Beginning in about 900, the Abbasid caliphate began to lose power, and the Islamic world gradually broke into a confusing array of competing dynasties. Of these, only a few—in particular, two Egyptian ruling hous-es—would go on to assume great significance. Gradually the cultural center of Islam moved away from Baghdad to Egypt, the oldest civilization of all. Even today, Egypt is among the leaders of the Islamic world.
Members of the Shi'ite Ismaili (iz-MY-ah-lee) sect founded a dynasty called the Fatimids, named after Muhammad's daughter, that ruled Egypt from 909 to 1171. They established the city of Cairo, maintained a prosperous economy, and flourished for many years before being overtaken by the Ayyubids (uh-YU-bidz).
The Ayyubid dynasty came to power under Saladin (SAL-uh-dun; c. 1137-1198). Europeans who fought against him in the Crusades came to admire Saladin as the greatest of Muslim heroes; yet he was not an Arab but a Kurd, a member of a nation closely related to Iranians. The Ayyubid dynasty ruled Egypt from 1169 to 1252, when they were replaced by Turkish slave soldiers called Mamluks.
The rise of the Mamluks (Turkish rulers) would nearly coincide with the destruction of Abbasid power in
Baghdad in 1258. By then, Islamic civilization had spread far beyond the Middle East. Word of Muhammad and the Koran had reached India and Southeast Asia, the rocky coastline of Spain, and desert kingdoms in the heart of Africa. Meanwhile, leadership among Islamic peoples had passed to a nation virtually unknown during Muhammad's lifetime: the Turks.
World History
