Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

This article is about the Muslim general, for the
British armoured vehicle named after him, see
Alvis Saladin.
----
Saladin (1137 or 1138–1193; ll|Kurdish:
Selaheddînê Eyûbî, ll|Arabic: Salah ad-Din
Yusuf Ibn Ayyub; صلاح
الدين
يوسف ابن
ايوب; Salah ad-Din means
The Righteousness of the Faith) was a 12th century
Kurdish Muslim military general who founded the
Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria. He was also 
renowned in both the Christianity|Christian and
Muslim worlds for his leadership and military
prowess tempered by his chivalry and merciful
nature during the Crusades.

==Rise to power==
Saladin was born into a Kurdish family in Tikrit
near the river Tigris and was sent to Damascus to
finish his education. There he lived for ten years
at the court of Nur ad-Din (Nureddin). After an
initial military education under the command of
his uncle, the Seljuk Turks|Seljuk Turkish
statesman and soldier Shirkuh, who was
representing Nur ad-Din on campaigns against a
faction of the Fatimid caliphate of Egypt in the
1160s, Saladin eventually succeeded the defeated
faction and his uncle as vizier in 1169. There, he
inherited a difficult role defending Egypt against
the incursions of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem,
especially Amalric I of Jerusalem|Amalric I. His
position was tenuous at first; no one expected him
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. As the leader of a foreign army
from Syria, he also had no control over the
Shi'ite Egyptian army, which was led in the name
of the now otherwise powerless caliph. When the
caliph died, in September 1171, Saladin had the
imams pronounce the name of the Abbassid caliph in
Baghdad at Friday prayers, and the weight of
authority simply deposed the old line. Now Saladin
ruled Egypt, but officially as the representative
of Nur ad-Din, who himself conventionally
recognized the Abbassid caliph.

Saladin revitalised the economy of Egypt,
reorganised the military forces and, following the
advice of his father, he stayed away from any
conflicts with Nur ad-Din, his formal lord, after
he had become the real ruler over 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. There he was treated as
a usurper by many Seljuks who refused to serve
under a Kurdish "sultan." Nevertheless, Saladin
proved to be the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty
and restored Sunni Islam|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.

==Fighting the Crusaders==

On two occasions, in 1171 and 1173, 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 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.
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
"Hashshashin|Assassins" attempted to murder him.  

While Saladin was consolidating his power in
Syria, he generally left the Crusader
kingdom— the Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem— alone, although he was usually
victorious whenever he did meet the Crusaders in
battle. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard
in 1177, although he soon recovered and defeated
the Crusaders at the Ford of Jacob's Daughters in
1179. However, the Crusaders repeatedly provoked
him. 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. Worse, and what made him a legendary
monster in the Muslim world, Raynald threatened to
attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Then
Raynald looted a caravan of pilgrims on the Hajj
in 1185, forcing Saladin's response. In July of
1187, Saladin invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem and
annihilated the Crusader army at the Battle of
Hattin, a major disaster for the Crusaders and a
turning point in the history of the Crusades.
Saladin captured Raynald and had him executed; he
also captured the King, Guy of Lusignan. He then
recaptured Jerusalem on October 2, 1187, after 88
years of Crusader rule (see Siege of Jerusalem
(1187)|Siege of Jerusalem). Soon he had taken back
every Crusader city except Tyre. This was probably
because he repeatedly allowed the Christian armies
and people to escape there whenever they suffered
a defeat.

Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the
Third Crusade, financed in England by a special
"Saladin tithe". This Crusade took back Akko|Acre
(see Siege of Acre), and Saladin's army met King
Richard I of England at the Battle of Arsuf in
1191. Saladin's relationship with Richard was one
of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military
rivalry; both were celebrated in the courtly
romances that developed in northern Europe. When
Richard was wounded, Saladin even offered the
services of his personal physician, a signal
favor, for Muslim medical practice was the best in
the Western world. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his
horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. They
even considered making peace by marrying Joan of
England|Richard's sister to Al-Adil I|Saladin's
brother, with Jerusalem to be their dowry,
although these negotiations fell through due to
religious concerns on both sides.

The two came to an agreement over Jerusalem in the
treaty of Ramla 1192, whereby it 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.

Not long after Richard's departure, Saladin died
in 1193 at Damascus. When they opened Saladin's
treasury they found there was not enough money to
pay for his funeral; he had given his money away
to those in need. His tomb, located in the Umayyad
mosque, is now a major tourist attraction. His
tomb is one of the most visited in the world.

==Recognition==

Despite his fierce opposition to the Christian
power (sociology)|powers, Saladin achieved a great
reputation in Europe as a Chivalry|chivalrous
knight, so much so that there existed by the 14th
century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante
Alighieri|Dante included him among the virtuous
paganism|pagan souls in Limbo. The noble Saladin
appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter
Scott's The Talisman (1825). In spite of the fact
that the Crusaders slaughtered Muslim men, women
and children when they conquered Jerusalem,
Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all
common Catholics (the Eastern Orthodox
Church|Greek Orthodox Christians were treated
better, because they opposed the crusades) and
even to the defeated Christian army.

Despite the differences in beliefs, Saladin was
respected by Christian lords, Richard especially.
They became almost friends, in a strange sort of
way. Richard once praised Saladin as a great
prince, saying that he was without doubt the
greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic
world. Saladin in his turn stated that he would
rather lose Jerusalem to Richard than to anyone
else. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent
each other many gifts as tokens of respect.
However, these two military leaders never met face
to face.

The name Salah ad Din means "Righteousness of the
Faith", and through the ages Saladin has been an
inspiration for Muslims in many respects. Modern
Muslim rulers have sought to capitalize on the
reputation of Saladin. A Governorates of
Iraq|governorate centered around Tikrit in modern
Iraq, Salah ad Din, is named after Saladin, and
Saddam Hussein, who was born near Tikrit, often
portrayed himself as a latter-day Saladin.

Few structures associated with Saladin survive
within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the
Citadel of Cairo (1176 - 1183), which had been a
domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more
peaceful times. In Syria even the smallest cities
centered on a defensible citadel, and Saladin
introduced this essential feature to Egypt.

Among the forts he built was Qalaat Al-Gindi, a
mountaintop fortress and caravanserai in the
Sinai. The fortress overlooks a large wadi which
was the convergence of several caravan routes that
linked Egypt and the Middle East. Inside the
structure are a number of large vaulted rooms hewn
out of rock, including the remains of shops and a
water cistern. A notable archaeological site, it
was investigated in 1909 by a French team under
Jules Barthoux.
http://www.touregypt.net/qalaatgindi.htm

==See also==
* History of early Arab Egypt

== External links ==
* http://www.palden.co.uk/palden/p4-saladin.html
Salah-ad-Din
*
http://numerus.ling.uu.se/~kamalk/language/saladin
.html Saladin
*
http://www.fidnet.com/~weid/medievalpeople.htm#sal
adin Saladin: several links
*http://medieval.shadowedrealm.com/articles/exclus
ive/article.php?id=17  Richard and Saladin:
Warriors of the Third Crusade

==Reference==
*Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs: 1986