Home Region:  Northeast Africa (Africa)

Ayyubid Sultanate

1171 CE 1250 CE
EQ 2020  eg_ayyubid_sultanate / EgAyyub
Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
750 CE 946 CE Abbasid Caliphate I (iq_abbasid_cal_1)    [continuity]

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.
1229 CE 1453 CE Rasulid Dynasty (ye_rasulid_dyn)    [secession]
1260 CE 1348 CE Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I (eg_mamluk_sultanate_1)    [continuity]

Displayed:



Learn more about polity border choices.
Hit enter after changing the year or setting the play rate.


  General Description  
The Ayyubid Sultanate was established in Egypt by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ-al-dīn), a member of the Kurdish Ayyubid family who had risen to prominence in Syria in the service of a local ruling dynasty, the Zangids. [1] In 1168-69 CE, the Zangid prince Nur al-Din placed Saladin’s uncle, Shirkuh, in command of a military expedition to Egypt (at that time under Fatimid rule) to take control of the country and expel the invading Frankish Crusaders. [2] [3] Saladin accompanied him and was appointed vizier of Egypt by the Fatimid caliph when Shirkuh died in 1169. [1]
Saladin, however, did not have the local dynasty’s interests at heart. He immediately set about undermining its power and the Ismaili (Shi’a) Islam professed by its elite in favour of a new Sunni order, in theory loyal to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. [4] We begin our Ayyubid Sultanate polity in 1171, when the last Fatimid caliph, Al-Adid, died and Saladin progressed from vizier to sultan in Egypt. [5] He nevertheless suppressed his ambitions until his old Zangid overlord Nur al-Din died in 1174, after which he launched a successful campaign of military expansion into the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, as well as a brief ’holy war’ on the Crusader states along the Levantine coast. [6] [7]
A succession crisis followed Saladin’s death in 1193, and a devastating famine in 1200 reduced parts of the population to cannibalism. [8] However, Saladin’s brother, al-’Adil, declared himself sultan in 1200 and managed to impose some degree of internal stability on the empire, [9] which was split into the kingdoms of Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul. [10] The reign of al-’Adil’s son, al-Kamil, from 1218 to 1238 CE, was also a relatively stable and prosperous period in Egypt, [11] although he faced opposition from Ayyubid princes in Syria and Palestine. [12]
As-Salih Ayyub, the sultan who came to power in 1240 CE, [13] attempted to enhance his power at the expense of other Ayyubid princely lines by purchasing many more Turkish Mamluks (high-ranking slave soldiers) than his predecessors. [14] They served him as a military and governmental elite. [7] [14] The Mamluks’ increasingly powerful position proved to be the downfall of the Ayyubid Sultanate when, after Salih-Ayyub’s death in 1249, one faction (the Bahriyya Mamluks) assassinated his son Turanshah and seized the throne. [15] The Ayyubid dynasty hung onto power in Syria until 1260, when the Mamluks defeated the invading Mongols at ’Ayn Jalut and gained popular recognition of their right to rule as ’saviours of Islam’. [16] However, we end our Ayyubid period with the assassination of Turanshah, the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt.
Population and political organization
The Ayyubids made use of the pre-existing Fatimid bureaucratic system to administer Egypt, [17] and ruled via a Turkish and Kurdish ’military aristocracy’, including some slave (Mamluk) regiments. [10] [18] This was funded by the distribution of iqta’s ‒ rights to tax revenue from estates of land ‒ in exchange for military and administrative services. [19] Saladin and his successors also promoted Sunni Islam in the empire by sponsoring law schools (madrasas) to serve as centres for the teaching of Sunni law. [19]
The Ayyubid Sultanate was never particularly centralized: it has been described as a ’family confederation’, meaning that male members of the ruling dynasty were given principalities across the realm and allowed to govern them with substantial political autonomy. [7] Kinship ties determined relationships between different princes, so that, for example, two brothers ruling different regions would have less authority over each other than a father would over his son. [7] However, the sultan of Egypt was usually successful in asserting his suzerainty over the other kingdoms. [19]
It is difficult to find substantiated estimates for the population of the entire Ayyubid Sultanate, but there were about 2.4 million people in Egypt under Saladin. [20]

[1]: (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. ’Ayyubids’, Encyclopӕdia Iranica III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids (accessed 24 February 2017).

[2]: (Lev 2010, 218) Yaacov Lev. 2010. ’The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)’, in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[3]: (Lapidus 2002, 290) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[4]: (Lev 2010, 210-11) Yaacov Lev. 2010. ’The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)’, in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[5]: (Lev 2010, 210) Yaacov Lev. 2010. ’The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)’, in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[6]: (Lyons and Jackson 1982, 201) Malcolm Cameron Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson. 1982. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[7]: (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. ’Ayyubids’, Encyclopӕdia Iranica III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids (accessed 25 February 2017).

[8]: (Lev 2010, 226) Yaacov Lev. 2010. ’The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)’, in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[9]: (Humphreys 1977, 125-26) R. Stephen Humphreys. 1977. From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193‒1260. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

[10]: (Lapidus 2002, 291) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[11]: (Werthmuller 2010, 48) Kurt J. Werthmuller. 2010. Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt, 1218‒1250. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

[12]: (Hamblin 2005, 753) William J. Hamblin. 2005. ’Egypt: Ayyubid Dynasty, 1169-1250’, in Encyclopedia of African History, volume 1: A-G, edited by Kevin Shillington, 752-54. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn.

[13]: (Keenan 1999, 287) James G. Keenan. 1999. ’Fayyum Agriculture at the End of the Ayyubid Era: Nabulsi’s Survey’. Proceedings of the British Academy 96: 287-99.

[14]: (Levanoni 1990, 124) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. ’The Mamluks’ Ascent to Power in Egypt’. Studia Islamica 72: 121-44.

[15]: (Levanoni 1990, 137) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. ’The Mamluks’ Ascent to Power in Egypt’. Studia Islamica 72: 121-44.

[16]: (Northrup 1998, 248) Linda S. Northrup. 1998. ’The Baḥrī Mamlūk Sultanate, 1250‒1390’, in The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640‒1517, edited by Carl F. Petry, 242-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[17]: (Lapidus 2012, 246) I. M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[18]: (Lev 2010, 210, 213) Yaacov Lev. 2010. ’The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)’, in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[19]: (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[20]: (Dols 1977, 149) M. W. Dols. 1977. The Black Death in the Middle East. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate) was in:
 (1171 CE 1175 CE) Upper Egypt
 (1175 CE 1228 CE) Upper Egypt   /   Yemeni Coastal Plain
 (1228 CE 1259 CE) Upper Egypt
Home NGA: Upper Egypt

General Variables
Identity and Location Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Utm Zone 36 R Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Original Name Ayyubid Sultanate Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Capital 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternative Name 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternative Name 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternative Name 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternative Name 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Temporal Bounds Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Peak Years
Loading...
Duration
Loading...
Political and Cultural Relations Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Suprapolity Relations 1191 CE 1250 CE
Loading...
Supracultural Entity Islam Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Succeeding Entity Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Scale of Supracultural Interaction 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Relationship to Preceding Entity continuity Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Succeeding Entity
1229 CE 1453 CE
Loading...
Succeeding Entity
1260 CE 1348 CE
Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I (eg_mamluk_sultanate_1)   [continuity] 
Loading...
Preceding Entity
750 CE 946 CE
Abbasid Caliphate I (iq_abbasid_cal_1)   [continuity]  Expert
Loading...
Degree of Centralization 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Degree of Centralization 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Degree of Centralization 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Language Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Linguistic Family Afro-Asiatic Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Language 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Religion Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Religion Genus Islam Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Religion Family Sunni Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Religion Shafii Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternate Religion Genus Islam Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternate Religion Family Sufi Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Alternate Religion Uncoded Undecided Expert 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Population of the Largest Settlement 1200 CE
Loading...
Polity Territory 1200 CE
Loading...
Polity Population 1200 CE
Loading...
Hierarchical Complexity Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Settlement Hierarchy 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Religious Level 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Military Level 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Administrative Level 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Professions Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Soldier 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Professional Priesthood Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Professional Military Officer 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Occupational Complexity 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Bureaucracy Characteristics Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Government Building 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Merit Promotion 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Full Time Bureaucrat 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Examination System 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Law Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Lawyer 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Judge 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Court 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Specialized Buildings: polity owned Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Market 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Irrigation System 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Food Storage Site Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Drinking Water Supply System 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Transport Infrastructure Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Road 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Port 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Canal 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Bridge 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Special-purpose Sites Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Mines or Quarry Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Information / Writing System Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Written Record Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Script 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Phonetic Alphabetic Writing Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Nonwritten Record Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Non Phonetic Writing Absent 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Mnemonic Device Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Information / Kinds of Written Documents Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Scientific Literature Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Sacred Text Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Religious Literature 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Practical Literature 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Philosophy 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Lists Tables and Classification 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
History 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Fiction 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Calendar Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Information / Money Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Token 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Precious Metal Present Inferred 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Paper Currency Absent Inferred 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Indigenous Coin 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Foreign Coin 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Article Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Information / Postal System Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Postal Station 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
General Postal Service Absent Inferred 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Courier 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Information / Measurement System Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wooden Palisade 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Stone Walls Non Mortared Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Stone Walls Mortared 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Settlements in a Defensive Position Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Modern Fortification Absent 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moat 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Fortified Camp 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Earth Rampart 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Ditch 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Complex Fortification 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Military use of Metals Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Steel 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Iron 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Copper 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Bronze Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Projectiles Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Tension Siege Engine 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Sling Siege Engine 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Sling 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Self Bow 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Javelin 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Handheld Firearm 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Gunpowder Siege Artillery Absent 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Crossbow 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Composite Bow Present Inferred 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Atlatl Absent 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Handheld weapons Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
War Club 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Sword 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Spear 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Polearm 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Dagger 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Battle Axe 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Animals used in warfare Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Horse 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Elephant Unknown Suspected 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Donkey 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Dog Absent 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Camel 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Armor Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wood Bark Etc 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Shield 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Scaled Armor 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Plate Armor Unknown Suspected 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Limb Protection 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Leather Cloth 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Laminar Armor 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Helmet 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Chainmail 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Breastplate Unknown Suspected 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Naval technology Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Military Vessel 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Small Vessels Canoes Etc 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service Unknown Suspected 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement in This Life 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners Present 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Moralizing Enforcement is Certain 1171 CE  1250 CE
Loading...
Human Sacrifice Ayyubid Sultanate (eg_ayyubid_sultanate)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Instability Data
Power Transitions