Conquests of Salah al-Din Ayyubi as part of the historical course of Atabakan e- Zangi

All the conquests of Salah al-Din against the Crusaders were based on the forces that had gathered and became professional during the Zangi period. Usually, researchers ignore this historical continuity in the military and political achievements of Salah al-Din ayyubi. While the first-hand sources are full of historical data that confirm this continuity and doubt the exclusivity of heroism in Salah al-Din. By examining how Atabakan e- Zangi gained power, this research considers Salah al-Din's conquests against the Crusaders as a part of the historical process that began in the zangi period, and Salah al-Din was able to take advantage of that legacy and achieve some victories against the Crusaders. In this article, the chronology and quantitative data of the zangi period until the end of Salah al-Din's rule have been examined and it has been shown that Salah al-Din was able to achieve victories against the crusaders by relying on the zangi legacy in the two dimensions of political concentration in the Levant and iqṭāʿ military forces of the island (Djazirah). And without zangi's legacy, this would not have been possible for him. Therefore, the military superiority of muslims over the crusaders was a historical process. Salah al-Din's victories were also part of this process, and his military achievements were not solely based on individual personality.