What is the brief history of Saladin?

Answer 1

Saladin's full name was Salah al-Din Yusuf. He was a Kurd born in 1137 in Mesopotamia which was located in present day Iran and grew up in Syria. He lived in Damascus for 10 years, where he finished his education. Saladin was well educated and would accompany his uncle on his campaigns. His uncle was the sultan of Syria and later became ruler of Egypt after the death of the current ruler.

Saladin served under the Syrian ruler Nur al-Din's fighting campaigns from 1152 - 1169 against Crusaders in Palestine and later became the sultan of Egypt after his uncle's death when he was aged 34. Saladin was able to successfully bring together Muslim warriors of different countries under his control, unifying their force against the Crusaders.

Saladin made many achievements in his life. He conquered a number of cities, including Damascus in 1174, the Syrian city of Aleppo in 1183, Mosul in Iraq in 1186. He also recaptured Jerusalem for Muslims in 1187 at the Battle of Hattin after the Crusaders ruled it more than 500 years and defeated Crusaders in the Third Crusade and Jerusalem remained under Muslim's control.

Saladin led the Third Crusades against Christians to defend Jerusalem. Although was against Richard I, leader of the Crusaders, they had an interesting relationship. It was said that he gave Richard two fresh horses of him own when Richard's horse fell in battle and gave Richard some fresh fruit and some snow to cool his drinks when Richard feel ill

Ultimately, the Muslims won in the Crusades and defeated the Christians. Saladin and Richard signed a treaty which lasted for 5 years which allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Christians could retain the coastal cities as far south as Jaffa and Muslims and Christians could move freely in each other's territory.

Saladin passed away on March 4th, 1193 in Damascus, not long after Richard I's departure from the Holy Land. His death was due to fever and was buried in a mausoleum in the garden outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.