Ayyubid power grows in Egypt

1163

Saladin's uncle Shirkuh, the formidable Kurdish general serving the Zengid atabeg of Mosul, consolidated Ayyubid military power within Fatimid Egypt, holding the ancient title of vizier while the young Shia caliph reigned as little more than a puppet behind palace walls. When Shirkuh died suddenly - reportedly from gorging himself on rich food - his nephew Saladin inherited the position and quietly began his methodical, patient rise to supremacy.