When was saladin the great born

The Battle of Hattin marked the defeat of the First Crusades and led to the capture of the holy city of Jerusalem. As soon as European officials heard about this, they decided to form a new crusade to send into battle against Saladin. In order to establish this new crusade, English officials introduced a new tax which was called the Saladin tithe.

It was a 10 per cent tax on the revenue from property which was collected by respected priests, bishops, and the deans of local churches. People who refused to pay the tax were imprisoned. While the tax was heavy and the amount collected was the largest that has ever been raised through tax, it was never used for its real purpose. While Saladin was an avid student of various subjects and an established military officer, he was also strictly religious.

It is believed that he was more interested in studying religion than military intelligence. Many religious institutions were established to spread the Islamic principles that he followed. He ordered the establishment of Madrasas to spread Sunnism in Egypt. His devotion to Sunnism led him to spread it throughout Egypt and halt the rise of the Ismail Shia caliphate there. Saladin, through his post as vizier, quietly started rebelling and weakening the Fatimid system to spread his Sunni beliefs in Egypt too.

Saladin was a keen student. Being of Kurdish extraction, he learned both the Kurdish and Arabic languages. He read histories and biographies of Arab rulers with interest and loved Arabic poetry. He learnt the Arabic book Hamasah with all its 10 editions by heart. After defeating the crusaders in Jerusalem, Saladin ordered the foreign people to return to their own lands in peace but for the many residents who were held captive under his reign in Jerusalem, Saladin proposed an alternative.

Anyone who wanted to be free could buy his or her freedom by paying a small price in gold coins. For those who could not pay for their freedom the only option was to be held captive forever or to be sold into slavery.

History has never witnessed a ruler who was so admired by the people he defeated. His preference for religious studies over war can be seen by the methods he used to defeat his opponents, and it may have been his unconventional theories of fighting which led him to conquer so many. Yet with each battle, he managed to establish a positive relationship with his opponent.

Even though he was a strict follower of Sunnism, he never took part in or encouraged religious conflicts. For sure, he shared the blame for the hundreds of casualties resulting from his battles, but unlike other emperors and sultans, he spread the message of peace in his own way.

Saladin will forever be remembered as a great name in history not just in Islamic states but also as a role model for every ruler. People can learn lessons from his compassion and kindness that even touched the lives of his opponents leading them to become his well-wishers too.

Saladin features in Western and Muslim history as a golden figure who was the face of compassion and empathy. With all his successful conquests and admirable qualities he is, to date, considered to be the most powerful and greatest emperor of the Islamic dynasty. From these works, generations are able to learn how he managed to balance power with generosity. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contents hide. A chivalrous knight. A threat to his assassins. Conquer them with kindness. Unification of Islamic states. He joined the military at the age of Saladin tithe: The tax of threat. Religious follower as well as military leader. Destruction of the Fatimid caliphate. With the death of the last Fatimid caliph in , Saladin became governor of Egypt, and set about reducing the power and influence of Shia Islam and reestablishing a Sunni regime there.

Nur al-Din died in , and Saladin launched a campaign to take control of the lands he had ruled. He also sought to establish his regime as a major military player capable of challenging the four Western-controlled Crusader states, which had been established after the First Crusade in In addition to his military exploits, he also pursued diplomatic efforts to achieve his goals.

He married Nur ad-Din's widow, Ismat, who was also the daughter of the late Damascan ruler Unur, which helped him gain legitimacy through association with two ruling dynasties. Finally, he gained widespread Muslim support by proclaiming himself the leader of a jihad, or holy war, dedicated to defending Islam against Christianity.

Known for his love of poetry and gardens, he also gained a reputation as a generous and noble leader—helped along by the official biographers he hired to record his feats. After nearly a decade of fighting smaller battles against the Franks as the Crusaders from Western Europe were called , Saladin prepared to launch a full-scale attack in by assembling troops from across his realm south of Damascus and an impressive Egyptian fleet at Alexandria. His army met the Franks in a massive clash at Hattin, near Tiberias modern-day Israel and defeated them soundly on July 4, Though Saladin had planned to kill all Christians in Jerusalem as revenge for the slaughter of Muslims in , he agreed to let them purchase their freedom instead.

Yet despite the military prowess of the Crusader forces, Saladin withstood their onslaught and managed to retain control over most of his empire.

His truce with Richard the Lionheart in late ended the Third Crusade. Just a few months later, in March , Saladin died in his beloved gardens in Damascus. Though relatively young just 55 or 56 , he was exhausted from a life spent in near continuous military campaigns. By the time of his death, he had given away much of his personal wealth to his subjects, leaving behind not even enough to pay for his own burial.

The coalition of Muslim states Saladin assembled would pull apart after his death, but his descendants in the Ayyubid dynasty continued to rule in Egypt and Syria for several generations. Mark Cartwright. World History Encyclopedia. Paul E. Encyclopedia Britannica. David Nicolle. Saladin Bloomsbury, But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between and The bloody, violent and often ruthless The leader of Zimbabwe since its independence in , Robert Mugabe was one of the longest-serving and, in the latter years of his reign, most infamous African rulers.