INTERNATIONAL AYYUBIDS SYMPOSIUM

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

According to consent of  historians, as  belong to Hazbaniye tribe’s Ravadiye branch, the Ayyubid dynasty emerged from city of Duvin. Ayyubids migrated from Duvin to Iraq, at the time of Ayyubid’s family elder Shadi which was early 12^th (6^th hijra) century. In this journey, Shadi was with his sons Nejmeddin Ayyub and Asaddudin Shirkuh. Shadi entered service of Bihruz al-Hadim who was his childhood friend, one of the most influential men of Iraqi Seljuks and Baghdad’s army commander(soubashi). al-Hadim assigned him as governor of Tikrit. After Shadi passed away, his son Nejmeddin Ayyub became the governor of Tikrit until 1138. At that time, leaders of the Ayyubid family, Ayyub and Shirkuh brothers, left Tikrit and moved to Mosul where was the under control of Immaddudin Zengi. These two brothers gained Imaduddin Zengi’s confidence in a short time, and they were promoted expeditiously. While Shirkuh became one of the most important commanders of Zengi, Nejmeddin Ayyub was his chief advisor of the political and administrative issues. After the dead of Imaddudin, these two brothers ranged themselves on the side his son Nureddin Zengi. When Fatimid State’s deposed vizier Shaver asked help against his substitution vizier Dirgam, they did military campaigns to Egypt, and then Ayyubid family became a powerful figure in history at the period of Nureddin. These military campaigns actualized under the commend of Asaduddin Shirkuh and his nephew Saladin Ayyubi was deputy commander. Fatimid vizier Shaver- he was notorious trickster- was defeated at their third campaign to Egypt and he was replaced with Shirkuh. However, Shirkuh could not stay in position long time. After Shirkuh passed away, Saladin became vizier at Fatimid in 1169. Two years later, in 1171, Saladin terminated the khutbas in the name of Fatimid Caliph, and ordered to perform them in the name of Abbasid Caliph. Therefore, he dissolved the Fatimid state.

Saladin stayed under commend of Nureddin until Nureddin passed away in 1174. After Nureddin, his son Malik Salih became the ruler. However, Malik Salih was under the hegemony of some greedy people around him, and therefore, Saladin declared independence in 1174. Ayyubids ruled more than seventy years (1174 -1250), and they succeed to take the control of Egypt, Nube, Syria, Lebenon, Yemen, Hijaz and al-Jazira in this short period of time.

 

OBJECTIVE

The city of Duvin, where Ayyubid Family has emerged, was the capital of Shaddadi State from second half of 10^th century to beginning of  11^th century. Today, Duvin in Armenia which is in the border of our city Iğdır. Duvin is located in 50 km south of Yerevan and  45 km away from Iğdır. And it is also in the bank of Aras River which is in the boundaries of our city Iğdır.

International Ayyubid Symposium, which is organized by Iğdır University-the Faculty of Theology, aims to contribute and hope to acting with Islamic world unity and ummah consciousness with sample of 12^th-13^th centuries Zengi and Ayyubid families.