Saladin Ends the Fatimid Caliphate and Founds the Ayyubids
A Kurdish vizier switches Egypt's allegiance to Baghdad's Sunni caliphs and builds a dynasty from Yemen to Syria
Quick facts
- Became vizier of Egypt
- 1169 CE
- Abolished Fatimid caliphate
- 1171 CE
- Dynasty founded
- Ayyubid
- Territory at height
- Egypt, Syria, Yemen, parts of Iraq
What happened
Saladin rose to prominence in 1169 CE when he was chosen as vizier of Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph al-Adid, serving the Sunni ruler Nur ad-Din of Syria in a country still nominally ruled by a Shia Ismaili dynasty. When al-Adid died in 1171, Saladin abolished the Fatimid caliphate outright and brought Egypt back under the religious authority of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, taking control of the country for himself in the process. He went on to capture Damascus in 1174 and unify the Muslim Near East from Egypt to Arabia through a mix of warfare and diplomacy, founding the Ayyubid dynasty that eventually controlled Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and parts of northern Iraq.
Why it matters
Saladin's move ended two centuries of Shia Ismaili rule in Egypt and realigned the country with the Sunni Islamic mainstream that has defined it ever since. The unified Ayyubid territory he built gave him the resources to retake Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, and Ayyubid Egypt in turn produced the slave-soldier armies that would seize power for themselves within a century of his death.
How we know
Saladin's rise as vizier and his abolition of the Fatimid caliphate in 1171 are documented in the World History Encyclopedia's account of his unification campaign, and the extent of his territory across Egypt, Syria, and Yemen is confirmed in a separate World History Encyclopedia article on Saladin himself.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Saladin · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Saladin & the Unification of the Muslim Front: 1169-1187 CE · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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