Shawar

Shawar ibn Mujir al-Sa'di (

In the winter of 1168, Amalric again attacked Egypt, and Shawar switched alliances again, this time going back to Shirkuh, whom he had betrayed in 1164. Shirkuh and Shawar attempted to force the Crusader garrison out of Egypt, but Amalric pressed on, until his army was camped south of Fustat (the remnants of which are today in what is known as Old Cairo). Seeing that Amalric's invasion was imminent, Shawar ordered the burning of his own capital city, to keep it from falling into Amalric's hands. According to the Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi (1346–1442):

Shawar ordered that Fustat be evacuated. He forced [the citizens] to leave their money and property behind and flee for their lives with their children. In the panic and chaos of the exodus, the fleeing crowd looked like a massive army of ghosts.... Some took refuge in the mosques and bathhouses...awaiting a Christian onslaught similar to the one in Bilbeis. Shawar sent 20,000 naphtha pots and 10,000 lighting bombs [mish'al] and distributed them throughout the city. Flames and smoke engulfed the city and rose to the sky in a terrifying scene. The blaze raged for 54 days....^[4]

But Shirkuh forced Amalric to withdraw, and then conquered Egypt with his own forces. In January 1169, Cairo fell, and Shirkuh had Shawar executed. Shirkuh was named the new vizier, but his reign lasted only two months. Already an obese man, he died of "indigestion", and was succeeded in the viziership by his nephew, Saladin.^[8]

Cultural impact

• The power struggle between Shawar, Amalric, and Shirkuh was the setting for one of the stories by Robert E. Howard (1906–1936), "Gates of Empire".
• The character of Shawer appeared in the historical series, Salah Al-deen Al-Ayyobi, and was played by the actor Hassan Awiti.

See also

• Crusader invasions of Egypt

Notes