Timeline Explorer · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · Stop 1 of 14
c. 1153 CE · c. 548 AH approximate debated before the Hijra
When Roger of Sicily took Tripoli of Ifriqiya and kept its Muslims under his rule, Abu Yahya ibn Matruh, one of the town's notables, went among its leading men and drew them into striking the Normans — they rose, killed them and burned them, and Ibn Matruh governed Tripoli until…
The Tripoli Uprising against the Christians and Their Burning — c. 1153 CE · c. 548 AH
When Roger of Sicily took Tripoli of Ifriqiya and kept its Muslims under his rule, Abu Yahya ibn Matruh, one of the town's notables, went among its leading men and drew them into striking the Normans — they rose, killed them and burned them, and Ibn Matruh governed Tripoli until Abd al-Mu'min's coming in 555 restored it .
Asad al-Din Shirkuh's first expedition to Egypt — c. 1167 CE · 562 AH
In 562 Nur al-Din sent Asad al-Din Shirkuh with two thousand horse to Egypt; camped at Giza, besieging two months, till its lord called the Franks who came through Damietta. Shirkuh withdrew to the Sa'id, beat a larger army killing Frankish thousands, levied the Sa'id's kharaj — while the Franks besieged Alexandria, taken by his nephew Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, four months till Shirkuh came and they withdrew to Syria .
The Burning of al-Fustat, the Vizierate of Shirkuh, then Salah al-Din — c. 1169 CE · 564 AH
In 564 the Franks came on Egypt in a great host, took Bilbays and besieged Cairo — its lord burnt al-Fustat for fear of them — then wrote Nur al-Din for aid. Shirkuh came, the Franks withdrew, al-Adid made him vizier — and he died sixty-five days later. His nephew Salah al-Din took his place, titled al-Malik al-Nasir, and served the sultanate as none could .
The battle of the Sudan between the two palaces — c. August 1169 CE · c. 1 Dhu al-Qa'da 564 AH
Dhu al-Qa'da 564 (1169): after Saladin executed Mu'tamin al-Khilafa — the Fatimid palace eunuch caught corresponding with the Franks — and set Baha al-Din Qaraqush over the palace, the Sudanese troops of Cairo, over fifty thousand strong out of solidarity, rose against the Salahiyya regiments and fought them between the two palaces; Saladin had their Mansura quarter burned over their families, they broke, took safe-conduct out of Egypt, and Turanshah destroyed the remnant at Giza — the end of the Fatimid army .
Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt — c. September 1171 CE · Muharram 567 AH
Al-Imad al-Katib: Salah al-Din opened the year 567 with Egypt's greatest obedience — the Abbasid khutba, first Jumu'a at Fustat's mosque, the second at Cairo; al-Adid died that Ashura, and the palace's treasures sold for ten years. Shihab al-Din ibn Abi Asrun bore the news to Baghdad, and al-Imad wrote a general proclamation read across the lands of Islam — 'no minbar remains in those lands but the khutba for our lord al-Mustadi' is upon it'. Ibn al-Athir adds: Nur al-Din ordered it, Salah al-Din feared an Egyptian rising, and the Ajami called al-Amir al-Alim mounted the minbar before the khatib and prayed for al-Mustadi' — 'not two goats butted over it'. The khutba spread to Yemen, Barqa, Tawzar and Egypt to Aswan; Ibn al-Jawzi wrote his book al-Nasr ala Misr .
The plot to restore the Ubaydid da'wa and the crucifixion of its partisans — c. 1174 CE · 569 AH
In 569 a group of the Ubaydids' shi'a and lovers plotted to restore the da'wa to al-Adid's house, joined by some of Salah al-Din's amirs; discovering it, he crucified them between the two palaces .
The exchange of Aleppo, from Mosul to Sinjar — c. 1181 CE · 577 AH
In Rajab 577 al-Salih Isma'il ibn Nur al-Din died at Aleppo, having bequeathed it to his cousin Izz al-Din Mas'ud, lord of Mosul, passing over his sister's husband Imad al-Din, lord of Sinjar. Izz al-Din entered Aleppo on 20 Sha'ban. Taqi al-Din Umar, nephew of Salah al-Din, fled from Manbij to Hama, and its people rose under Izz al-Din's emblem. The Aleppo troops urged him to march on Damascus, but he refused, saying 'there is an oath between us, and we shall not betray him.' Imad al-Din then insisted on Aleppo in exchange for Sinjar and threatened to hand Sinjar over to Salah al-Din. The amirs advised yielding Aleppo to him, the most insistent among them being Mujahid al-Din Qaymaz, for fear of Izz al-Din's self-importance. So Imad al-Din took Aleppo and gave Sinjar to his brother, and Izz al-Din returned to Mosul. Salah al-Din in Egypt had found Izz al-Din's possession of Aleppo grievous; when news reached him that Imad al-Din had taken it, he set out for Syria the same day .
Salah al-Din's siege of Mosul and the settlement of Shahrazur in 581 — c. 1185 CE · 581 AH
In 581 Salah al-Din besieged Mosul; its people fought their hardest and its strength turned him back. He took Mayyafariqin by safe-conduct, returned to the siege, and peace came on terms: the khutba in his name, the city's lord his liege, and Shahrizur and its fortresses ceded. He withdrew, then fell gravely ill at Harran until his death was rumoured and the hair of his beard and head fell out .
Battle of Hattin — c. 4 July 1187 CE · 25 Rabi' II 583 AH
On Saturday, five days before the end of Rabi' al-Akhir in 583 AH, Saladin and the Muslims engaged the Franks, who were tormented by thirst and had lost heart. The Muslim vanguard shot arrows like locusts spreading across the ground and killed many of the Franks' horses. The Franks were heading for Tiberias to reach water, but Saladin blocked their path, drew up his army against them, and rode among the Muslims urging them on. One of his young Mamluks charged fiercely and fought until he was killed; then the Muslims launched a violent charge that broke the Franks. Some volunteers set fire to the dry grass, which was abundant; the fire burned, and the wind carried its heat and smoke toward the Franks, so that thirst, the heat of the day, the fire and the fighting came upon them together. The Muslims surrounded them like a circle around its diameter, and those who remained climbed a hill near Hattin, where they could pitch no tent except their king's. The Muslims took their great cross, which the Franks call the Cross of the Crucifixion and which they believe contains a piece of the wood on which Christ was crucified. Al-Malik al-Afdal, Saladin's son, recounts that he stood beside his father at the first clash: when the Franks charged repeatedly until they drove the Muslims back toward the tent, his father grew downcast, gripped his beard and cried, 'The Devil lied!'; al-Afdal, joyful, cried, 'We have defeated them!' His father turned to him and said, 'Be quiet; we will not defeat them until that tent falls.' When the tent fell, the sultan dismounted, prostrated in thanks and wept for joy. The king and his brother were captured, along with Prince Arnat, lord of Karak, the lord of Jubayl, the Grand Master of the Templars and a group of Hospitallers. Whoever looked at the dead would not think any prisoners had been taken, and whoever looked at the captives would not think anyone had been killed. Saladin gave the king iced water, and the king gave what was left of it to Arnat. Saladin said, 'He did not drink the water with my permission, so he will not obtain what he wishes'; he rebuked him for his wrongs, rose, and struck his neck, saying that he had twice vowed to kill him if he ever prevailed over him: once when Arnat meant to march on Mecca and Medina, and once when he seized the caravan treacherously. He ordered the Templar and Hospitaller prisoners gathered; two hundred were brought before him and their necks were struck, because they were fiercer than all the other Franks. Ibn al-Athir says that about a year later he passed the site of the battle and saw the ground full of their bones .
Death of Salah al-Din at Damascus — c. March 1193 CE · Safar 589 AH
In Safar 589 Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi died at Damascus. He had ridden out to meet the pilgrims, and on his return he fell ill the same day with a severe illness that lasted eight days. Before the illness he had summoned his son al-Afdal Ali and his brother al-Malik al-Adil Abu Bakr and asked their counsel: 'We are now free of the Franks; where shall we aim?' Al-Adil advised a campaign against Khilat, where he had been promised lands; al-Afdal advised the lands of Rum held by the sons of Qilij Arslan, which were larger, had more troops, were quicker to take, and lay on the Franks' route if they came overland. Salah al-Din said: 'You are both remiss and lacking in resolve. Rather, I shall march on the lands of Rum, and you, Adil, take some of my sons and the army to Khilat; when I have finished I will come to you, and we will enter Azerbaijan and join the lands of the 'Ajam, where none will bar us.' He then let al-Adil set off for al-Karak, and Salah al-Din fell ill and died before al-Adil returned. Ibn al-Athir mentions his forbearance: a mamluk threw a sarmuz at some men and it landed near him, and he turned to the other side and spoke to his companion so as to overlook it. He asked for water five times at one sitting and it was not brought, and he said: 'My companions, by God, thirst has killed me!' Water was brought and he drank, and he did not reproach the delay .
al-Adil's seizure of Damascus — c. 1196 CE · 592 AH
al-Adil's seizure of Damascus, 27 Rajab 592 — after the Asadiyya and Kurds defected from al-Aziz of Egypt to his brother al-Afdal, the Bilbays settlement gave al-Afdal Palestine while al-Adil stayed in Egypt beside al-Aziz; then uncle and nephew marched on Damascus, suborned al-Afdal's favoured amir Ibn Abi Ghalib of Homs who opened the Bab al-Sharqi at 'asr, entered while al-Afdal knew nothing, and read him the order to vacate the citadel .
جلاء الفرنج عن دمياط سنة 618 — c. 1221 CE · 618 AH
In 618 al-Ashraf set out to aid his brother al-Kamil, and the army of Syria marched with him. The Franks left Damietta on horse and on foot during the Nile's rise and camped beside a canal; the Muslims breached the Nile onto it, and the water kept them from reaching Damietta. The fleet came, seized the Frankish ships and captured some eight hundred horsemen, among them the lord of Acre, and a host of foot soldiers. When they saw their ruin, they asked for terms, to hand Damietta over to al-Kamil, and he agreed. Then his brothers al-Mu'azzam and al-Ashraf came to him with the troops in Rajab; he prepared a great banquet, brought in the kings of the Franks, bestowed favours upon them, and it was a day long remembered .
Al-Salih Isma'il takes Damascus and al-Salih Ayyub takes Egypt in 637 — 1239 CE · Safar 637 AH
Safar 637: al-Salih Isma'il b. al-Adil storms Damascus and takes its citadel; al-Salih Ayyub, released from Karak by al-Nasir Dawud, reaches Egypt where the Kamiliyya arrest al-Adil II and make him sultan — al-Nasir returns empty-handed .
Shaqif Castle handed to the Franks, 638 — 1240 CE · 638 AH
In 638 al-Salih Isma'il surrendered Beaufort castle to the Franks for his own purpose; the Muslims hated him for it — Ibn Abd al-Salam and Ibn al-Hajib denounced him and were jailed, Ibn Abd al-Salam removed from Damascus's minbar .
