Salahdin | Part 2 - Shifting Tides The main streets of Cairo. People are gathered on both sides to celebrate the victory of the Muslims
against the Crusaders. The victorious Zengid army is marching toward the royal palace of the Fatimid caliph. People are screaming with joy and showering the soldiers with flowers. At the head of the marching army is the General Shirkuh. And just behind him, ride Salahdin the young hero. Head held high with pride and honor. But little does he know, what is about to unfold in the coming months. Once Shirkuh and his commanders
reached the Fatimid court, the caliph, al-Adid greeted them
with great joy and generosity. He offered Shirkuh the role of
the grand vizier of Egypt. Shirkuh took this offer without hesitation. But he has not forgotten about the betrayal of Shawar. And he knew perfectly well that if he lets Shawar free, he will plot to strike back again. So Shirkuh’s first command was to arrest Shawar and execute him. It was also a warning to everyone: Anyone who dares to side with the Crusaders will only meet one end, death. Shirkuh was a man who enjoyed food and frequently arranged lavish feasts for his guests. On one such occasion after feasting on a large meal, Shirkuh fell ill. The illness soon proved to be fatal. Shirkuh died only two months after he became the vizier. Saladin lost his beloved uncle and trusted mentor. Now he had to stand on his own without Shirkuh’s support and guidance. As Saladin mourned the death of his uncle, Shirkuh, the leaders or emirs of different factions and military groups from both the Fatimid side and Zengid side started arguing about who would be the next vizier of Egypt. The Fatimids wanted a weak vizier, so that he could not gather much
political influence. Electing a strong Sunni vizier wouldn't show particular strength of the Shia caliphate. Whereas the Zengids pushed for a strong leader as the vizier, so that they can have a solid influence on the Fatimid caliphate and its inner politics. The arguments went on for days. Then one day a messenger arrived at the court. He brought a letter from Nur ad-Din. In that letter, Nur ad-Din recommended Salahdin as Shirkuh’s successor and requested caliph al-Adid to appoint Saladin as the vizier. After all, Salahdin’s family had been of great service for many years to both Nur ad-Din and al-Adid. The Fatimid emirs supported this nomination as they thought Salahdin was young
and inexperienced. They thought he would easily fail
in the role of vizier. On the other hand, the Zengid emirs saw Salahdin’s leadership
on the battlefield and believed they could put trust in his abilities. So, they agreed to the proposal as well. As a result, Salahdin became
the de facto ruler of Egypt, the grand vizier of the Fatimid caliphate at the age of 30, in early 1169. Saladin had never had such power and independence before. But he was still in a tug-of-war between the Fatimid caliphate
and the Abbasid caliphate through Nur ad-Din. And as we have discussed before, these two caliphates, one Shia and the other Sunni were never on friendly terms. So, Salahdin now had the problem of split loyalty. As the vizier, he owed his loyalty to the Fatimid caliphate
in Egypt. At the same time, as the general of Nur ad-Din, he owed his loyalty to the Zengid dynasty and thereby to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. This actually made it very difficult for Salahdin to do what he wanted to do, help the people, unite the people, and free the Holy Lands from the Crusaders. Soon after his appointment as the vizier, the internal political conflict in Egypt started to weigh heavy on Salahdin. He tried to focus his mind on rebuilding
the Egyptian nation. He commissioned several hospitals and madrasas, which are kind of like universities
by modern standards. He started investing in improving
infrastructure and defense of major Egyptian cities. One evening, Salahdin was busy in his study, thinking about his plan for the nation, when there was a sudden knock on the door, followed by several loud knocks. Salahdin ordered the person to come in. It was Ali ibn Safyan, the chief of his bodyguards. He brought grave news. Some emirs of Egypt had decided to stage a revolt and assassinate Salahdin in the dark of the night. Salahdin suspected that he would not have the full support of the emirs of Egypt, who did not like a Sunni vizier under the Shia Fatimid caliphate. But he never expected that they would
plot to kill him. Salahdin was saddened. He had just started a few months ago. What had he done to deserve such treachery? But he had to control his emotions. He had to act fast before the rebels
could strike first. He ordered his own bodyguards
to capture the main conspirator, a high official for the Fatimid palace. He was immediately arrested and executed. Yet it was not sufficient to completely
stop the rebellion. The following day, several other Fatimid emirs, with almost 50,000 soldiers started a revolt in different parts of Egypt. Salahdin now had a civil war on his hands. As the civil war continued, the number of the wounded and the corpses piled up. After several months of fighting, the rebel emirs started to fall one after another. It took Salahdin almost 6 months to completely quell the uprising. No mercy was shown to the rebel leaders. They either fell in the battle or were executed. It was a hard lesson for the Egyptian emirs. Never again would anyone dare to rise against Salahdin in Egypt. Salahdin’s swift and resolute actions saved Egypt from a long and bloody civil war. And he learned his lesson well. He started to rebuild his court. Appointed trustworthy family members and friends in important roles of state. Besides this, he also started appointing people based on their skills and merits, and not because of their lineage and influence. This way Salahdin gradually created a strong and trusted inner council of his own. This solidified Salahdin’s political position in the Fatimid court. Now he could again focus
on rebuilding the nation. Hardly 3 months had passed in peace, then disaster struck again. Towards the end of 1169, the Crusader states of the Byzantine Empire joined forces and sent a massive naval fleet to invade Egypt. They were approaching fast to attack an Egyptian port city, Damietta. Salahdin had actually been working to strengthen the fortification
of different parts of Egypt since he came to power, expecting an attack from the Crusaders. But he did not expect the attack to come from the Mediterranean Sea. He thought the Crusaders would invade on land through the Sinai Peninsula, as they had done before. So Salahdin’s main defense force was stationed much further south than Damietta. This meant it would take some time to send reinforcements to the port city. So, he had to find a way to delay the invasion. He sent a messenger to the governor of Damietta asking him to block the entrance from the sea so that the naval fleets could not come inside the defensive line. He wrote to them that the reinforcements
were already on their way. Simultaneously, he commanded his army to march towards Damietta. Upon receiving news from Salahdin, the defenders in Damietta strengthened
the city defense and raised an iron chain across the city’s branch of the Nile. This prevented the Crusader ships from entering the harbor from the sea and launching the attack. The Crusaders decided to blockade
the city from the sea. This is exactly what Salahdin anticipated. He could now send supplies easily to the city through the Nile and reinforcements
could reach the city from the southern side without
confronting the enemy. The Crusaders realized they
could not take the city as easily as they had thought. They began regular siege tactics and started deploying siege weapons to attack the city defense. They built catapults, siege towers, and ballistic. But the defenders of Damietta were able to defend one wave of Crusader attack after another. This was possible as they were getting
regular supplies of food, arms, and men. From time to time the defenders
even went offensive to put pressure on the Crusader front lines. On one occasion they even sent a fireship down the river into the Byzantine fleet. As soon as it reached the fleet, the explosives stored inside
the fireship detonated, causing a huge explosion. Six Byzantine warships were completely
destroyed and several others were damaged beyond repair. On several occasions, the defenders also rallied out of the city walls, attacking the siege lines and destroying
the siege engines that were pounding on the city walls. After several weeks of failed attempts
to capture Damietta, the Crusaders started to run out of food
and other supplies. Their plan to launch a swift and
surprise attack on Egypt had utterly failed. There would be no way now to continue the invasion without suffering huge casualties. The war would drain their treasury dry and the riches that they planned
to plunder from Egypt were now out of reach. So after almost two months of
laying siege on Damietta, the Crusaders decided to withdraw
and leave Egypt. Although the battles at the siege of Damietta were not as intense as the other invasions
by the Crusaders, the failure of combined Byzantine
and Crusader forces to take a single Egyptian port city was actually a heavy blow to the morale
of the Crusaders. This victory proved Salahdin’s
capable leadership. It would be another five years before Egypt faced another external threat. Salahdin now had the resources and support in Egypt to continue on his master plan. Join us next time, as we explore
further consolidation of Salahdin’s power in Egypt and his struggle to unite the Muslim nations under one banner against the Crusaders. Stay tuned. Donation: https://www.patreon.com/DarulArqam
