Ayyūbids, a dynasty of Kurdish origin that ruled Egypt, Syria, the Jazīra and the Yemen in the 6th/12th and 7th/13th centuries. The name of the dynasty is attributed to Ayyūb b. Shādhī, the father of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī. The Ayyūbids played a significant role in the history of the region, notably ending Fāṭimid rule, uniting Syria and Egypt, and defeating the Crusaders.

Ayyūbid rule began in Egypt on the death of the last Fāṭimid caliph, al-ʿĀḍid, in 567/1171, with Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī, the founder of the dynasty who had acted as the last Fāṭimid vizi…