ARABS AND TURKS UNITE AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS
While the power of the Seljuks was gradually declining in the eastern provinces, what was taking place in the western provinces of the Arabian empire? At the death of Malik Shah (1092) three sultanates were formed, those respectively of Aleppo, Iconium, and Damascus, having no connection with each other, nor with the sultanates of Persia or of Kerman. The first of these distinct realms extended over Asia Minor, the other two included the large cities of Jezireh and Syria. A favourable opportunity now presented itself to the Fatimite caliphs to reconquer some of their former possessions in those countries; but so fallen were they from their early greatness that they permitted the names of the Seljuk sultans to be mentioned in the public prayers at Hedjaz. Far from seeking to arm the Arabs against the Turks, Mustali, successor to Mustansir, had had but one aim, that of obtaining certain barren concessions from the Seljuk princes by intervening in their private quarrels; and moreover an unforeseen incident had arisen which diverted all minds from internecine troubles.
[1097-1171 A.D.]
The arrival of several armies of Christians, sent to Palestine with the mission of delivering the Holy City, aroused in the Moslems all their religious fanaticism. Arabs and Turks suspended their mutual animosity to make one cause against the common enemy; the danger once past, however, divisions again broke forth that greatly facilitated the progress of the Christians. Before the arrival of Godfrey de Bouillon (1097) the army of Peter the Hermit had perished in the domains of the sultan of Iconium, and the Moslems, thinking they had nothing more to fear from without, recommenced their civil wars; thus the disciplined troops of the first true crusaders found no power to combat stronger than that of the Seljuks divided among themselves, and after having crossed the mountains of Cilicia they took the city of Antioch and made an easy entrance into Palestine.
The Moslems everywhere remained divided and without a common head. To the Fatimite caliphs, Mustali, Emir, Hafidh, Dhafir, Faïz, and Adid, or rather to their grand viziers, it never occurred to unite with the independent princes of Syria for the purpose of repulsing the enemy of their common faith; the main objects of their policy seemed to be to carry on negotiations with the Turkish emirs, the war against the Franks occupying a subordinate place in their concern. At the death of Barkiyarok, however, there suddenly arose a new and powerful defender of Islam.
Imad ad-Din (called “the bloody” by our chroniclers) had distinguished himself at the court of the Seljuks in Aleppo and Mosul. Organising for himself under the name of Atabekm a small independent state, he spread terror among the emirs all about him, and finally attacked the Seljuk sultan at Aleppo and became master of that town (1127). He next proceeded to awake in the Moslems their ancient hatred for the name of “Christian” and commenced against the Franks a sort of guerilla warfare which terminated in the taking of Edessa, after which he forced the kings of Jerusalem to make appeal to Europe.
Zenki was succeeded by his sons Saif ad-Din and Nur ad-Din, the latter of whom proved himself a worthy successor of his father. He harassed the Franks by repeated attacks, and allowed the two monarchs to exhaust their forces by vain efforts to take Damascus, which was still under the power of the Seljuks. When they finally retired, defeated, Nur ad-Din himself assailed the sultan, who was enfeebled by this long, heroic resistance, took from him Damascus, and entered Palestine, which he ravaged in every direction. By a fortunate circumstance he was soon permitted to mingle in the affairs of Egypt, by offering troops to a vizier for the purpose of suppressing the caliph Adid. Not receiving the reward promised for this service, he opened hostilities at once, and several times defeated the kings of Jerusalem, while his lieutenant, Shirkuh, became master of Egypt and forced the caliph to bestow upon him the charge of grand vizier. This was the sentence of death for the Fatimites. Shirkuh’s nephew, Saladin, sharer in his uncle’s secret designs, carried the revolution to a head, and in less than a month prayers were said in the mosque in the name of the Baghdad caliph, Nostadi, and Adid was deposed without a voice being raised in his favour (1171).
SALADIN AND HIS SUCCESSORS AGAINST THE CRUSADERS
[1171-1229 A.D.]
Scarcely did Saladin get into his hands the resources of the wealthy land of Egypt than he commenced against the Franks that series of assaults which has made his name famous. He was later elevated to the supreme rank by the universal choice of the Moslems at the death of Nur ad-Din, the latter’s son having been put aside.
The reign of Saladin, who was the most interesting figure in the history of the Crusades, represents for us the highest point of Arab civilisation. Being by birth a Kurd, he cannot be said to belong to the Turkish race, though he possessed the warlike instincts of a Turk, joined to a superior intelligence. In Godfrey de Bouillon and Richard the Lion-hearted are personified the piety, generosity, and valour of Christian chivalry; Saladin is no less the hero of the Moslem world. Unfaltering courage, magnanimity, a spirit of strict justice, and unshakable fidelity to his plighted word were among his principal virtues. Passing his life as he did in the midst of wars, he had little opportunity to foster the arts of peace; yet he was no stranger to letters and the sciences, and he neglected no opportunity to elevate himself in the esteem of his people. Saladin was the first to unite under one control the forces of Syria and Egypt, and therein lies the secret of his success against the crusaders.
A Crusader of the Third Crusade
At his entrance into Palestine, Jerusalem was a prey to the worst disorders, owing to the chiefs of the Crusade not being content to guard the sacred places that had been entrusted to them, but aspiring to govern all the cities and strongholds. The Holy City fell immediately into his power. The Moslems took possession of the temples as mosques, and besieged all the maritime towns; but a check inflicted upon them at Tyre revived the courage of the Franks and enabled them to await the arrival of Richard and Philip Augustus. The Third Crusade followed in 1187-1192, but Jerusalem could not be conquered by the Christians in spite of the bravery of the English king. The magnanimity shown by the sultan of Egypt in the treatment of his prisoners is well known; he set all the foreign knights at liberty, merely stipulating that each should bestow his name upon some newborn child.
Several months after the departure of Richard, Saladin died at Damascus, admired by his enemies and regretted by Moslems, who foresaw that new divisions would arise. Indeed three Eyyubid states at once came into being; one in Egypt, another in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Lower Syria, and the third in Aleppo and Upper Syria. Three sons of Saladin had divided the states left by their father, two of them being despoiled by their uncle Adil Saif ad-Din, who remained master of Egypt and Damascus. Malik Adil, called Saphedin in our chronicles, was the sworn enemy of the Franks; he took from them the city of Tripolis, and was the determining cause of the Fifth Crusade.
Malik al-Kamil, his son, became sultan of Egypt in 1218, and graciously received presents from Frederick II, when that prince entered Palestine at the head of the Sixth Crusade, and received from him the city of Jerusalem that had cost the Moslems so many lives. The Eyyubid sultans that succeeded Malik looked upon the Franks as enemies who must be driven from Asia at any cost; and so Jerusalem fell again into infidel hands and became in turn the possession of the sultans of Egypt and of Damascus.