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Who2 Biography:

Saladin

, Sultan / Military Leader
Saladin
Source

  • Born: 1138
  • Birthplace: Takrit, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)
  • Died: 1193
  • Best Known As: The man who took back Jerusalem

Name at birth: Salah ad-Din Al-Ayyubi

Revered as a hero of Islam, Saladin united Arab forces and recaptured the holy city of Jerusalem from Christian Crusaders in the 12th century A.D. Of Kurdish origin, Saladin became the vizier of Egypt in 1169 and then took full control of the country in 1171; he later built the famed Citadel in Cairo. His conquest of Jerusalem in 1188 prompted the Third Crusade, led by Richard I of England; Richard's forces defeated Saladin in several battles, but could not retake Jerusalem. Saladin and Richard signed an armistice in 1192, and the two are often linked in histories of the era.

Saladin's successors in Egypt are known by his family name: the Ayyubids... His court physician was the famous Jewish philosopher and rabbi Maimonides... Other leaders of Egypt featured on Who2 include Cleopatra, Khufu and Anwar al-Sadat.

 
 
Military History Companion: Saladin

Saladin (correctly Salah al-Din ben Ayyub) (1138-93) was a Kurd and the nephew of Shirkuh, who had conquered Egypt for Nur ad-Din in 1169. Saladin secured Egypt on the death of his uncle, fought off crusader attacks and in 1171 ended the Fatimid caliphate and founded the Ayyubid. Saladin quarrelled with Nur ad-Din whose death in 1174 enabled him to seize Damascus; henceforth he portrayed himself as the champion of Islam against the Christians, though he always faced Muslim enemies, notably the Zengids whom he fought many times before finally gaining Aleppo in 1183.

In 1177 he invaded Jerusalem from Egypt but was surprised and defeated by Baldwin IV at Mons Gisardi. In June 1179 he returned the favour at Marj Uyun and in September destroyed the new strategic castle at Jacob's Ford. After fighting in Mesopotamia he mounted a major attack on Jerusalem in 1183 which failed because the Christians refused battle and two attacks upon Kerakin in 1184 also miscarried. After a final war with the Zengids in 1187 Saladin invaded Jerusalem, attacked Tiberias with a huge army, and lured King Guy of Jerusalem into battle at Hattin where on 4 July the European knights were annihilated. Saladin seized Jerusalem, Acre, and most of the kingdom, offering clemency to all who surrendered. But at Tyre Conrad of Montferrat rallied resistance and Saladin did not press the siege. He took inland strongholds and in 1188 moved against Tripoli and Antioch, though without challenging their chief cities. Perhaps he hoped, by picking off weak places, to encourage the strong to capitulate, but new crusaders were arriving from the West. King Guy was released by Saladin, perhaps to divide the Christians, and after a quarrel with Conrad he led the arriving crusaders to besiege Acre in August 1189. Saladin's inaction in these months was partly a result of declining health and partly because of discontent within his army, although the two were related.

The arrival of the Third Crusade at Acre in 1191 provided a trial of Saladin's skill, but despite his efforts the city surrendered in July. Under Richard ‘the Lionheart’ the crusaders marched south to establish Jaffa as a base from which to capture Jerusalem. Saladin attacked the march, but cautiously because he recognized that Richard was seeking to trap him into a battle; after a final spasm at Arsuf on 7 September his army retreated intact and was able to deter Richard from attacking Jerusalem. In the fighting during 1191-2 Richard won most of the prestige, notably in battle at Jaffa and in a daring attack on a Muslim caravan, but Saladin preserved his forces and in 1192 the Third Crusade ended having restored only a rump of the old kingdom of Jerusalem on the coast of Palestine.

Saladin has been criticized because his indecision immediately after Hattin robbed him of the fruits of his victory, but it should be noted that his style was to provoke his enemies until they did something that delivered them into his hands. This was how he won at Hattin and this was why even a battlefield defeat like Arsuf left his army intact and able to limit the territorial gains of the Third Crusade.

Bibliography

  • Lyons, M. C., and Jackson, D. E. P., Saladin: The Politics of Holy War (Cambridge, 1982)

— John France

 
Biography: Saladin

Saladin (1138-1193), a Kurdish ruler of Egypt and Syria, is known in the West for his opposition to the forces of the Third Crusade and for his capture of Jerusalem.

From about 1130 Zengi, the Turkish atabeg (regent) of Mosul and his son, Nur-ad-Din (Nureddin), who succeeded him in 1146, undertook a holy war to unify Syria. Saladin Arabic, Salah-ad-Din Yusuf ibn Aiyub) served with his uncle, Shirkuh, under Nur-ad-Din and was strongly impressed with the need to complete the unity of Islam under orthodox rule.

After several expeditions into Egypt, where the Fatimid dynasty remained the most important of the successor kingdoms established after the fall of the Abbasid empire, Saladin assumed full military power on the death of Shirkuh in 1168. He was successful in repulsing the combined French-Byzantine invasion of Amalric, King of Jerusalem, a victory which opened the way for him to move his armies up into the Transjordan area. The Fatimid caliphate was crushed by 1171, and on the death of Nur-ad-Din 3 years later, Saladin began the conquest of the Frankish lands and of the old Zengid empire. He shortly occupied Damascus and married the widow of Nur-ad-Din. He thus faced increased hostility from two sides: from the Zengid rulers at Mosul, who were in no way enthusiastic about his conception of the jihad, or holy war, and from the Latin forces under Baldwin IV, the Leper King. The complexities of operating on two fronts at the same time were reduced somewhat by diplomatic negotiations with Baldwin and Raymond of Tripoli as well as with the Byzantine emperor and certain of the Italian maritime cities. In the former case the result was essentially negative. A series of provisional treaties served to forestall an attack on the vulnerable western side, for Baldwin proved to be quite capable of containing Saladin, although he was unable to do him any damage. But in the latter case not only were assurances of nonintervention given, but material aid was obtained.

By the end of 1185 Saladin had imposed his authority in northern Syria and Mesopotamia, and he was ready to turn his full attention to the crusading kingdom. After the unfortunate betrayal of a peace treaty by a Western knight, the jihad was declared in the beginning of 1187. Drawing troops from Syria as well as from Egypt, Saladin brought his combined forces to face the Latin army at Hattin near Tiberias in July. The star-crossed monarchy in Jerusalem, born of the antagonisms among the leaders of the First Crusade, was never able to operate from a position of strength, and once again personal jealousies were responsible for the overwhelming defeat by the Moslem forces. Saladin set a trap for the crusaders; they marched into it and were annihilated. By any measure Hattin was a disaster for the West, and in rapid sequence most of the other important towns, Acre, Sidon, Jaffa, Caesarea, Ascalon, fell into Moslem hands. Finally, Jerusalem was occupied on October 2. Further campaigning reduced the extent of Frankish power in Syria to Tyre, Antioch, and Tripoli.

The kings of western Europe responded to the fall of Jerusalem by taking the cross and then by gathering their knights together in the expeditions known to history as the Third Crusade. Their chief victory was the successful siege and relief of Acre, which capitulated in July 1191. King Richard I of England defeated Saladin at Arsuf and then concluded an armistice in the fall of 1192 without having been able to retake Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Richard's presence in the East clearly prevented Saladin from capitalizing fully on his victory at Hattin. After 12 days of illness, Saladin died on March 4, 1193.

Saladin is described in the pages of his biographer, Baha ad-Din, as one who was entirely committed to the justice of the jihad against the unbelievers. Of medium height and gentle manners, courageous, even ruthless, but generous and humane, he was respected by his followers and by his adversaries for the steadfast manner in which he kept his promises. Strong in his faith, he was orthodox to the point of intolerance, as in the summary murder of as-Suhrawardi, a heretical preacher of Aleppo. It should be remembered that it was Saladin who carried on the work of Nur-ad-Din and completed the unity of Islam, although his success did not long survive him.

Further Reading

The fundamental full-length treatment of Saladin is S. Lane-Poole, Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1898; rev. ed. by H. W. C. Davis, 1926). Other works on him are Charles J. Rosebault, Saladin, Prince of Chivalry (1930), and G. E. T. Slaughter, Saladin, 1138-1193 (1955). An important chapter on his early career by Sir H. A. R. Gibb is in Kenneth M. Setton, A History of the Crusades, vol. 1 (1969).

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Saladin

(born 1137/38, Tikrit, Mesopotamia — died March 4, 1193, Damascus, Syria) Kurdish sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Though as a youth he preferred religious to military studies, he began his military career under his uncle, a military commander of the Zangid dynasty. On his uncle's death, Saladin became vizier of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt. In 1171 he abolished the Shi'ite Fatimid caliphate and announced a return to Sunnite Islam in Egypt. From 1174, as sultan of Egypt and Syria, he succeeded in uniting Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and Palestine. His reputation as a generous and virtuous but firm ruler rekindled Muslim resistance to the Crusades. In 1187, turning his full strength against the Latin Crusader states, he captured Jerusalem, which had been in Christian hands for 88 years. Whereas the Christian conquest had been marked by slaughter, Saladin's troops demonstrated courteous and civilized behaviour. His victory deeply shocked the West and led to the call for the Third Crusade (1189 – 92), which matched him against Richard I (the Lionheart); their stalemate resulted in a peace that gave the Crusaders only a small strip of land from Tyre to Yafo (Jaffa). Many Muslims consider Saladin the paradigm of the pious and virtuous ruler.

For more information on Saladin, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Saladin
(săl'ədĭn) , Arabic Salah ad-Din, 1137?–1193, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent. He lived for 10 years in Damascus at the court of Nur ad-Din, where he distinguished himself by his interest in Sunni theology. He accompanied his uncle, Shirkuh (or Shirkoh), a lieutenant of Nur ad-Din, on campaigns (1164, 1167, 1168) against the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. Shirkuh became vizier there and on his death (1169) was succeeded by Saladin. Saladin later caused the name of the Shiite Fatimid caliph to be dropped from the Friday prayer, thus deposing him.

After the death of Nur ad-Din, who was planning to campaign against his too powerful subordinate, Saladin proclaimed himself sultan of Egypt, thus beginning the Ayyubid dynasty. He spread his conquests westward on the northern shores of Africa as far as Qabis and also conquered Yemen. He took over Damascus after Nur ad-Din's death and undertook to subdue all of Syria and Palestine. He had already come into conflict with the Crusaders (see Crusades), and he put the rulers of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (see Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of) on the steadily weakening defensive. He was unsuccessful in his efforts to conquer the Assassins in their mountain strongholds, but he took Mosul, Aleppo, and wide areas from rival Muslim rulers and became the principal warrior of Islam.

Gathering a large force of Muslims of various groups—but all called Saracens by the Christians—he set out to attack the Christians. Raymond of Tripoli was at first his ally, but then joined the other Crusaders, and the great battle of Hattin (near Tiberias) in 1187 found Christians matched against Muslims. Saladin won brilliantly, capturing Guy of Lusignan and Reginald of Châtillon. The city of Jerusalem also fell to him. The Third Crusade was gathered (1189) and came to the Holy Land to try to recover the Holy City. Thus it was that Richard I of England and Saladin met in the conflict that was to be celebrated in later chivalric romance. The reputation that Saladin had among the Christians for generosity and chivalry does not seem to have been a legend, and there seems no doubt that Saladin admired Richard as a worthy opponent. The Crusaders, however, failed in their purpose and succeeded only in capturing Akko. In 1192, Saladin came to agreement with the Crusaders upon the Peace of Ramla, which left the Latin Kingdom only a strip along the coast from Tyre to Yafo. The Christians were never to recover from their defeat.

Bibliography

See biographies by A. R. H. Gibb (1973), M. C. Lyons and D. E. Jackson (1982), S. Lane-Poole (1985), and G. Regan (1988); J. Reston, Jr., Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade (2001).

 
History Dictionary: Saladin
(sal-uh-din)

A Kurdish general who conquered Egypt and Syria in the twelfth century. His capture of Jerusalem precipitated a crusade.

  • Saladin became legendary for both his military genius and his generosity.

    •  
    Wikipedia: Saladin
    Salah al-Din redirects here. For the governorate in Iraq, see Salah ad Din. For the Saladin (FV601) six-wheeled armoured car, see Alvis Saladin. For the animated series of Saladin, see Saladin: The Animated Series
    Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub
    Sultan of Egypt and Syria
    caption
    Artistic representation of Saladin
    Reign 1174 – 4 March, 1193
    Coronation 1174
    Full name Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub
    Born c. 1138
    Tikrit, Iraq
    Died 4 March, 1193
    Damascus, Syria
    Buried Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria
    Predecessor Nur ad-Din
    Successor Al-Aziz
    Dynasty Ayyubid
    Father Najm ad-Din Ayyub

    Saladin, properly known as Salah al-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Arabic: صلاح الدين الأيوبي, Kurdish: Selah'edînê Eyubî or سه‌لاحه‌دین ئه‌یوبی) (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), Sultan of Egypt and Syria, was a 12th-century Kurdish[1][2][3] Muslim political and military leader from Tikrit, Iraq. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. He is renowned for leading Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recapturing Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, he remains a widely admired figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture.

    Early years

    Saladin was born c. 1138 into a Kurdish[4] family in Tikrit, Iraq and was sent to Damascus to finish his education. His father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, was governor of Baalbek. For ten years Saladin lived in Damascus and studied Islamic Theology, at the court of Nur ad-Din (Nureddin). After an initial military education under the command of his uncle, Nur ad-Din's lieutenant 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 Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, under 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. With a Sunni Syrian powerbase he had little control over the Egyptian army, which had been dominated by Shias since the rise of the Fatimads, 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. Now Saladin ruled Egypt, but officially as the representative of Nur ad-Din, who himself conventionally recognised 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.

    Struggle versus the Crusaders

    "Saladin, king of Egypt" from a fifteenth century illuminated manuscript; the "globus" in his left hand is a European symbol of kingly power.
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    "Saladin, king of Egypt" from a fifteenth century illuminated manuscript; the "globus" in his left hand is a European symbol of kingly power.

    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-honoured 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 elite shadowy assassin group "Hashshashins" 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.

    The Middle East, c. 1190. Saladin's empire and its vassals shown in red; territory recovered from the Crusader states 1187-1189 shown in pink. Light green indicates Crusader territories surviving at Saladin's death.
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    The Middle East, c. 1190. Saladin's empire and its vassals shown in red; territory recovered from the Crusader states 1187-1189 shown in pink. Light green indicates Crusader territories surviving at Saladin's death.

    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 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 recaptured 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 the 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. Two days after the Battle of Hattin, Saladin ordered the execution of all prisoners of the military orders by beheading. The executions took place as Saladin's secretary himself, Imad ad-Din, from the Ibid, page 138, describes: “He (Saladin) ordered that they should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison. With him was a whole band of scholars and Sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them, and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeve. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais; the unbelievers showed black despair.” 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.

    The statue of Saladin at the entrance of the citadel in Damascus.
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    The statue of Saladin at the entrance of the citadel in Damascus.

    Before Saladin recaptured Jerusalem[5], Baha ad-Din quotes Saladin as saying:

    “ While I (Beha ad-Din) was standing thus Saladin turned to me and said: "I think that when God grants me victory over the rest of Palestine I shall divide my territories, make a will stating my wishes, then set sail on this sea for their far-off lands and pursue the Franks there, so as to free the earth of anyone who does not believe in God, or die in the attempt." ”

    Soon, Saladin had taken back almost every Crusader city. He re-claimed Jerusalem on October 2, 1187, after 88 years of Crusader rule (see Siege of Jerusalem). Saladin initially was unwilling to grant 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 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. According to Imad al-Din, approximately 7,000 men and 8,000 women could not make their ransom and were taken into slavery.

    Only Tyre held out. The city was now commanded by the formidable Conrad of Montferrat. He 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 recognise Guy as King. Guy then set about besieging Acre (see Siege of Acre).

    The tomb of sultan Saladin near the northwestern corner of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria.
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    The tomb of sultan Saladin near the northwestern corner of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria.

    Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusade, financed in England by a special "Saladin tithe". This Crusade took back Acre. After Richard I executed the Muslim prisoners at Acre, Saladin retaliated by killing all Franks captured from August 28 - September 10.[6], describes a particular grisly scene with two captured Franks during this time period: "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 rivaling 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 was wounded, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit with snow, to keep his drinks cold. 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 [7].

    His tomb is in Damascus, at the Umayyad Mosque, and is a popular attraction.

    Recognition

    Saladin depicted on a Dirham coin (c. 1190).
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    Saladin depicted on a Dirham coin (c. 1190).

    Despite his fierce struggle against the Christian incursion, Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante included him among the virtuous pagan souls in Limbo. Saladin appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman (1825). Despite the Crusaders' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom (the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders). An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin.[8]

    Notwithstanding the differences in beliefs, the Muslim Saladin was respected by Christian lords, Richard especially. Richard once praised Saladin as a great prince, saying that he was without doubt the greatest and most powerful leader in the Islamic world.[9] Saladin in turn stated that there was not a more honorable Christian lord than Richard. After the treaty, Saladin and Richard sent each other many gifts as tokens of respect, but never met face to face.

    In April 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and had been sold on the market. The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance. After Saladin used his own money to buy the child, "he gave it to the mother and she took it; with tears streaming down her face, and hugged it to her breast. The people were watching her and weeping and I (Ibn Shaddad) was standing amongst them. She suckled it for some time and then Saladin ordered a horse to be fetched for her and she went back to camp".[10] The name Salah ad-Din means "Righteousness of Faith", and through the ages Saladin has been an inspiration for Muslims in many respects. Modern Muslim rulers have sought to capitalise on the reputation of Saladin. A governorate centred around Tikrit in modern Iraq, Salah ad Din, is named after Saladin, as is Salahaddin University in Arbil.

    Few structures associated with Saladin survive within modern cities. Saladin first fortified the Citadel of Cairo (1175 - 1183), which had been a domed pleasure pavilion with a fine view in more peaceful times. In Syria, even the smallest city is centred 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.[11]

    According to the French writer Rene Grousse:

    “ It is equally true that his generosity, his piety, devoid of fanaticism, that flower of liberality and courtesy which had been the model of our old chroniclers, won him no less popularity in Frankish Syria than in the lands of Islam.[12] ”

    When German Kaiser Wilhelm the Second went to Syria he laid a wreath at the tomb of Saladin in Damascus with the inscription: “A knight without fear or blame who often had to teach his opponents the right way to practise chivalry”.

    Legacy

    The Eagle of Saladin as it appears in the Egyptian coat of arms.
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    The Eagle of Saladin as it appears in the Egyptian coat of arms.

    Though the Ayyubid dynasty he founded would only outlive him by 57 years, the legacy of Saladin within the Arab World continues to this day. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the 20th Century, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saladin's heroism and leadership gained a new significance. Saladin's liberation of Palestine from the European Crusaders was taken as the inspiration for the modern-day Arabs' struggle against Zionism. Moreover, the glory and comparative unity of the Arab World under Saladin was seen as the perfect symbol for the new unity sought by Arab nationalists, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was for this reason that the Eagle of Saladin became the symbol of revolutionary Egypt, and was subsequently adopted by several other Arab states (Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen).

    Burial site

    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.

    Saladin in media

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    • Saladin was portrayed by Ghassan Massoud in the 2005 motion picture Kingdom of Heaven. The filmmakers sought to portray a Saladin acceptable both to Western and Middle Eastern audiences, but in doing so Saladin is reduced to a solely reactive character, albeit a noble one, going to war against the Crusaders only in retribution for the horrific acts perpetrated by the Christian Templars. In one of the scenes featured in the Director's Cut, Saladin takes up arms after a discussion with a Muslim leader who was distraught over the fact that the crusaders slaughtered the city of Jerusalem. Near the end of the film Orlando Bloom's character, Balian, asks him "What is Jerusalem worth?". Saladin answers "Nothing." and walks away. He then turns back and, gesturing towards himself, says "Everything" - most likely a reference to earlier in the film, where it was established that he garnered support among the reactionary (and restless) clerics by promising the return of Jerusalem to Muslim hands from the Christian occupiers.
    • Saladin is the subject of Tariq Ali's novel 'The Book of Saladin'. The novel follows Saladin's progression towards re-capturing Jerusalem through the eyes of his fictional biographer/scribe, Isaac ibn Yakub.
    • Saladin is shown as the leader of Arabia in the video game Civilization IV. His traits were "Spiritual" and "Philosophical", these traits had changed to "Spiritual" and "Protective" for the Warlords expansion pack in Civilization IV.
    • Saladin is also a nickname given to Big Boss by Sniper Wolf in the video game Metal Gear Solid. Sniper Wolf is a Kurdish soldier born and raised on the battlefield when she claims Saladin came and saved her.
    • A character named Saladin is the villain in the novel 'The Forever King,' by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy. In this novel he is immortal, and has been alive at least a millennia at the time of Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub's reign. The book ties his destiny with that of King Arthur, both in his original incarnation and in a present-day incarnation.

    Miscellaneous

    Although he is known worldwide as Saladin, his given name was Yusuf, the Arabic version of "Joseph."[14]

    See also

    References

    • Baha ad-Din, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, ed. D. S. Richards, Ashgate, 2002.
    • Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani, Conquête de la Syrie et de la Palestine par Salâh ed-dîn, ed. Carlo Landberg, Brill, 1888.
    • Stanley Lane-Poole, Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Putnam, 1898.
    • H. A. R. Gibb, The Life of Saladin: From the Works of Imad ad-Din and Baha ad-Din. Clarendon Press, 1973.
    • M. C. Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson, Saladin: the Politics of the Holy War, Cambridge University Press, 1982.
    • Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs, 1986.
    • John Gillingham, "Richard I", Yale English Monarchs, Yale University Press, 1999.

    Notes

    1. ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 Columbia University Press. [1]
    2. ^ V. Minorsky, Studies in Caucasian history, Cambridge University Press, 1957, page 138.
    3. ^ The medieval historian Ibn Athir relates a passage from another commander: both you and Saladin are Kurds and you will not let power pass into the hands of.. in V. Minorsky, Studies in Caucasian history, Cambridge University Press, 1957, page 138.
    4. ^ Ibn Khallikan says that Saladin's father and his family originated from Dvin, and See Vladimir Minorsky, The Prehistory of Saladin, Studies in Caucasian History, Cambridge University Press, 1957, pp. 124-132.
    5. ^ Baha ad-Din from the Ibid, page 101
    6. ^ Beha ad-Din - The Life of Saladin) Beha ad-Din, pages 278-281
    7. ^ The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, Bahā'al-dīn Ibn Shaddād, trans D.S. Richards, Ashgate 2002, p. 25 and 244
    8. ^ (London: Verso, 1998)
    9. ^ Source: Saladin - The Politics of the Holy War by Lyons & Jackson, pg 357)
    10. ^ (Saladin - The politics of Holy War by Lyons & Jackson, pg. 325-326)
    11. ^ Schreurs, J. (February 2001). Saladin. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
    12. ^ Grousse, Renee (1970). The Epic of the Crusades. Orion Press. 
    13. ^ Saladin: The Animated Series official site. Multimedia Development Corporation. Malaysia, 2006.
    14. ^ Malcolm Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson, "Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War", pg. 2.

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