however, it was not long before a new Muslim state was established in the vicinity of Mosul in 1127, under the leadership of Atabeg Zengui who was a most dangerous foe of the crusader states. In 1144, Atabeg Zengui hit the first heavy blow against the crusaders by conquering Ourfa. It this very defeat which triggered the second crusade; but this crusade never reached the Holy land. Nourredin, son of the Atabeg, conquered Damascus and entered the territory of Jerusalem, threatening the city of Jerusalem and the city of St Jean d'Acre.
Fate appointed the nephew of one of the commanders of Nourredin Zengui, Saladin, to enact the most devastating move against the crusaders. Saladin was a Kurd from Tarkit, born into a family which originated from Ajanakan in southern Armenia. His father and uncles were military leaders who served the Emirs (Atabegs) of Mosul, while he himself was educated in Damascus, in those days was one of the major scientific centres of the Islamic world. Saladin is possibly the greatest personality that the Kurdish people have everengendered. His character possessed the qualities of chivalry and moderation, making him one of the most attractive and interesting persons in the Orient during the Middle Ages.
Saladin followed the army which Nourredin had sent to the war against Egypt, for the Fatemian caliphs were equally hostile towards the Seljuk Turks as they were against the Christian crusaders.
Saladin took power in Egypt and established a new dynasty called the Mamelukes, forcing the people of the Egypt to abandon their Shiite faith and accept the Sunnite rules.
Once the different orders of the Islamic world were united in war against the crusaders, it did not take long for Saladin to realize political unification, by conquering Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, also realized the political unification (1174-1182). From this moment on the Islamic world was led by one Muslim leader against the Christian dominion of Jerusalem, and in 1187 he exacted such a conclusive defeat tht it resulted in the surrender of Jerusalem.
Thus the Christians domain was diminished to Jerusalem, which did not include the city of Jerusalem itself but a long, narrow strip along the Black Sea which compromised the cities of St Jean d'Acre and Tyr, and also the duchies of Tripoli and Antiochia.
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