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The Fatimid Period (969-1171) :
Salah al-Din Al-Ayyubi (Saladin) assumed control of Egypt upon
the death of the last Fatimid Khalif in 1171. When the Crusaders
attacked Egypt, burning part of Cairo, Salah al-Din fortified
the city and built the Citadel.
His reign was a golden age for Egypt and Salah al-Din is
revered as one of the greatest heroes of Islam, for his humility,
personal courage, brilliant military and administrative mind and for
defeating the Christian armies and treating the vanquished with
dignity.
Salah al-Din spent eight years of his 24-year
reign in Cairo, during which time he established the Seljuk
institution of the madrassa, built hospitals and other infrastructure.
Salah al-Din also introduced Mamlukes (an Arabic word
meaning "owned"), Turkic slaves from the Black Sea region who had been
raised as mercenary soldiers.
Under Salah al-Din and his successors the Mamlukes were
given a measure of freedom to own land and raise families and some
rose to positions of power and influence.
Upon the death of Salah al-Din in 1193,
he was succeeded by his brother, al-Adil, following a protracted
succession dispute. Al-Adil died in Syria, upon hearing the
news of the crusaders' seizure of the chain bridge at Damietta in
1218. He was succeeded by his son and
Salah al-Din's nephew, al-Kamil, who drove back the Fifth
Crusade.
His successor, Sultan Ayyub, increased the size of his Mamluke
army and married a slave girl called Shagarat Ad-Durr (Tree
of Pearls).
When Ayyub died, his wife became the first woman to rule Egypt since
Cleopatra. She was the last ruler of the Ayyubids. Injunctions against
women rulers placed Shagarat Ad-Durr in an untenable position
and the Abbassids forced her to take a husband. When her new husband,
Aybak, planned to take a second wife, Shagarat Ad-Durr had him
murdered. She was assassinated shortly after this and the Mamluke
military commander Baybars assumed control, ushering in the
Mamluke period.
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