim is not attested in contemporary sources, Muslim or Frankish. In fact, Raynald had attacked a preceding caravan, and Saladin set guards to ensure the safety of his sister and her son, who came to no harm.
In July 1187, Saladin captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, he faced at the Battle of Hattin the combined forces Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem, and Raymond III of Tripoli. In this battle alone the Crusader army was largely annihilated by the motivated army of Saladin in what was a major disaster for the Crusaders and a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Saladin captured Raynald de Chatillon and was personally responsible for his execution. Guy of Lusignan was also captured but his life was spared.
That night, "with uncharacteristic coldbloodedness", Saladin ordered the execution of the "hundred or so" Templar and Hospitaller knights among the prisoners. Because of their religious "devotion and rigorous training", they were the "most feared" of the Christian soldiers. Seated on a dias before his army, Saladin watched as "the band of scholars, sufis and ascetics ... carried out the ceremonial killing".
The execution of prisoners at Hattin was not the first by Saladin. On August 29, 1179, he captured the castle at Bait al-Ahazon and approximately 700 prisoners were taken and executed.
Saladin had almost captured every Crusader city. Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on October 2, 1187, after a siege. Before the siege, Saladin had offered generous terms of surrender, which were rejected. After the siege had started, he was unwilling to promise terms of quarter to the European occupants of Jerusalem until Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim in the city, estimated between 3,000 to 5,000, and to destroy Islam’s holy shrines of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque if quarter was not given. Saladin consulted his council and these terms were accepted. Ransom was to be paid for each Frank in the city whether man, woman, or child. Saladin allowed many to leave without having the required amount for ransom for others.
Tyre, on the coast of modern-day Lebanon was the last major Crusader city that was not captured by Muslim forces (strategically, it would have made more sense for Saladin to capture Tyre before Jerusalem--however, Saladin chose to pursue Jerusalem first because of the importance of the city to Islam). The city was now commanded by Conrad of Montferrat, who strengthened Tyre's defences and withstood two sieges by Saladin. In 1188, at Tortosa, Saladin released Guy of Lusignan and returned him to his wife, Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem. They went first to Tripoli, then to Antioch. In 1189, they sought to reclaim Tyre for their kingdom, but were refused admission by Conrad, who did not recognize Guy as king. Guy then set about besieging Acre.
Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusade, financed in England by a special "Saladin tithe". Richard I of England led Guy's siege of Acre, conquered the city and executed 3,000 Muslim prisoners including women and children. Saladin retaliated by killing all Franks captured from August 28 - September 10. Bahā' al-Dīn writes: "Whilst we were there they brought two Franks to the Sultan (Saladin) who had been made prisoners by the advance guard. He had them beheaded on the spot."
The armies of Saladin engaged in combat with the rival armies of King Richard I of England at the Battle of Arsuf on September 7, 1191, at which Saladin was defeated. Saladin's relationship with Richard was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry; both were celebrated in courtly romances. When Richard became ill with fever, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit with snow, to chill the drink, as treatment. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. Richard had suggested to Saladin that his sister could marry Saladin's brother - and Jerusalem could be their wedding gift.
The two came to an agreement over Jerusalem in the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby the city would remain in Muslim hands but would be open to Christian pilgrimages; the treaty reduced the Latin Kingdom to a strip along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa.
Saladin died on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure. When they opened Saladin's treasury they found there was not enough money to pay for his funeral; he had given most of his money away in charity.
Saladin is buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany donated a new marble sarcophagus to the mausoleum. Saladin was, however, not placed in it. Instead the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: one empty in marble and one in wood containing the body of Saladin.
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