Ayyubid Sultanate

The Ayyubid Sultanate was founded by Saladin (Salah ad-Din Yusuf), a Kurdish-Muslim military commander who overthrew the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and united Egypt, Syria, and parts of Mesopotamia under a single dynasty. Saladin became the foremost Muslim leader of the Crusading era, famously recapturing Jerusalem from the crusaders in 1187. The sultanate was a loose confederation of principalities governed by branches of the Ayyubid family, with frequent internal rivalries. It fostered Sunni Islamic learning and architecture but was gradually weakened by succession disputes, ultimately giving way to the Mamluk slave-soldiers who had formed the core of the Ayyubid army.

• Existed: 1171 CE – 1341 CE
• Type: Country
• Government: sultanate
• Capital: Cairo