'''Saladin''' or '''Salah al-Din''' ([[Arabic]]: صلاح الدين الأيوبي) was a [[Kurdish]] [[Muslim]] Sultan ([[Tikrit]], 1138-1193). He is best known for successful battles against the European Christian Crusaders in the [[Crusades|Third Crusade]], and for recapturing [[Jerusalem]]. About half of his career as a ruler was spent subduing and conquering other Muslim rulers and building [[Egypt]] into a regional power. Rulers in North Africa as well as the Abbasid caliph were more than a little concerned about Saladin's rise. | '''Saladin''' or '''Salah al-Din''' ([[Arabic]]: صلاح الدين الأيوبي) was a [[Kurdish]] [[Muslim]] Sultan ([[Tikrit]], 1138-1193). He is best known for successful battles against the European Christian Crusaders in the [[Crusades|Third Crusade]], and for recapturing [[Jerusalem]]. About half of his career as a ruler was spent subduing and conquering other Muslim rulers and building [[Egypt]] into a regional power. Rulers in North Africa as well as the Abbasid caliph were more than a little concerned about Saladin's rise. |