The Ayyubids (Arabic: الأيوبيون, Kurdish:ایوبیان) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin centered in Cairo and Damascus that ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they gradually gained independence from them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. In 1171, Saladin proclaimed himself sultan of Egypt after dissolv...
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The Ayyubids (Arabic: الأيوبيون, Kurdish:ایوبیان) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin centered in Cairo and Damascus that ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they gradually gained independence from them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. In 1171, Saladin proclaimed himself sultan of Egypt after dissolving the Fatimid Caliphate upon the death of al-Adid. The Ayyubids spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the Ayyubid state included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia. Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, consisting of Palestine and Transjordan fell to the Ayyubids after their victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders regained control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.
After the death of Saladin,...
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