The fifth decade of the thirteenth century was not a normal
one for Arabs and Muslims. The huge Empire that has known so many glories throughout most of the Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties was reeling under the strikes of the simultaneous
Mogul and Crusade invasions. The Crusaders didn't have to wait long after their humiliating defeat at the hand of Saladin; and in fact recovered most of their losses during the rein of
his sons and grandsons. To make matters worse, the Tartars smashed their way through the eastern borders of the Empire, and news of their atrocities and massacres paved the way for
their rapid advance towards the Capital, Baghdad.
There was nothing much the Caliph in Baghdad could do. He was no longer that powerful monarch whose orders were
sacred and who could muster hundreds of thousands merely by proclaiming a state of "Jihad" against the invaders. The invincible Empire that had once put an end to the Persian
Empire and forced the roman Empire out of Asia and Africa, was in tatters. It was in effect divided into many fiefdoms, town semi-independent kingdoms. The Ayyubids kings were fighting among
themselves, and one of them King Al Kamil, the nephew of Saladin, gave Jerusalem back to the Crusaders to support him against his brothers!
The only glitter of hope came from Cairo. There, King Al Saleh Najmuddin, whom historians consider the best of The Ayyubids Dynasty, was on the move all the time,
leading his armies against the Crusaders. In 1244 he fought a decisive battle in Palestine, where he re-liberated Jerusalem, Asqalan (Ashkelon) and re-united Syria with his kingdom.
His victories were instrumental in convincing Europe that the road to Jerusalem passed through Cairo. Accordingly, and in response to a call made by Lyon Synod of 1248, King Louis IX of France led the 7
th Crusade in full coordination with Pope Innocent IV.
In fact, the campaign aimed not only to re-capture Jerusalem and eliminate the role
of Egypt as the main military and human resources base, but as well to establish an alliance with the Moguls to encircle the Islamic world from the East and West.
According to the plan, the Crusade would advance towards the Arab Eastern Mediterranean coast, occupy Damietta Port and advance east, while the Moguls
would advance west. King Al Saleh Najmuddin returned immediately from Damascus to Egypt as he learnt of the Crusade landing in Cyprus. But his defense plans
collapsed when Damietta garrison fled away, and he had a fatal heart attack. This brought his wife, Shajarat Al-Dorr, all of a sudden at the forefront of events.
Shajarat Al-Dorr (which means the tree of jewels) was a slave of Turkish or Armenian origin. Najmuddin bought her when he was a Crown Prince, fell in love with her and
raised her to the status of Sultana when he married her. The death of their son, Khalil, while still an infant, did not change the Sultan's feeling. In fact she ran the
affairs of the country all the time during her husband's long campaigns against the Crusaders.
Shajarat Al - Dorr: 80 days on the throne
