Dynasty: | Ayyubid |
Ruler: | al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf I (Saladin) |
Reigned: | 1169-1193 AD (564-589 AH) |
Denomination: | AV Dinar |
Mint: | Al-Iskandariya (Alexandria) |
Date of Issue: | 580 AH = 1184 AD |
Obverse: | "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, was struck this dinar in al-Iskandariya in the year 80 and 500" in outer margin; citing the Abbasid caliph "Abu l-Ábbas al-Nasir li-din Allah, commander of the faithful" in inner margin; "al-Imam/Ahmad" in two lines across field |
Reverse: | Kalima and Qur`an 9:33 in outer margin; title "'alin al-Malik ghaya Salah al-Din" in inner margin; "Yusuf/bin Ayyub" in two lines across field. |
Reference: | Album 785.2; Balog 53 |
Weight: | 4.8 gms |
Diameter: | 19.6 mm |
Comment: | NB Saladin and the Caliph are both "al-Nasir" |
Saladin
Saladin was the first ruler of the Ayyubid dynasty. He is best known in the West for his battles with Richard I, the Lionheart. He was born into a prominent Kurdish family, and shortly after he was born, his father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, took his family to Aleppo. There, his father entering the service of 'Imad ad-Din Zangi ibn Aq Sonqur, the powerful Turkish governor in northern Syria. Saladin's career began when he joined the staff of his uncle Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, an important military commander under Nur al-Din. During three military expeditions led by Shirkuh into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin-Christian (Frankish) rulers of the states established by the First Crusade, a three-way struggle developed between Amalric I, the Latin king of Jerusalem, Shawar, the powerful vizier of the Egyptian Fatimid caliph, and Shirkuh. In the last of these military expeditions Saladin, together with his uncle, approached the walls of Cairo on January 2nd, 1169, causing the Franks, who had the city under siege, to retreat. Saladin then lured the untrustworthy Shawar into an ambush on January 18th, killing him. His uncle, Shirkuh then became vizier. However, he also died unexpectedly on the 23rd of March. Subsequently, Saladin became vizier to the last Fatimid caliph (who died in 1171), earning him the title al-Malik al-Nasir ('the prince defender'), and therefore his relations and successors were all given this title. It took Saladin, or more properly, Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (meaning Righteousness of Faith, Joseph, Son of Job), only a few more years to became the sole master of Cairo and the first Ayyubid sultan of Egypt in 1174. Saladin soon moved out of Egypt and occupied Damascus and other Syrian towns, though Egypt continued to be a base of his operations.
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