An-Nasir Yusuf

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Salah ad-Din Yusuf
Al-Malik an-Nasir
Emir of Damascus
Reign	1250 – 1260
Predecessor	Al-Muazzam Turanshah
Successor	Emirate abolished
Emir of Aleppo
Reign	26 November 1236 – 1260
Predecessor	Al-Aziz Muhammad
Successor	Emirate abolished
Regent	Dayfa Khatun (1236–1242)
Born	1228
Died	1260
Issue	Al-Aziz
Dynasty	Ayyubid
Father	Al-Aziz Muhammad
Religion	Sunni Islam

An-Nasir Yusuf (

in 1260.

Background

An-Nasir Yusuf was the great-grandson of

Conflict with Egyptian Mamluks

In 1250, when the Ayyubid sultan of

Alarmed by these developments, the Mamluk leaders in Egypt decided to replace Shajar al Durr with the Atabek (commander in chief)

In January 1251, an-Nasir Yusuf led another army to Egypt and clashed with Aybak's army in a significant battle with Yusuf's defeat. He fled back to Damascus, though some of his soldiers who could reach Cairo spread the initial impression inside Egypt that Yusuf had won the battle. Later when the news of Aybak's ultimate victory arrived, the soldiers and their commanders were arrested, and Aybak sent back the soldiers, some 3,000 in number, to Damascus on the backs of donkeys.[5]^[6]

In 1253, through mediation of some Emirs, an accord was reached between an-Nasir Yusuf and Aybak which gave the Egyptians control over Gaza, Jerusalem, Nablus, and the coastline of al-Sham.

In 1254, another power shift occurred in Egypt, as Aybak killed

In 1255, an-Nasir Yusuf sent new forces to the Egyptian border, this time with many of Aktai's Mamluks, among them Baibars al-Bunduqdari, and Qalawun al-Alfi, but he was defeated again.

Relations with Crusaders

Louvre Museum

.

An-Nasir had contact and correspondence with the European

and was still trying to free his imprisoned soldiers, was not willing yet to make such a deal. Louis did, however, send his royal armorer to Damascus to purchase materials to make crossbows, and in 1254, An-Nasir signed a truce with the Crusaders.

The Mongols

As early as 1243-1244, An-Nasir Yusuf, while ruler of Aleppo, had sent an envoy to the Mongol ruler Arghun Aqa.^[8] In 1245-1246 he was paying tribute to the Mongols, and sent an envoy to the court of Güyük Khan in Karakorum, and again sent another to the court of the Khan in 1250.^[8]

The Egyptian ruler Aybak was murdered in 1257 and his young son

sacked Baghdad.

Baibars al-Bunduqdari argued that an-Nasir Yusuf should mobilize his army and make preparations to fight the Mongols who were marching towards Syria. But instead, Yusuf sent his son al-Malik al-Aziz with a present to Hulagu, requesting Hulagu's assistance in invading Egypt.

, the vice-Sultan of Egypt decided to confront the Mongols. Arguing that Egypt could not face the approaching danger while ruled by a young boy, Qutuz proclaimed himself Sultan, and began to raise a large army, though he assured an-Nasir Yusuf that his action was only a temporarily measure till the danger of the Mongols was overcome.

As the Mongols marched toward Aleppo, some of an-Nasir Yusuf's advisors recommended surrendering to Hulagu as the best solution. This angered Baibars and his Mamluks who attempted to assassinate an-Nasir Yusuf, but he escaped and fled with his brother to the castle of Damascus, also sending his wife, son, and money to Egypt. Many of the citizens of Damascus also fled to Egypt.

The sack of Aleppo

The Mongols arrived at Aleppo in December 1259. Turanshah, the uncle of an-Nasir Yusuf,^[10] refused to surrender. After a siege of seven days, the Mongols stormed Aleppo and massacred its population for another five days. Turanshah left the city and died a few days later. When the news of the sack of Aleppo reached an-Nasir Yusuf, he and his army fled towards Gaza on January 31, stopping at Nablus for several days and leaving a contingent which may have been intended as a rearguard.^[11]

Damascus fell to the hands of the Mongols, under general Kitbuqa, 16 days after the sack of Aleppo. The Emirs of Damascus surrendered without resistance.^[11]

After the capture of Damascus, some of the Mongol troops raided Palestine, and fought with an-Nasir's troops in the olive groves of Nablus, defeating the entire force.

Once arriving at the border with Egypt, some Emirs of an-Nasir Yusuf abandoned him and joined Qutuz. An-Nasir Yusuf, his son al-Aziz, and his brother al-Zahir were abducted in Gaza by one of his servants and were sent to Hulagu,

by an Egyptian army led by Qutuz on September 3, 1260.

See also

• Other Saladins

References

Citations

Bibliography

• The Concise History of Humanity
• Al-Maqrizi, Al Selouk Leme'refatt Dewall al-Melouk, Dar al-kotob, 1997.
• Idem in English: Bohn, Henry G., The Road to Knowledge of the Return of Kings, Chronicles of the Crusades, AMS Press, 1969.
• Al-Maqrizi, al-Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar,Matabat aladab,Cairo 1996,
  ISBN 977-241-175-X
  .
• Idem in French: Bouriant, Urbain, Description topographique et historique de l'Egypte,Paris 1895
• The New Cambridge Medieval History (Volume 5),Cambridge University Press 1968
• O. Hassan ,Al-Zahir Baibars, Dar al-Amal 1997
• Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, information about Ayyubid dynasty
• E.J. Brill, Encyclopaedia of Islam 1954
• H. Sadawi, Almamalik, Arabic center for publications
• The New Encyclopædia Britannica,1973
• organ, David, The Mongols, 1990.
• Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977), From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press,
  ISBN 0-87395-263-4
• Ibn Khaldun, history of Ibn khaldun
• Irwin, Robert (1999). "The rise of the Mamluks". In
  ISBN 978-1-13905573-4
  .
• Peter N. Stearns,The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition, 2001
• Ibn Taghri
  , al-Nujum al-Zahirah Fi Milook Misr wa al-Qahirah, al-Hay'ah al-Misreyah 1968
• History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. by Yusef. William Popper, translator Abu L-Mahasin ibn Taghri Birdi, University of California Press 1954
• Coptic history Encyclopedia, coptichistory.org
• Jaroslav Folda, Crusader Art in the Holy Land, From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre, Cambridge University Press 2005

An-Nasir Yusuf Ayyubid dynasty Born: 1228 Died: 1260
Regnal titles
Preceded by Al-Aziz Muhammad	Emir of Aleppo 26 November 1236 – 1260 with Dayfa Khatun (1236–1242)	Vacant Mongol invasions of Syria
Preceded by Al-Muazzam Turanshah	Emir of Damascus 1250 – 1260