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THE CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM IN SALADIN'S DIPLOMACY
Scientific advisor:
S.Sh.Pirimkulova,
teacher of the Department of World History, Faculty of History,
Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov
.
Student:
B.Bobokulov,
student of the Faculty of History,
Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov,
Student of the IV stage.
Abstract:
This article highlights the most important and central part of Salah ad-Din Ayyubi's
career — the conquest of the city of Jerusalem. It covers his efforts and battles to capture the
city. It also describes the assistance he provided to the Crusaders after the conquest of
Jerusalem.
Keywords:
Battle of Hattin, Balian de Ibelin, Jamal ad-Din Sharwin ibn Hasan ar-Razi, Izz ad-
Din Isa ibn Malik, Patriarch Heraclius.
Hattin is regarded as a decisive battle in the history of the Muslim-Crusader wars, as the
kingdom of Jerusalem lost its main military forces in this battle, and the greatest Crusader army
ever put together since the establishment of that Crusader entity was destroyed. The victorious
commander in this battle, who prevailed over the Crusaders, became the leader of the whole
Muslim world. After Hattin, the Crusaders, especially in the holy kingdom, no longer had any
strength to boast about. Hence as soon as Ascalon and Gaza surrendered to Salah ad-Deen in
September of the same year, Salah ad-Deen decided to set out with his army that had regrouped
in southern Palestine, after having been spread out for several years to complete the unification
of Greater Syria. As soon as this army began to head north towards Jerusalem to take it by the
sword, the city of Jerusalem began to prepare to resist the Muslim commander who had come to
challenge its strength and might after eighty-eight years of Crusader occupation.
The number of Crusader fighters inside Jerusalem was more than sixty thousand horsemen,
apart from the women and children, according to Abu Shamah in Kitab ar-Rawdatayn. It seems
that the number of inhabitants, and hence the number of fighters, had increased due to the
arrival of refuges from neighboring cities and villages of Palestine which had been exposed to
danger during the Muslim-Crusader fighting. Runciman states that most of these refugees did
not know how to fight and there were very few men among them; for every man there were
fifty women and children. There were no more than two knights in the city, which prompted
Balian to appoint as a knight every boy over the age of sixteen who was descended from a
noble family. He recruited all the males who had reached this age and distributed weapons to
everyone who was able to bear arms. The fighters spread out along the walls and fortifications,
set out the mangonels and dug ditches. Abu Shamah remarked, “They (the Crusaders) set up a
mangonel on every hill, dug deep ditches and fortified every part of the wall, and they put a
group of fighters in every tower. Ibn al-Atheer differed with Runciman concerning the number
of knights in Jerusalem before the recruitment of boys from noble families and their
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 06,2025
Journal:
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page 69
appointment as knights. He says that there were the Crusader knights who had survived the
battle of Hattin, and that a lot of people had gathered in the city from surrounding areas, such as
Ascalon and elsewhere. They all climbed onto the walls with their armour and weapons, set up
the mangonels and fortified the walls as much as they could.[1. P-153.]
Salah ad-Deen's military ability was manifested in the military plan that he followed in his jihad
against the Crusaders to regain Jerusalem. This plan was based on forming a united Islamic
front that included Egypt, Greater Syria and parts of Iraq, then confronting the Crusaders on
their own territory and dealing a heavy blow to them, as happened at the Battle of Hattin. That
was followed by his march to the cities of the Syrian coast in order to weaken the Crusaders
physically and morally. If Salah ad-Deen had headed towards Jerusalem straight after his
victory at Hattin, he would have been able to enter it without any difficulty. However, capturing
Jerusalem before gaining control of the coastal cities would not have guaranteed him full
stability in Jerusalem. It was to be expected that Western Europe would send Crusader armies
to the ports of Syria and their knights would come, in groups and individually, and enter into a
heated conflict with Salah ad-Deen to take back Jerusalem. Jerusalem was dear to them because
it contained the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which according to their false belief, as Imad ad-
Deen al-Isfahani says, was where the Messiah was crucified, and offered as a sacrifice, the
divine was incarnated and the human became divine, and the cross was raised.
By the grace of Allah and this military plan that was implemented by Salah ad-Deen to gain
control of the coastal strip, he isolated Jerusalem and prevented the arrival of reinforcements,
thus dashing the hopes of all the Crusaders, whether in Western Europe or in Greater Syria, of
reaching Jerusalem and saving it from theMuslim armies. When Salah ad-Deen took Ascalon
and other cities that surrounded Jerusalem back from the Crusaders, and thus ensured that the
Kingdom of Jerusalem was thoroughly isolated, he then resolved to take action and decided to
head for Jerusalem. They issued commands and all the Muslim troops that were spread out
along the coast rallied behind him.[2. P-67.]
The Crusaders began to fight before the Muslim army took up positions around the walls of the
city, before 20th September, when a detachment of scouts from the Muslim army approached
the walls, led by the emir Jamal ad-Deen Sharween ibn Hasan ar-Razi. A detachment of guards
from the city came out to fight them and was defeated, and the (Crusader) commander was
killed. This happened before Salah ad-Deen positioned his army on the west side of the city.
Whatever the case, Salah ad-Deen began the actual fighting against the enemy besieged behind
the walls of the city in the morning of 21 Rajab 583 AH/26 September 1187 CE/. He advanced
with his army towards the walls under heavy artillery cover from the mangonels, as was
common practice at that time. There were twelve large mangonels capable of throwing heavy
rocks. Under this artillery cover the sappers also advanced, and began to dig holes in the walls.
There was fierce fighting between the two sides, those guarding the city tried to strike the
Muslims and stop their advance with their arrows and mangonels from atop the walls and
battlements. They fought with unprecedented ferocity, whilst the knights came out of the city
and engaged in combat. But that did not deter the Muslims from their advance and their efforts
to undermine the walls and destroy the fortifications with their mangonels. Many were killed on
both sides during this battle. Among the slain was the emir Izz ad-Deen 'Eesa ibn Malik, whose
father was the ruler of the citadel of Ja'bar. The fighting continued violently after that, Grossier
describes the battle that took place at the walls of the city as being so fierce that it had no
precedent, with a very real thirst for martyrdom. He goes on to say that it was the fiercest of
battles, such as humankind had never before seen. Each man in both armies regarded this
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ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
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conflict as a religious act and an absolute obligation. Salah ad-Deen's artillery was so superior
that the fall of the walls was inevitable, the sappers working under cover of the mangonel attack
succeeded in opening a gap in the wall, and the Crusader knights and nobles decided to launch a
suicide attack against the Muslims outside the walls, but the Patriarch Heraclius deterred them
from doing so after convincing them that this “heroic action” of theirs would mean abandoning
the women and children to the enemy with no defence.[3. P-85.]
After this violent fighting, Salah ad-Deen decided to launch a decisive attack on the city. He
intensified the mangonel fire as a cover for the attackers to advance. They were also covered by
a hail of arrows shot by the archers towards the defenders on the walls, aimed at rendering them
unable to resist. This made those defenders retreat from their positions, whilst the Muslims
advanced and crossed the outer ditch that had been dug around the wall. They then stuck close
to the wall and began to knock holes in it and destroy it. The assault from the mangonels
intensified and the archers kept shooting their arrows, advancing behind the attackers and
protecting them. The attackers succeeded in creating several gaps in the wall, which was almost
taken over by the attackers. It the same time on 29 September, the attackers managed to open a
large gap in the wall, through which the Muslims entered and raised their banners on the wall.
The defenders soon rallied, however, and drove the Muslims back from the wall, but despite
that the defenders realized that their defense was futile and that they would be destroyed, in fact
they would be doomed for certain if they persisted in their stubbornness. The people crowded
into the churches to pray and confess their sins, and began beating themselves with rocks,
hoping for help and mercy from God. The women cut their daughters' hair in hopes of stirring
the men to defend them from being taken captive by the Muslims.[4. P-132.]
The Crusaders agreed to send envoys to ask for safety in return for handing over the city to
Salah ad-Deen, but Salah ad-Deen refused to respond to that request, saying, “I will only do to
you what you did to its people when you took possession of it in 491 AH, when you killed them
and took them captive, for the recompense for an evil is an evil like unto it.”
When Salah ad-Deen sent the envoys back empty-handed and frustrated, the Crusaders met
together again in Jerusalem and tried to launch a sudden attack against the Muslims, but the
Patriarch Heraclius objected to that and explained to them that if they did that, they would be
driving their women and children into slavery, and he urged them to seek safety from Salah ad-
Deen. Balian de Ibelin sent word to Salah ad-Deen, asking him for safety for himself, so that he
could come and negotiate. Salah ad-Deen responded to that and Balian came to him and asked
him to grant safety to the Crusaders, but Salah ad-Deen insisted on conquering the city by the
sword. However, later Saladin agreed to accept his offer.[5. P-93.]
The city was handed over on Friday 27 Rajab 583 AH/12 October 1187 CE. Abu Shamah said,
quoting alIsfahani in Sana al-Barq ash-Shami, that following the signing of the agreement to
handover the city, the Crusaders began to ransack their own houses, selling the supplies and
food that they had stored for the cheapest price, virtually giving it away for free, especially
things that could not be moved or were difficult to carry.
The agreement between Salah ad-Deen and Balian was that the city was to be handed over
according to the conditions that we have mentioned. Salah ad-Deen entered the city on Friday
27 Rajab 583 AH, after giving his instructions to its garrison to lay down their weapons and
surrender to the Muslim troops. It was a great day on which the Islamic banners were raised on
the walls of the holy city. Salah ad-Deen's siege of the city had lasted for twelve days.
History has never known any conqueror more merciful than the Muslims. Salah ad-Deen
fulfilled his promise to allow whoever paid a set amount to leave, at every gate he allocated an
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emir, one of the senior commanders, to keep track, whoever paid the ransom was allowed to
leave. Despite the small amount that Salah ad-Deen stipulated in return for allowing them to
leave Jerusalem and guarantee them safe passage to their destination, a great many of them
were unable to pay this sum for themselves, so after forty days had passed they became
prisoners of the Muslims. Not one of the rich crusaders did anything to ransom the poor. The
Patriarch Heraclius left Jerusalem with his great wealth, not paying attention to anyone else. It
seems that this was due to the lack of family or other ties among the Crusaders at that time. The
prisoners were a mixture of different European ethnic groups and peoples, and western
mercenaries who had travelled to the east in order to escape the serfdom that was prevalent in
European society.[6. P-137.]
In conclusion, the conquest of Jerusalem by Salah ad-Din and his remarkable courage
throughout this endeavor are truly worthy of admiration. This historic moment marked the
realization of a long-awaited aspiration for the Islamic world, which had yearned for the
liberation of Jerusalem ever since it fell into Crusader hands. It became an unforgettable event
in Muslim history. Moreover, the recapture of Jerusalem symbolizes a rare moment of unity,
wherein a significant portion of the Muslim world across the Near East rallied around a single
leader and a common purpose.
Bibliography:
1. Abdullah N. U. “Salah Ad-Din Al-Ayubi (Saladin)”. Cairo. Dar As-Salam. 2004.
2. Dr. Ali M. Sallabi. “Salah ad-Deen al-Ayubi.” (volume I-II-III). Riyadh. International
Islamic Publishing House.
3. Jonatan Riley Smit. The Crusaders: History. 1987.
4. Baha' al-Din Ibn Shaddad. Translator: D.S. Richards The Rare and Excellent History of
Saladin. London. Routledge. 2002.
5. Pyotr Lyukimson. Saladin. Moscow. Young Guard. 2016.
6. Baha' al-Din. Saladin. Moscow - St. Petersburg. "DILYA". 2009.
