Ayyubid Sultanate: Map & History

History

The progenitor of the Ayyubid dynasty, Najm ad-Din Ayyub ibn Shadhi, belonged to the Kurdish Rawadiya tribe, itself a branch of the large Hadhabani tribe. The Rawadiya were of Arab origin but became Kurdicized over time. In later periods, members of the Ayyubid dynasty sponsored genealogies showing that they were not Kurds, but rather descended from noble Arab lineages, including the Banu Umayya. While these genealogies are generally regarded as politically motivated constructions, the historian Vladimir Minorsky argued that they reflect an underlying historical reality. He suggested the Rawadiya Kurds to be descendants of the Arab general Rawwād al-Azdī, who governed Tabriz in the early 9th century, and whose lineage became Kurdicized in Azerbaijan.

Government

Saladin structured the Ayyubid empire around the concept of collective sovereignty i.e. a confederation of principalities held together by the idea of family rule. Under this arrangement there existed numerous "petty sultans" while one family member, as-Sultan al-Mu'azzam, reigned supreme. After the death of Saladin, this coveted position became open to whoever was strong enough to seize it. Subsequent rivalry between the Ayyubids of Syria and Egypt reached a point where the rulers of each territory would at times collude with Crusaders against the other. Ayyubid rule differed in these two regions.

Military

Fundamentally, Saladin's army, which grew out of Nur ad-Din's army, was mainly based on Kurdo-Turkic troops, alongside some Fatimid and Arab tribal contingents. Kurds made up one-third of Saladin's army and were mostly organized in tribal units and corps, such as al-Hakkariyya, al-Mehraniyya (branch of Hadhbāni), al-Humaydiyya and al-Zarzariyya. In 1181, Saladin's Egyptian army was composed of 111 amirs, 6,976 tawashi (cavalrymen) and 1,153 qara-ghulams (second grade cavalrymen). In addition to the dominant contribution of Egypt, each urban centre in the Levant and the Jazira maintained contingents depending on its resources, which were called by Saladin when needed.

Economy

Having pushed the Crusaders out of most of Syria, the Ayyubids generally adopted a policy of peace with them. The war with the Crusaders did not prevent Muslims under Ayyubid governance from developing good commercial relations with European states. This led to fruitful interaction between both sides in different fields of economic activity, particularly in agriculture and trade.

Numerous measures were undertaken by the Ayyubids to increase agricultural production. Canals were dug to facilitate the irrigation of agricultural lands throughout the empire. Cultivation of sugarcane was officially encouraged to meet the great demand of it by both the local inhabitants and the Europeans.