Salāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī
Description / Bio
Born in Takrīt to a Kurdish family from Dvīn in Armenia in 532/1138. Vizier under the last Fatimid caliph, starting in 565/1169. Under pressure from Nūr al-Dīn Zengī, in 567/1171, abolished the Fatimid caliphate and assumed the title sultan, declaring loyalty to the Abbasid caliphate and founding the Ayyubid dynasty. Ruled as sultan until 589/1193.