Saladin biography for kids

Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that had left the tent. Another version claims that Saladin hastily withdrew his troops from Masyaf because they were urgently needed to fend off a Crusader force in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon. In reality, Saladin sought to form an alliance with Sinan and his Assassins, consequently depriving the Crusaders of a potent ally against him.

Viewing the expulsion of the Crusaders as a mutual benefit and priority, Saladin and Sinan maintained cooperative relations afterwards, the latter dispatching contingents of his forces to bolster Saladin's army in a number of decisive subsequent battlefronts. After leaving the an-Nusayriyah Mountains, Saladin returned to Damascus and had his Syrian soldiers return home.

He left Turan Shah in command of Syria and left for Egypt with only his personal followers, reaching Cairo on 22 September. Having been absent for roughly two years, he had much to organize and supervise in Egypt, namely fortifying and reconstructing Cairo. The city walls were repaired and their extensions laid out, while the construction of the Cairo Citadel was commenced.

The chief public work he commissioned outside of Cairo was the large bridge at Gizawhich was intended to form an outwork of defence against a potential Moorish invasion. Saladin remained in Cairo supervising its improvements, building colleges such as the Madrasa of the Sword Makers and ordering the internal administration of the country. In Novemberhe set out upon a raid into Palestine; the Crusaders had recently forayed into the territory of Damascus, so Saladin saw the truce as no longer worth preserving.

The Christians sent a large portion of their army to besiege the fortress of Harim north of Aleppo, so southern Palestine bore few defenders. Saladin found the situation ripe and marched to Ascalon, which he referred to as the "Bride of Syria". William of Tyre recorded that the Ayyubid army consisted of 26, soldiers, of which 8, were elite forces and 18, were black soldiers from Sudan.

This army proceeded to raid the countryside, sack Ramla and Lod, and disperse themselves as far as the Gates of Jerusalem. Although the Crusader force consisted of only knights, Saladin hesitated to ambush them because of the presence of highly skilled generals. On 25 November, while the greater part of the Ayyubid army was absent, Saladin and his men were surprised near Ramla in the battle of Montgisard possibly at Gezer, also known as Tell Jezar.

Before they could form up, the Templar force hacked the Ayyubid army down. Initially, Saladin attempted to organize his men into battle order, but as his bodyguards were being killed, he saw that defeat was inevitable and so with a small remnant of his troops mounted a swift camel, riding all the way to the territories of Egypt. Not discouraged by his defeat at Montgisard, Saladin was prepared to fight the Crusaders once again.

In the spring ofhe was encamped under the walls of Homs, and a few skirmishes occurred between his generals and the Crusader army. His forces in Hama won a victory over their enemy and brought the spoils, together with many prisoners of war, to Saladin who ordered the captives to be beheaded for "plundering and laying waste the lands of the Faithful".

He spent the rest of the year in Syria without a confrontation with his enemies. Saladin's intelligence services reported to him that the Crusaders were planning a raid into Syria. He ordered one of his generals, Farrukh-Shah, to guard the Damascus frontier with a thousand of his men to watch for an attack, then to retire, avoiding battle, and to light warning beacons on the hills, after which Saladin would march out.

In Aprilthe Crusaders led by King Baldwin expected no resistance and waited to launch a surprise attack on Muslim herders grazing their herds and flocks east of the Golan Heights. Baldwin advanced too rashly in pursuit of Farrukh-Shah's force, which was concentrated southeast of Quneitra and was subsequently defeated by the Ayyubids.

With this saladin biography for kids, Saladin decided to call in more troops from Egypt; he requested al-Adil to dispatch 1, horsemen. In the summer ofKing Baldwin had set up an outpost on the road to Damascus and aimed to fortify a passage over the Jordan Riverknown as Jacob's Ford, that commanded the approach to the Banias plain the plain was divided by the Muslims and the Christians.

Saladin had offeredgold pieces to Baldwin to abandon the project, which was particularly offensive to the Muslims, but to no avail. He then resolved to destroy the fortress, called Chastellet and defended by the Templars, moving his headquarters to Banias. As the Crusaders hurried down to attack the Muslim forces, they fell into disorder, with the infantry falling behind.

Despite early success, they pursued the Muslims far enough to become scattered, and Saladin took advantage by rallying his troops and charging at the Crusaders. The engagement ended in a decisive Ayyubid victory, and many high-ranking knights were captured. Saladin then moved to besiege the fortress, which fell on 30 August In the spring ofwhile Saladin was in the area of Safadanxious to commence a vigorous campaign against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, King Baldwin sent messengers to him with proposals of peace.

Because droughts and bad harvests hampered his commissariatSaladin agreed to a truce. Raymond of Tripoli denounced the truce but was compelled to accept after an Ayyubid raid on his territory in May and upon the appearance of Saladin's naval fleet off the port of Tartus. This was intended to cement an alliance with the Artuqids and to impress other emirs in Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

The latter demanded that Nur al-Din return the lands given to him as a dowry for marrying his daughter when he received reports that she was being abused and used to gain Seljuk territory. Nur al-Din asked Saladin to mediate the issue, but Arslan refused. Saladin was later enraged when he received a message from Arslan accusing Nur al-Din of more abuses against his daughter.

He threatened to attack the city of Malatya, saying, "it is two days march for me and I shall not dismount [my horse] until I am in the city. Saladin felt that Arslan was correct to care for his daughter, but Nur al-Din had taken refuge with him, and therefore he could not betray his trust. It was finally agreed that Arslan's daughter would be sent away for a year and if Nur al-Din failed to comply, Saladin would move to abandon his support for him.

According to Abu Shama, he intended to spend the fast of Ramadan in Egypt and then make the saladin biography for kids pilgrimage to Mecca in the summer. For an unknown reason, he apparently changed his plans regarding the pilgrimage and was seen inspecting the Nile River banks in June. He was again embroiled with the Bedouin; he removed two-thirds of their fiefs to use as compensation for the fief-holders at Fayyum.

The Bedouin were also accused of trading with the Crusaders and, consequently, their grain was confiscated and they were forced to migrate westward. Later, Ayyubid warships were deployed against Bedouin river pirates, who were plundering the shores of Lake Tanis. Saladin's intimates accused Majd al-Din of misappropriating the revenues of Zabid, but Saladin himself believed there was no evidence to back the allegations.

He had Majd al-Din released in return for a payment of 80, dinars. The controversial detainment of Majd al-Din was a part of the larger discontent associated with the aftermath of Turan-Shah's departure from Yemen. Although his deputies continued to send him revenues from the province, centralized authority was lacking and an internal quarrel arose between Izz al-Din Uthman of Aden and Hittan of Zabid.

Saladin wrote in a letter to al-Adil: "this Yemen is a treasure house We conquered it, but up to this day we have had no return and no advantage from it. There have been only innumerable expenses, the sending out of troops On 4 December, the crown prince of the Zengids, as-Salih, died in Aleppo. Prior to his death, he had his chief officers swear an oath of loyalty to Izz al-Din, as he was the only Zengid ruler strong enough to oppose Saladin.

Izz al-Din was welcomed in Aleppo, but possessing it and Mosul put too great of a strain on his abilities. Saladin offered no opposition to these transactions in order to respect the treaty he previously made with the Zengids. On 11 MaySaladin, along with half of the Egyptian Ayyubid army and numerous non-combatants, left Cairo for Syria.

On the evening before he departed, he sat with his companions and the tutor of one of his sons quoted a line of poetry: "enjoy the scent of the ox-eye plant of Najdfor after this evening it will come no more". Saladin took this as an evil omen and he never saw Egypt again. Knowing that Crusader forces were massed upon the frontier to intercept him, he took the desert route across the Sinai Peninsula to Ailah at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Meeting no opposition, Saladin ravaged the countryside of Montreal, whilst Baldwin's forces watched on, refusing to intervene. He arrived in Damascus in June to learn that Farrukh-Shah had attacked the Galileesacking Daburiyya and capturing Habis Jaldek, a fortress of great importance to the Crusaders. In July, Saladin led his army across the Jordan and into Galileewhere he marched south to sack Bethsan.

He was met by a substantial Crusader force in an inconclusive battle near Belvoir Castle, but he was unable to destroy the Christian army and could not logistically sustain his own army any longer, so he withdrew across the river.

Saladin biography for kids

In August, he passed through the Beqaa Valley to Beirutwhere he rendezvoused with the Egyptian fleet and laid siege to the city. Failing to make any headway, he withdrew after a few days to deal with matters in Mesopotamia. He complied and the truce between him and the Zengids officially ended in September Prior to his march to Jazira, tensions had grown between the Zengid rulers of the region, primarily concerning their unwillingness to pay deference to Mosul.

Before he crossed the EuphratesSaladin besieged Aleppo for three days, signaling that the truce was over. Once he reached Bira, near the river, he was joined by Kukbary and Nur al-Din of Hisn Kayfa and the combined forces captured the cities of Jazira, one after the other. Raqqa was an important crossing point and held by Qutb al-Din Inal, who had lost Manbij to Saladin in Upon seeing the large size of Saladin's army, he made little effort to resist and surrendered on the condition that he would retain his property.

Saladin promptly impressed the inhabitants of the town by publishing a decree that ordered a number of taxes to be canceled and erased all mention of them from treasury records, stating "the most miserable rulers are those whose purses are fat and their people thin". Saladin proceeded to take Nusaybin which offered no resistance. A medium-sized town, Nusaybin was not of great importance, but it was located in a strategic position between Mardin and Mosul and within easy reach of Diyarbakir.

In the midst of these victories, Saladin received word that the Crusaders were raiding the villages of Damascus. He replied, "Let them He also destroyed his own citadel at A'zaz to prevent it from being used by the Ayyubids if they were to conquer it. As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced the issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action.

An-Nasir sent Badr al-Badr a high-ranking religious figure to mediate between the two sides. Saladin arrived at the city on 10 November Izz al-Din would not accept his terms because he considered them disingenuous and extensive, and Saladin immediately laid saladin biography for kids to the heavily fortified city. After several minor skirmishes and a stalemate in the siege that was initiated by the caliph, Saladin intended to find a way to withdraw without damage to his reputation while still keeping up some military pressure.

It fell after a day siege on 30 December. Saladin's soldiers broke their discipline, plundering the city; Saladin managed to protect the governor and his officers only by sending them to Mosul. After establishing a garrison at Sinjar, he awaited a coalition assembled by Izz al-Din consisting of his forces, those from Aleppo, Mardin, and Armenia. Saladin and his army met the coalition at Harran in Februarybut on hearing of his approach, the latter sent messengers to Saladin asking for peace.

Each force returned to their cities and al-Fadil wrote: "They [Izz al-Din's coalition] advanced like men, like women they vanished. It was not an attempt to extend the Crusader influence into that sea or to capture its trade routes, but merely a piratical move. Nonetheless, Imad al-Din writes the raid was alarming to the Muslims because they were not accustomed to attacks on that sea, and Ibn al-Athir adds that the inhabitants had no experience with the Crusaders either as fighters or traders.

Ibn Jubair was told that sixteen Muslim ships were burnt by the Crusaders, who then captured a pilgrim ship and caravan at Aidab. He also reported that they intended to attack Medina and remove Muhammad 's body. Al-Maqrizi added to the rumor by claiming Muhammad's tomb was going to be relocated to Crusader territory so Muslims would make pilgrimages there.

They broke the Crusader blockade, destroyed most of their ships, and pursued and captured those who anchored and fled into the desert. As a result, Saladin held on to Jerusalem but granted Christian pilgrims safe right of passage so they could visit sites that they considered holy. A few months after signing the treaty, on March 4,Saladin died of a fever.

His successors continued the Ayyubid dynasty until Saladin has become known as an saladin biography for kids commander and a successful military strategist. He was also known for his love of poetry and gardens. He was generous with his wealth, sharing it with his friends and family. Like others of his generation, he could also be cruel, and he coveted being a warlord in charge of an empire.

He considered himself the leader of a holy war, and he personally killed several of his mortal enemies and ordered many more to be killed out of spite, selling still others into slavery. At the same time, he knew the value of a negotiated peace, as he demonstrated on more than one occasion. He is remembered a great warrior and a great uniter.

Social Studies for Kids copyright — David White. Follow This Site. While besieging Aleppo on May 22the " Assassins " attempted to murder him. While Saladin consolidated his power in Syria, he generally left the Crusader kingdom alone, although he was usually victorious when he met the Crusaders in battle. One such victory came at the Ford of Jacob's Daughters in However, the Crusaders repeatedly provoked him.

Raynald of Chatillonin particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes, and threatened to attack Mecca with a fleet on the Red Sea. Saladin captured and executed Raynald; he also captured King Guy. He then recaptured Jerusalem on October 2, after 88 years of Crusader rule. Soon he had taken back every Crusader city except Tyre. Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem prompted the Third Crusadeand successfully defended the city against the Third Crusade.

Download free samples. Resource Examples. Click any of the example images below to view a larger version. Fact File. Student Activities. Table of Contents. Add a header to begin generating the table of contents. Key Facts And Information. Illustration of Saladin Saladin was the Muslim Sultan of Egypt and Syria who stunned the western world by defeating a Christian Crusader army in the Battle of Hattin and then capturing Jerusalem in Saladin would advance in the military, where he had a reputation for being a talented polo player and a competent rider.

He went on the same war as his uncle Shirkuh, who in conquered Egypt. When Nur ad-Din passed away in Mayhis alliance of Muslim kingdoms disintegrated as his heirs fought for dominance. Saladin claimed to be the rightful heir and seized control of Egypt. Saladin then set out to unite the Muslim world or at least create some sort of beneficial alliance, which was no simple task given the numerous nations, independent city governors, and disparities in Sunni and Shiite religious views.

But first, the military chief had no qualms about declaring war on his Muslim opponents.