History of Egypt
At first, Saladin ruled Egypt as the representative of Nuradin. But he did not sit still. He made some moves eastward and these activites clearly made Nuradin nervous, for Saladin was quickly becoming powerful enough to challenge him. In 1171, Saladin became the undisputed ruler of Egypt. It may have been that the troops Nuradin mustered in the spring of 1174 were meant for an invasion of Egypt. We'll never know, for Nuradin died in May 1174. Saladin was now the most powerful man west of Baghdad. Nuradin's son, al-Salih Ismail, was still only a boy and at first Saladin recognized him as his overlord. A court eunuch, Gumushtigin, spirited al-Salih (Nur-al-Din's heir) away to Aleppo, far from Saladin's grasp. Although Saladin had recognized al-Salih as his overlord, he at once set about positioning himself to continue expanding his powers. When the emirs of Damascus asked for his help, he went to that city and there proclaimed that he and not Gumushtigin was the boy's rightful guardian. This allowed him to open military operations against Damascus and Aleppo. In fact, he spent the next few years fighting the Zangids in Syria . Having engineered the unification of Egypt and Syria, he moved quickly against the Crusaders. His repeated attempts to drive the Franks from the Levant had all ended in failure and near the end of his life, he abandoned his ambitions and reached a 'peace pact' with the King of Jeruslem to permit Muslims to visit the Holy city of Jeruslem for pilgremege.Following Saladin's death, his sons fell to squabbling over the division of the Empire.The Crusaders took the oppourtunity and invaded Syria, capturing Damascus and forcing the Ayyubid Hamah Syrian line to flee to Cairo. The sons of Saladin put aside their differences but it was simply too late, the Crusaders had overrun most of their Levantine holdings and were advancing on Egypt.
With the Abbasid Caliph embroiled in his own trouble with the Mongol invasions and the Turks in conflict against renewed Byzantine incursions, the Ayyubids realized the stark truth - Misr was alone. The Sultan of Egypt Taj ad-Din and the Emir of Damascus(now of Alexandria) al-Muzzam merged their armies and threw the Crusaders out of Egypt. As the dust settled, the remaining inheritance of Saladin was fought over again until in 1200 Saladin's brother, Al-Adil, succeeded in securing control over the whole of Egypt. Suprisingly, the country remained united during the transition to Al-Kamil's hands in 1218. He was just and fair and brought nessicary economic and Military reforms to strengthen Royal power during his 20 year long reign. After al-Kamil's death in 1238, Sultan Al-Salih Najim al-Din ascended the throne and married Shajarat ad-Dur, a harem slave of his. They were both partly responsible for establishing the Mameluke slave system and endorsing it's Military poweress. In 1250, after Al-Salih had died, Turan Shah was installed as Sultan and immediatly executed Shajarat ad-Dur and , sensing the growing Mameluke power, exiled both the Cheif of the Guard Aybak and General Baybarez. For the next 150 years Egypt had been the theater of a tug-of-war between two factions, the Syrian Ayyubids of Hamah and the Egyptian line of Ayyub - both overshadowed by the Mameluke guard of Lower Egypt, an ever loyal machine to whichever Sultan that reigned .In an attempt to bring a settlement to the precarious situation, Sultan Tahir ad-Din of Ayyub, took the hand of Sarah, a Syrian Ayyubid and in addition he appointed many Hamah and Aleppo Arab Nobles in positions of power throughout the Sultanate. Will fragile peace reign over Egypt at last or will the sons of Saladin fail to put aside their rivalry?
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Royalty in Wedlock"
desc = "After the death of Sultan Muiz ad-Din in 1416, his infant son Tahir ad-Din inherited a restive empire. The Hamah Ayyubids accused the Ayyubid Egyptians of monopolizing positions within the bureacracy and isolating the Syrian branch from the Royal Court. The discontent spilled over in 1417 when a Hamah Emir in Upper Egypt expelled the officers of the Ayyubid Egyptian Sultan from his prefecture. The Captain of the Guard, Ahzal demanded that the Mameluke be sent to quell what he saw as open rebellion, but the appointed Regent , the Vizier Yahya Dajji refused to issue orders to attack the Emir. The Mameluke barracks in Cairo , loyal to Tahir ad-Din 'the boy' revolted and executed the Vizier. The Captain of the Guard was installed as regent and dispatched the Mameluke Army to deal with the rebellious Prince. The reaction from the Syrians was expected - they precieved the 'coup' as an attempt to liquadate the Hamah House and quickly gathered their supporters for battle. The young Sultan, fearing for Egypt and her people, recalled the Captain of the Guard and summoned the leaders and Sheiks of Hamah and Ayyub to his court. He miraculously managed to convince the conveyed Royalty to reach a settlement - what was more amazing was that for his young age, he demonstrated a wisdom and intelligence beyond his years. The meeting ended with an agreement to 'share' the Ayyubid throne by an arrangement to wed the young Sultan to Sarah, a princess of good Syrian stock and a descendent from Nur ad-Din Aybak the Great.The wedding , held in Alexandria in the spring of 867 AH (1419 AD) was greeted with relief by both the Great Houses of Ayyub and the people of Egypt, hoping that it would end the three century long power feud. At last, the blood of Ayyubid Hamah would mingle with Ayyubid Egypt once more , like two streams merging to form a greater river. The Sultan Tahir ad-Din and his wife Sultana Sarah ruled Egypt with a firm hand and though young of age, brought a nessicary period of peace and order. "
style = 1
date = { day = 1 month = january year = 1419 }
offset = 10
action_a ={
name = "Egypt is Unified at last"
}
}
#Policies of the Pair#
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "Policies of the Royal Couple"
desc = "Both Tahir ad-Din and Sarah knew that Egypt was divided in loyalties, between that of the Ayyub of Egypt and that of Syria. Instead of organizing a government that split positions and wealth equally between the two Houses in proportion to land ownership, as the old Sultans of Egypt had done before them, the Royal pair decided instead to shift Governing positions between the Ayyubs. That is to say, the Ayyubs of Syria were appointed over Egyptian territories, and the Ayyubs of Misr were installed over Hamah provinces and villages.That way, they hoped to dilute the fractured unity and weaken Clan loyalties between the Houses, whilst sharing responsibility of ruling all of Egypt proper. The Sultan also expanded the already extensive Egyptian bureacracy and fereted out corruption from the ranks of the Civil Service - a rampant problem throughout much of the Ayyubid realm. Though these reforms were opposed freverently by the Hamah as well as the Egyptian Ayyub Clansmen - as they resulted in curtailing their independent powers - Tahir ad-Din and Sarah held firm and the policies were enforced by the loyal Mameluke and Officials of the state."
date = { day = 1 month = may year = 1425 }
offset = 150
deathdate = { day = 1 month = january year = 1427}
action_a = {
name = "Enforce the Pair's Edicts!"
}
action_b = {
name = "Decrease the scale of the reforms"
}
}
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Choices of the Widowed Sultana"
desc = "The reign of Sultan Tahir came to an abrunt end when he accidentally slipped on a piece of soap in the Royal Baths. His wife Sarah,now pregnant in her seventh month, found him dead on the cold marble floor. She knew too well the consequences his death would entitle - a re-emergence of Hamah and Ayyubi rivalry and chaos throughout Egypt. The situation was made worse that no heir had been born yet. Her options were rather limited - she could conceal the Sultan's death, claiming an illness befell him and continue ruling until she gave birth and thusly produced an heir for Tahir, or she could inform the Royal Court and submit to their will with the possibility of conceding her coming heir any right to the throne. Either way, there would be reprecussions."
style = 1
date = { day = 4 month = march year = 1431 }
name = "Conceal his death"
}
action_b = {
name = "Declare his death to the Court"
}
}
}
##################################
Conceal his death results & Declare his death to the Court
##################################
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Sultana Gives birth"
desc = "Having succesfully tricked the Court into believing the Sultan was struck by disease, and bribing a few Royal Physcians into confirming such, Sarah ruled Egypt for two months without a single voice of protest. Having given birth to a son - whom she named Salah ad-Din - was it not time to consider relinquishing her short-lived reign and declare the Sultan's death?Or should she continue to govern the country until her son was of a proper age to rule?"
style = 1
date = { day = 19 month = may year = 1431 }
name = "Declare the Sultan's death"
}
action_b = {
name = "Continue to rule secretly"
}
}
}
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Legitimacy of Salah ad-Din"
desc = "The Royal Court was confounded by the situation - there was no Sultan on the throne and the heir - if he is even male - was yet to be born. Installing Sarah as Sultana was out of the question, as the people would never accept a 'Queen' - it was even outrageous to consider such a solution in the eyes of the Ulema and Nobles. Fearing for the Sultanate's future, the Ministers agreed to appoint a regent - a neutral leaders who could calm the waters of the court between the Hamah Arabs and Ayyub Arabs. The choice fell on a Mameluke commander - Yarmuk Babak to rule Egypt until an acceptable Sultan is found for the Egyptian throne. The news of the Sultan's death and the rise of Yarmuk did not fall on the Nobles of Ayyub and Hamah easily, and the bloody feud soon resurfaced, with the Ayyub claiming that the Sultan was killed by his wife, whilst the Hamahian Arabs defending the Sultana's honor. They were also united in opposition to Yarmuk, a Turkish 'pretender' in their eyes."
style = 1
name = "Agh!" # Yarmuk
}
}
############################
Declare the Sultan's Death & Continue to rule Secretly
############################
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Legitimacy of Salah ad-Din"
desc = "The Royal Court was confounded by the situation - there was no Sultan on the throne and though an heir was available, he was still an infant. Installing Sarah as Sultana was out of the question, as the people would never accept a 'Queen' - it was even outrageous to consider such a solution in the eyes of the Ulema and Nobles. Fearing for the Sultanate's future, the Ministers agreed to install a Royal Regency made up of Hamah and Ayyub Nobles, overshadowing the Widowed Sultana. The arrangement would endure until Salah ad-Din becomes old enough to recognize his choices - that is to say, nine years old in Islamic judisprudance. "
style = 1
name = "Very well" # Royal Egyptian Regency
}
}
event = {
id = ?????
trigger = {
random = no
country = EGY
name = "Suspicion on the Rise"
desc = "Most had accepted the Sultana's explanations regarding the Sultan's eeiry absence. Some however, and especially the Vizier Shazard suspected something else. As the years dragged on, Sarah's engineered lies no longer worked and she found it more and more difficult to maintain the government. Rumors and gossips had spread throughout Egypt, and the pressure mounted on the Sultana as Emirs and Governors wanted to see the Sultan personally for Official business . Having been fed up with the Sultana and suspecting Tahir ad-Din's death, the Vizier Shazard ,the Captain of the Guard and the Ministers approached Sarah and demanded to see the Sultan at once - declaring openly that the Sultana was hiding something."
style = 1
date = { day = 1 month = february year = 1435 }
offset = 45
deathdate = { day = 30 month = january year = 1436}
action_a ={
name = "Throw them into the dungeons!How dare they question my tongue!"
}
action_b ={
name = "Confess - The Sultan's rotten corpse is laying on the Royal bed"
}
}
##########################
Throw them into the dungeons!
##########################
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "Sultana Sarah's Dictatorship "
desc = "Following her decision to throw the Vizier and other officials into the dungeons, the Sultana's hold over the country began to unravel as more Nobles , and especially from the Egyptian Ayyubid house, began to question openly the Sultan's fate. The situation was so difficult that the Sultana was putting to death anyone who looked suspicious . The Government was severly tightened and only a few select courtiers were allowed in the court. Every Governor and Emir in Egypt feared for his life and most of the nobles had abandoned Cairo altogether to the more safer lands in Alexandria. Paranoid & distraught ,she locked her nine year old son in the Citadel's tower in order to 'protect' him from the 'poisonous daggers and stabbing knives of Ayyub'. In the end Sarah died neither by an assasin's dagger or a treacherous stab but by Allah's mercy. Horrified by the decaying corpse in the Royal Chambers , the Chamberlin decided it was best to keep the discovery secret and declare that the Royal pair had died on the same day - as to avoid the painstaking process of legitamizing Salah ad-Din's coming ascendency to the throne - especially if he were to say he was the son of a 'Queen' an oxymoron within the Islamic World. With many precedents, the young child was crowned Sultan of Egypt - perhaps to a the relief of most who languished under Sarah."
style = 1
date = { day = 1 month = february year = 1440 }
offset = 45
action_a ={
name = "Hail Sultan Salah ad-Din!"
}
}
event = {
id = ?????
random = no
country = EGY
name = "The Legitimacy of Salah ad-Din"
desc = "The Vizier and his Ministers were shocked - the Sultan had been dead for many years now and Egypt had been ruled by a Queen. Had this been declared openly to the public, Egypt might be threatened by not only civil unrest, but foriegn invasion as well, especially from the Abbasid Caliphate. Shazard exiled the Sultana to the Citadel's tower and installed the five year old child, Salah ad-Din, as Sultan of Egypt."
style = 1
name = "Oh well..."
}
}
