Saladin and the Ayyubid Campaigns in the Maghrib

This article concerns the conquest of Libya and Tunisia by Saladin (Salah al-Din) and the Ayyubids in the 1170s and 1180s. First it presents a reconstruction of the campaigns conducted by the Ayyubid mamlūks Sharaf al-Dīn Qarāqūsh and Ibn Qarātikīn in Libya and the conflict in Ifrīqiya (Tunisia) between the Almohads and the Ayyubids based on the relevant primary sources. Then the extent to which Saladin was responsible for these military expeditions is considered and finally the issue of the motive behind them is discussed. It is concluded that Salāh al-Dīn and his amirs invaded the Maghrib in order to control the northern termini of the eastern and central axes of the trans-Saharan trade routes, thereby gaining access to the West African gold which passed along these routes. This occurred at a time when there was a great shortage of precious metals in Egypt and Saladin was in need of cash to pay for his wars with the Crusaders in Palestine.