Al-Adil I (Arabic: العادل, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Abu-Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad-Din Ayyub, Arabic: الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب, "Ahmed, son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Bakr, the Just King, Sword of the Faith"; 1145 – 31 August 1218) was the fourth Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and brother of Saladin, who founded both the Sultanate of Egypt, and the Ayyubid dynasty. He was known to the Crusaders as Saphadin (derived from his laqab or honorific title Sayf ad-Din, meaning "Sword of Faith"), a name by which he is still known in the Western world. A gifted and effective administrator and organizer,[1] Al-Adil provided crucial military and civilian support for the great campaigns of Saladin (an early example of a great minister of war). He was also a capable general and strategist in his own right, and was instrumental in the transformation of the decayed Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo into the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt.
Al-Adil had 16 sons and several daughters. The names of the surviving children, given in the work of the Kurdish historian Abu'l Fida (who was the Ayyubid Emir of Hama), are as follows;
Coinage of Al Adil Sayf al Din Abu Bakr Muhammad I. As Governor in Mesopotamia (1194-1199). Mayafariqin mint. Dated AH 591 (1194-1195 AD).
Al-Adil was a son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, he was member of Kurdish[2][3]Ayyubid family and a younger brother of Saladin. He was born in June 1145, possibly in Damascus. He first achieved distinction as an officer in Nur ad-Din Zengi's army during his uncle Shirkuh's third and final campaign in Egypt (1168–1169); following Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Al-Adil governed Egypt on behalf of his brother Saladin and mobilized that country's vast resources in support of his brother's campaigns in Syria and his war against the Crusaders (1175–1183). He was governor of Aleppo (1183–1186) but returned to administer Egypt during the Third Crusade (1186–1192); as governor of Saladin's northern provinces (1192–1193), he suppressed the revolt of 'Izz Al-Din of Mosul following Saladin's death (March 1193). On Saladin's death he was governor of Damascus.
The key question in the ruling Ayyubid family following the death of Saladin was whether power would remain with Saladin's own sons, or be distributed more widely among its various branches, or, indeed, be concentrated in the hands of al-Adil himself. Saladin had required all the Amirs to swear loyalty to his son al-Afdal Ali, but after his death some of his other sons would not accept al-Afdal's overlordship.[6] In the disputes which followed al-Adil often found himself in the position of honest broker between al-Afdal Ali and his brother al-Aziz Uthman, trying to keep the peace.[6] Eventually however al-Adil concluded that al-Afdal Ali was simply unfit to rule, and he supported al-Aziz Uthman to become Sultan in his place, forcing his brother into exile.[7] Al-Aziz Uthman's death in 1198 following a riding accident reopened the dynastic struggles once again. Al-Afdal Ali was invited back to Egypt to act as regent to al-Aziz Uthman's twelve-year-old successor, al-Mansur Mohammed. From this power base he joined forces with his brother az-Zahir Ghazi to try and drive al-Adil out of Damascus, which they besieged.[7] Al-Adil, skilfully played his nephews off against each other, and suborned the vassals of both from their allegiance. The arrival of al-Khamil, al-Adil's son, at Damascus with reinforcements and continuing quarrels led to the ending of the siege in December 1199. Al-Afdal retreated to Egypt, but his uncle pursued him and defeated his army at Bilbeis. Fleeing to Cairo, al-Afdal sued for peace on any terms he could get from al-Adil; stripped of Egypt he was promised the cities of Samosata and Mayyafaraqin. On 17 February 1200 al-Adil proclaimed himself 'sultan'. Al-Afdal was refused control of Mayyafaraqin by another of al-Adil's sons, al-Auhad. Al-Afdal once again allied with az-Zahir and the two brothers once more besieged Damascus. However, dissension again broke out between them, with al-Afdal eventually losing the will to continue fighting. Al-Adil confirmed al-Afdal's rule over Samosata, Saruj and a number of other towns. Az-Zahir admitted his uncle's suzerainty in the Spring of 1202, and al-Adil had succeeded in exerting his authority over all the Ayyubid dominions.[8]
Rule
After his victory, he was proclaimed Sultan and ruled wisely and well over both Egypt and Syria for nearly two decades, promoting trade and good relations with the Crusader states (1200–1217). For much of his reign however the effective ruler of Egypt was his son Al-Kamil.[9]
The reign of al Adil was generally more one of consolidation than of expansion. He was in his late fifties by the time he consolidated his power, and by that time had been almost constantly at war for two decades. His first concern was to rebuild his treasury, which had been left almost empty by his brother's empire-building, the wars with the Crusaders and the struggles within the Ayyubid dynasty itself. Al-Adil introduced reforms both to the currency and to the taxation system.[9] The effectiveness of his measures can be judged from the relatively rapid recovery Egypt made from an earthquake in 1200 (597) and the low flooding of the Nile between 1199 and 1202 (595–98). The resulting drought and famine were serious threats, but by a range of measures including sending his soldiers out to work the land, al-Adil ensured continued social and political stability as well as economic recovery.[9]
Avoiding a new crusade was the second main concern of al-Adil's reign, and to this end he encouraged trade with European merchants, calculating that if the trading cities of the Mediterranean had a stake in peaceful trade they would be less inclined to support a new Crusade. He was not entirely successful in this, and there were Frankish naval raids on Rosetta in 1204 (600) and Damietta in 1211 (607).[9]
His third concern was to maintain hegemony within the Ayyubid domains without resort to force. He proved to be a skilled diplomat in this respect and managed to avoid any confrontations after 1201. Of particular importance was the marriage of his daughter Dayfa Khatun to Saladin's son Az-Zahir Ghazi of Aleppo in 1212, which marked the end of the rivalry between the two branches of the family.[10] Al-Adil also undertook a major programme of refortification throughout his domains, and the massive citadel of Damascus was one of his most notable achievements in this respect.[11]
Al-Adil's territorial ambitions were focused far away from the main centres of Ayyubid rule, in southern Anatolia and northern Iraq. He succeeded over time in bringing much of the old Zengid dominions, apart from Mosul and Sinjar, under his control, as well as the region around Lake Van.[11] He took Ahlat in 1207 and brought to an end the rule of the Ahlatshahs.
Death and legacy
One of the main objects of al-Adil's foreign policy was to avoid provoking the launching of a new Crusade. However, in September 1217 (Jumada II 612) a new crusader army disembarked at Acre. Al-Adil was totally unprepared for this assault and despite being seventy-two years of age he hurriedly took his forces into Palestine to engage with them. The campaigns in Palestine did not bring him any notable success however, and in August 1218 (Jumada 1 615) he received the shocking news that a second Crusader force had landed in Egypt and were attacking Damietta.[12] He fell ill and died while on campaign (August 1218) and was succeeded by his son Malik Al-Kamil.
Al Adil's rule was decisive in determining the shape of the Ayyubid realm for many years to come. After him, the succession in Egypt and to the coveted title of Sultan remained in the eldest male line of his successors. His descendants also controlled the critical border fortress of Mayyafariqin in the far northeast of the Ayyubid realm. Elsewhere, Saladin's descendants retained Aleppo, and the family of Al-Adil's other brother Nur ad-Din Shahanshah held Baalbek and Hama. Homs was held by the descendants of Al-Adil's uncle Shirkuh. Damascus became the main focus of rivalry between different branches of the family, changing hands a number of times before Ayyubid rule came to an end.[13]
^From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260 by R. Stephen Humphreys, SUNY Press 1977, p. 155
^Humphreys, R. S. "AYYUBIDS", Encyclopædia Iranica; "AYYUBIDS (Ar. Banū Ayyūb), a Kurdish family who first became prominent as members of the Zangid military establishment in Syria in the mid-sixth/twelfth century."
^Mazaheri, Mas‘ud Habibi; Gholami, Rahim. "Ayyūbids", Encyclopaedia Islamica; "Ayyūbids, a dynasty of Kurdish origin that ruled Egypt, Syria, the Jazīra and the Yemen in the 6th/12th and 7th/13th centuries."
^ abRunciman, Steven (1954). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 79.
^ abRunciman, Steven (1954). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 81.
^Humphreys, R. S. (1997) From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260, SUNY Press, pp. 111–122
^ abcdPetry, Carl F., ed. (1998). The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN0-521-47137-0.
^From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260 by R. Stephen Humphreys p.155
adil, adil, redirects, here, other, uses, adil, disambiguation, arabic, العادل, full, malik, adil, sayf, bakr, ahmed, najm, ayyub, arabic, الملك, العادل, سيف, الدين, أبو, بكر, بن, أيوب, ahmed, najm, ayyub, father, bakr, just, king, sword, faith, 1145, august, . Al Adil redirects here For other uses see Al Adil disambiguation Al Adil I Arabic العادل in full al Malik al Adil Sayf ad Din Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad Din Ayyub Arabic الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب Ahmed son of Najm ad Din Ayyub father of Bakr the Just King Sword of the Faith 1145 31 August 1218 was the fourth Sultan of Egypt and Syria and brother of Saladin who founded both the Sultanate of Egypt and the Ayyubid dynasty He was known to the Crusaders as Saphadin derived from his laqab or honorific title Sayf ad Din meaning Sword of Faith a name by which he is still known in the Western world A gifted and effective administrator and organizer 1 Al Adil provided crucial military and civilian support for the great campaigns of Saladin an early example of a great minister of war He was also a capable general and strategist in his own right and was instrumental in the transformation of the decayed Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo into the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt Sayf ad Din Abu BakrAl Malik al AdilSultan of EgyptReign1200 August 1218PredecessorAl Mansur Nasir al Din MuhammadSuccessorAl KamilEmir of DamascusReign1196 August 1218PredecessorAl Afdal ibn Salah ad DinSuccessoral Mu azzamBornJune 1145Died31 August 1218 1218 08 31 aged 73 IssueMalik Al KamilDayfa KhatunAl Mu azzam IsaAl Awhad AyyubAl Muzaffar GhaziAl Ashraf MusaAs Salih IsmailNamesAl Malik al Adil Sayf ad Din Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad Din AyyubDynastyAyyubidFatherNajm ad Din AyyubReligionIslam Contents 1 Family 2 Early life 3 Struggle for succession of Saladin 4 Rule 5 Death and legacy 6 See also 7 ReferencesFamily EditAl Adil had 16 sons and several daughters The names of the surviving children given in the work of the Kurdish historian Abu l Fida who was the Ayyubid Emir of Hama are as follows Malik Al Kamil Malik Al Ashraf Musa Dayfa Khatun Al Awhad Ayyub Al Mu azzam Isa Al Muzaffar Ghazi Safiya Sitt Khatun Mufaddal Kutb ad din Ahmad Hafiz Nur ad din Arslanshah Aziz Imad ad din Uthman Salih Imad ad din Ismael Malika Adliya Khatun Amjad Hassan Al Mughith Mahmud Faqiz Ibrahim Qahir Ishak Mavdud Khalil Takiyaddin Abbas Muzaffar Shab ad din Ghazi Avhad Najm ad Din Ayyub Zahra Gaziya MalekEarly life Edit Coinage of Al Adil Sayf al Din Abu Bakr Muhammad I As Governor in Mesopotamia 1194 1199 Mayafariqin mint Dated AH 591 1194 1195 AD Al Adil was a son of Najm ad Din Ayyub he was member of Kurdish 2 3 Ayyubid family and a younger brother of Saladin He was born in June 1145 possibly in Damascus He first achieved distinction as an officer in Nur ad Din Zengi s army during his uncle Shirkuh s third and final campaign in Egypt 1168 1169 following Nur ad Din s death in 1174 Al Adil governed Egypt on behalf of his brother Saladin and mobilized that country s vast resources in support of his brother s campaigns in Syria and his war against the Crusaders 1175 1183 He was governor of Aleppo 1183 1186 but returned to administer Egypt during the Third Crusade 1186 1192 as governor of Saladin s northern provinces 1192 1193 he suppressed the revolt of Izz Al Din of Mosul following Saladin s death March 1193 On Saladin s death he was governor of Damascus In 1190 King Richard I of England successively proposed to marry his younger sister Joan and his niece Eleanor Fair Maid of Brittany to Al Adil but both were in vain as Al Adil showed no interest in Christianity 4 5 Struggle for succession of Saladin EditThe key question in the ruling Ayyubid family following the death of Saladin was whether power would remain with Saladin s own sons or be distributed more widely among its various branches or indeed be concentrated in the hands of al Adil himself Saladin had required all the Amirs to swear loyalty to his son al Afdal Ali but after his death some of his other sons would not accept al Afdal s overlordship 6 In the disputes which followed al Adil often found himself in the position of honest broker between al Afdal Ali and his brother al Aziz Uthman trying to keep the peace 6 Eventually however al Adil concluded that al Afdal Ali was simply unfit to rule and he supported al Aziz Uthman to become Sultan in his place forcing his brother into exile 7 Al Aziz Uthman s death in 1198 following a riding accident reopened the dynastic struggles once again Al Afdal Ali was invited back to Egypt to act as regent to al Aziz Uthman s twelve year old successor al Mansur Mohammed From this power base he joined forces with his brother az Zahir Ghazi to try and drive al Adil out of Damascus which they besieged 7 Al Adil skilfully played his nephews off against each other and suborned the vassals of both from their allegiance The arrival of al Khamil al Adil s son at Damascus with reinforcements and continuing quarrels led to the ending of the siege in December 1199 Al Afdal retreated to Egypt but his uncle pursued him and defeated his army at Bilbeis Fleeing to Cairo al Afdal sued for peace on any terms he could get from al Adil stripped of Egypt he was promised the cities of Samosata and Mayyafaraqin On 17 February 1200 al Adil proclaimed himself sultan Al Afdal was refused control of Mayyafaraqin by another of al Adil s sons al Auhad Al Afdal once again allied with az Zahir and the two brothers once more besieged Damascus However dissension again broke out between them with al Afdal eventually losing the will to continue fighting Al Adil confirmed al Afdal s rule over Samosata Saruj and a number of other towns Az Zahir admitted his uncle s suzerainty in the Spring of 1202 and al Adil had succeeded in exerting his authority over all the Ayyubid dominions 8 Rule EditAfter his victory he was proclaimed Sultan and ruled wisely and well over both Egypt and Syria for nearly two decades promoting trade and good relations with the Crusader states 1200 1217 For much of his reign however the effective ruler of Egypt was his son Al Kamil 9 The reign of al Adil was generally more one of consolidation than of expansion He was in his late fifties by the time he consolidated his power and by that time had been almost constantly at war for two decades His first concern was to rebuild his treasury which had been left almost empty by his brother s empire building the wars with the Crusaders and the struggles within the Ayyubid dynasty itself Al Adil introduced reforms both to the currency and to the taxation system 9 The effectiveness of his measures can be judged from the relatively rapid recovery Egypt made from an earthquake in 1200 597 and the low flooding of the Nile between 1199 and 1202 595 98 The resulting drought and famine were serious threats but by a range of measures including sending his soldiers out to work the land al Adil ensured continued social and political stability as well as economic recovery 9 Avoiding a new crusade was the second main concern of al Adil s reign and to this end he encouraged trade with European merchants calculating that if the trading cities of the Mediterranean had a stake in peaceful trade they would be less inclined to support a new Crusade He was not entirely successful in this and there were Frankish naval raids on Rosetta in 1204 600 and Damietta in 1211 607 9 His third concern was to maintain hegemony within the Ayyubid domains without resort to force He proved to be a skilled diplomat in this respect and managed to avoid any confrontations after 1201 Of particular importance was the marriage of his daughter Dayfa Khatun to Saladin s son Az Zahir Ghazi of Aleppo in 1212 which marked the end of the rivalry between the two branches of the family 10 Al Adil also undertook a major programme of refortification throughout his domains and the massive citadel of Damascus was one of his most notable achievements in this respect 11 Al Adil s territorial ambitions were focused far away from the main centres of Ayyubid rule in southern Anatolia and northern Iraq He succeeded over time in bringing much of the old Zengid dominions apart from Mosul and Sinjar under his control as well as the region around Lake Van 11 He took Ahlat in 1207 and brought to an end the rule of the Ahlatshahs Death and legacy EditOne of the main objects of al Adil s foreign policy was to avoid provoking the launching of a new Crusade However in September 1217 Jumada II 612 a new crusader army disembarked at Acre Al Adil was totally unprepared for this assault and despite being seventy two years of age he hurriedly took his forces into Palestine to engage with them The campaigns in Palestine did not bring him any notable success however and in August 1218 Jumada 1 615 he received the shocking news that a second Crusader force had landed in Egypt and were attacking Damietta 12 He fell ill and died while on campaign August 1218 and was succeeded by his son Malik Al Kamil Al Adil s rule was decisive in determining the shape of the Ayyubid realm for many years to come After him the succession in Egypt and to the coveted title of Sultan remained in the eldest male line of his successors His descendants also controlled the critical border fortress of Mayyafariqin in the far northeast of the Ayyubid realm Elsewhere Saladin s descendants retained Aleppo and the family of Al Adil s other brother Nur ad Din Shahanshah held Baalbek and Hama Homs was held by the descendants of Al Adil s uncle Shirkuh Damascus became the main focus of rivalry between different branches of the family changing hands a number of times before Ayyubid rule came to an end 13 See also EditList of rulers of Egypt Thirty Years TruceReferences Edit From Saladin to the Mongols The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193 1260 by R Stephen Humphreys SUNY Press 1977 p 155 Humphreys R S AYYUBIDS Encyclopaedia Iranica AYYUBIDS Ar Banu Ayyub a Kurdish family who first became prominent as members of the Zangid military establishment in Syria in the mid sixth twelfth century Mazaheri Mas ud Habibi Gholami Rahim Ayyubids Encyclopaedia Islamica Ayyubids a dynasty of Kurdish origin that ruled Egypt Syria the Jazira and the Yemen in the 6th 12th and 7th 13th centuries A Bit of History WebSite The Angevin Empire a b Runciman Steven 1954 A History of the Crusades Volume III The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 79 a b Runciman Steven 1954 A History of the Crusades Volume III The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 81 Humphreys R S 1997 From Saladin to the Mongols The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193 1260 SUNY Press pp 111 122 a b c d Petry Carl F ed 1998 The Cambridge History of Egypt Volume 1 Islamic Egypt 640 1517 Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 221 ISBN 0 521 47137 0 From Saladin to the Mongols The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193 1260 by R Stephen Humphreys p 155 a b Luscombe David Riley Smith Jonathan eds 2004 The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume 4 c 1024 c 1198 Part 2 Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 748 ISBN 9781139054034 From Saladin to the Mongols The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193 1260 by R Stephen Humphreys p 160 Lane Poole Stanley The Mohammedan Dynasties Constable London 1894 p 77 Nicolle David 2008 The Second Crusade Osprey Publishing Al Adil IAyyubid dynastyBorn June 1145 Died August 1218Regnal titlesPreceded byAl Afdal ibn Salah ad Din Emir of Damascus1196 August 1218 Succeeded byal Mu azzamPreceded byal Mansur Nasir al Din Muhammad Sultan of Egypt1200 August 1218 Succeeded byal Kamil Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Al Adil I amp oldid 1127621960, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
