The Ayyubid dynasty is a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt.

The dynasty rules much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE.

Saladin had been the vizier of Fatimid Egypt before he brought an end to Fatimid rule in 1171.

In 1174, he proclaims himself Sultan following the death of the Ayyubids' former master, Zengid sultan Nur al-Din.

The Ayyubids spend the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control include Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia.

Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem falls to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187.

However, the Crusaders regain control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.After the death of Saladin, his sons contest control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually establishes himself as Sultan in 1200.

In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempt to assert their independence from Egypt and remain divided until the Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restores Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, except Aleppo, by 1247.

By then, local Muslim dynasties have driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hejaz, and parts of Mesopotamia.

After his death in 1249, as-Salih Ayyub is succeeded in Egypt by al-Mu'azzam Turanshah.

However, the latter is soon overthrown by the Mamluk generals who have successfully repelled a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta.

This effectively endz Ayyubid power in Egypt and a number of attempts by the rulers of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to recover it fail[.

In 1260, the Mongols sack Aleppo and wrest control of what remainx of the Ayyubid territories soon after.

The Mamluks, who force out the Mongols after the destruction of the Ayyubid dynasty, maintain the Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341.During their relatively short tenure, the Ayyubids usher in an era of economic prosperity in the lands they rule and the facilities and patronage provided by the Ayyubids leads to a resurgence in intellectual activity in the Islamic world.

This period is also marked by an Ayyubid process of vigorously strengthening Sunni Muslim dominance in the region by constructing numerous madrasas (schools of Islamic law) in their major cities.