Ayyubid State Apparatus

Timeline

1. 1171–1187Cairo · EgyptSaladin integrated his Egyptian and Syrian domains, restored nominal allegiance to the Abbasids, reformed the tax system and iqta allocation, and established a central–provincial governing structure centered on the Kurdish family and supported by Turkish military slaves (ghulam/mamluk).
2. 1187–1192Levant · SyriaThe state apparatus mobilized Syrian–Egyptian forces against the Third Crusade, contending with the long siege of Acre and opponents such as Richard I; after the Treaty of Jaffa in 1192 it retained Jerusalem and the inland regions, while the crusaders held only a narrow coastal strip.
3. 1193–1200Damascus · SyriaAfter Saladin's death in 1193, the state apparatus split into son-ruled states centered on Egypt (al-Aziz), Damascus (al-Afdal), and Aleppo (al-Zahir); they competed with one another yet still jointly faced the crusader threat, and the administrative and military systems continued to use the iqta and Diwan frameworks.
4. 1200–1260Cairo · EgyptInfighting weakened central authority; after the Mamluk coup in Egypt in 1250 the Ayyubid sultan became a puppet, and the Mongol invasion of 1260 accelerated the collapse of the remaining regime, with the military slave elite ultimately replacing the Kurdish family as the ruling core.