Shams ad-Din Turanshah | |||||
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Al-Makik al-Mu'azzam | |||||
Emir of Alexandria | |||||
Reign | 1180 | ||||
Emir of Baalbek | |||||
Reign | 1178–1179 | ||||
Predecessor | Ibn al-Muqaddam | ||||
Successor | Farrukhshah | ||||
Emir of Yemen | |||||
Reign | 1174–1176 | ||||
Predecessor | Emirate established | ||||
Successor | Tughtakin ibn Ayyub | ||||
Born | Syria | ||||
Died | 27 June 1180 Alexandria, Egypt |
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Burial | Damascus, Syria | ||||
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Dynasty | Ayyubid | ||||
Father | Najm ad-Din Ayyub | ||||
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Full name | |
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Shams ad-Din Turanshah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din |
Shams ad-Din Turanshah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din known simply as Turanshah (Arabic: توران شاه بن أيوب) (died 27 June 1180) was the Ayyubid emir (prince) of Yemen (1174–1176), Damascus (1176–1179), Baalbek (1178–1179) and finally Alexandria where he died in 1180. He is noted for strengthening the position of his younger brother, Sultan Saladin, in Egypt and playing the leading role in the Ayyubid conquests of both Nubia and Yemen.
Saladin was vizier to the Fatimid caliph. In 1171, Nur ad-Din Zangi, the Sultan of Syria, allowed Turanshah to travel to Egypt to join his brother, at a time of rising tensions between Nur ad-Din and Saladin. Nur al-Din empowered Turanshah to supervise Saladin, hoping to provoke dissension between the brothers. However, this attempt failed as Turanshah was immediately granted an immense amount of lands by Saladin who was in the process of rebuilding the power structure of the Fatimid state around himself and his relatives. The iqta' or "fief" given to Turashah composed of the major cities of Qus and Aswan in Upper Egypt as well as the Red Sea port of Aidab. Turanshah was the main force behind the suppression of a revolt staged in 1171 by the Black African garrisons of the Fatimid army in 1171.
Turanshah developed a close relationship with the poet courtier 'Umara, who had been a power player in Fatimid politics before Saladin's ascendancy to the vizierate in 1169. On September 11, 1171, the last Fatimid caliph al-Adid died and the Ayyubid dynasty gained official control of Egypt. A number of accusations of murder against Turanshah arose following the caliph's death. According to a eunuch in the service of al-Adid's widow, al-Adid died after hearing that Turanshah was in the palace looking for him. In another version, Turanshah is said to have killed al-Adid himself after the latter refused to reveal the location of state treasures that were hidden in the palace. After the caliph's death, Turanshah settled in Cairo in a quarter formerly occupied by Fatimid emirs.