Ajlun Castle
| Ajloun Castle قلعة عجلون |
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| Ajloun, Jordan | |
Ajloun Castle
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 Ajloun Castle
قلعة عجلون |
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| Coordinates | 32°19′30.75″N 35°43′38.21″E / 32.3252083°N 35.7272806°ECoordinates: 32°19′30.75″N 35°43′38.21″E / 32.3252083°N 35.7272806°E |
| Type | Castle |
Ajloun Castle (Arabic: قلعة عجلون; transliterated: Qal'at 'Ajloun), also known as (Arabic: قلعة الربض; transliterated: Qa'lat ar-Rabad), is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern Jordan. It is placed on a hilltop belonging to the Jabal Ajlun ("Mount Ajlun") district, also known as Jabal 'Auf after a Bedouin tribe which had captured the area in the 12th century. From its high ground the castle was guarding three wadis which descend towards the Jordan Valley. It was built by the Ayyubids in the 12th century and enlarged by the Mamluks in the 13th.
The name 'Ajlun goes back to a Christian monk who lived on this mountain in the Byzantine Period. The castle stands on the ruins of a monastery, traces of which were discovered during archaeological excavations.
The castle has been the nucleus of a settlement which has grown to become the present town of Ajloun. The castle's developing faubourg led to its second name, Qal'at ar-Rabad, "the castle of the faubourg" or "the castle with the suburbs". This name still resonates in the surname of a large and reputable Christian family owning most of the agricultural lands in the direct vicinity of the castle until this day, the Al-Rabadis.
The fortress was built by Izz al-Din Usama, a commander and nephew of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin), in AD 1184-1185. According to Saladin's historian Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, the fortress was primarily built in order to help the authorities in Damascus control the Bedouin tribes of the Jabal 'Auf. These enjoyed enough autonomy as to ally themselves to the Crusaders, and had at one point set up a 100-tent camp next to the Hospitaller castle of Belvoir on the opposite side of the Jordan Valley. As such, Ajlun Castle is one of the very few Muslim fortresses built by the Ayyubids to protect their realm against Crusader incursions, which could come from Beisan or Belvoir in the west and from Karak in the south.
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