Split between Damascus and Cairo in the Ayyubid dynasty

Timeline

1. 1218Damascus · DamascusEgyptian Ayyubid Sultan al-Adil (Safadin) died in 1218, and his son al-Mu'azzam Isa took Damascus, becoming Syria's new supreme ruler.
2. 1218–1220Cairo · CairoCairo was held by Sultan al-Kamil controlling Egypt's wealthy hinterland, while Damascus was ruled by al-Mu'azzam governing the Syrian frontier; under crusader threats the two sometimes coordinated defense and sometimes quarreled over territory and suzerainty, forming a lasting split.
3. 1218–1220Levant · LevantAyyubid princes held Hama, Homs, Jerusalem, and other places, forming multiple semi-independent principalities; the unified imperial structure of Saladin's era collapsed, laying groundwork for the later rise of the Mamluks and the complex diplomacy of the Fifth Crusade.