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Ayyubid Empire in its Greatest Extent
The 'Ayyubid' or 'Ayyoubid Dynasty' was a
Muslim dynasty of
Kurdish[1] origins which ruled
Egypt,
Syria,
Yemen (except for the Northern Mountains),
Diyar Bakr,
Mecca,
Hejaz and northern
Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Ayyubids are also known as 'Ayoubites', 'Ayyoubites', 'Ayoubides' or 'Ayyoubides'.
The Ayyubid Dynasty was founded by
Saladin (Salah ah-Din), who, with his uncle
Shirkuh, conquered Egypt for the
Zengid King
Nur ad-Din of
Damascus in
1169. The name comes from Saladin's father and Shirkuh's brother,
Najm ad-Din Ayyub. In
1171, Saladin deposed the last
Fatimid Caliph, but he gradually became estranged from his former master. When Nur ed-Din died in
1174, Saladin declared war against Nur ed-Din's young son,
As-Salih Ismail, and seized Damascus. Ismail fled to
Aleppo, where he continued to resist Saladin until his murder in
1181. After this, Saladin seized control of the interior of the entirety of Syria, and even conquered the Jezireh in Northern Iraq. His greatest accomplishment, though, was his defeat of the
Crusader states at the
Battle of Hattin and conquest of
Jerusalem in
1187. Saladin died in
1193, shortly after signing a treaty with
Richard I of England which restored a coastal strip from Ascalon to Antioch to Crusader control.
Following Saladin's death, his sons fell to squabbling over the division of the Empire, until in 1200 Saladin's brother,
Al-Adil, succeeded in securing control over the whole empire. The same process repeated at Al-Adil's death in
1218, and at his son
Al-Kamil's death in 1238, but the Ayyubid state as a whole remained fairly strong. In
1250 Turanshah, the last Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, was murdered and replaced by his
Mamluk slave-general
Aibek, who founded the
Bahri dynasty.
The Ayyubids retreated soon after the loss of Egypt. Pockets of resistance against the Mamelukes lingered on in
Syria (based from 1271 in the city of Hamah) for another 80 years, until the latter finally absorbed them in
1334.
Ayyubid Sultans of Egypt
★
Saladin 1171-
1193
★
Al-Aziz 1193-
1198
★
Al-Mansur 1198-
1200
★
Al-Adil I 1200-
1218
★
Al-Kamil 1218-
1238
★
Al-Adil II 1238-
1240
★
As-Salih Ayyub 1240-
1249
★
Turanshah 1249-
1250
★
Al-Ashraf II 1250-
1254 (nominally, actually the Mamluk
Aybak ruled)
Ayyubid Sultans of Damascus
★
Saladin 1174-
1193
★
Al-Afdal 1193-
1196
★
Al-Adil I 1196-
1218
★
Al-Mu'azzam 1218-
1227
★
An-Nasir Dawud 1227-
1229
★
Al-Ashraf 1229-
1237
★
As-Salih Ismail 1237
★
Al-Kamil 1237-
1238
★
Al-Adil II 1238-
1239
★
As-Salih Ayyub 1239
★ As-Salih Ismail (2nd time)
1239-
1245
★ As-Salih Ayyub (2nd time)
1245-
1249
★
Turanshah 1249-
1250
★
An-Nasir Yusuf 1250-
1260
Ayyubid Emirs of Aleppo
★
Al-Adil I 1183-
1186
★
Az-Zahir 1186-
1216
★
Al-Aziz 1216-
1236
★
An-Nasir Yusuf 1236-
1260
Ayyubid Emirs of Hamah
★
Al-Muzaffar I 1178-
1191
★
Al-Mansur I 1191-
1221
★
Al-Nasir 1221-
1229
★
Al-Muzaffar II 1229-
1244
★
Al-Mansur II 1244-
1284
★
Al-Muzaffar III 1284-
1299
★
Al-Muayyad 1310-
1332
★
Al-Afdal 1332-
1334
Ayyubid Emirs of Homs
★
Al-Qahir 1178-
1186
★
Al-Mujahid 1186-
1240
★
Al-Mansur 1240-
1246
★
Al-Ashraf 1248-
1263
Ayyubid Emirs of Yemen
★
Al-Mu'azzam Turanshah 1173-
1181
★
Al-Aziz Tughtegin 1181-
1197
★
Muizz ud-Din Ismail 1197-
1202
★
An-Nasir Ayyub 1202-
1214
★
Al-Muzaffar Sulaiman 1214-
1215
★
Al-Mas'ud Yusuf 1215-
1229
Ayyubid Rulers of the Jezireh (Incomplete list)
★
Al-Ashraf 1218-1237
Notes
1. Saladin. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
See also
★
History of Arab Egypt
External links
★
Ayyubids Dynasty