Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (93 page)

Trans-Jordan was conquered after the battle of
(1187) and Karak together with several other fortresses surrendered (1188–9) and became part of the Ayyubid sultanate. Its first ruler was
,
al-Dīn’s brother and the future sultan (r. 597/1200–615/1218), who was given Karak and the surrounding region in 1189 as an
.
¹⁵⁹
This marked a significant change in the status of the region and of the fortress, which had become the residence of a high-ranking member of the sultan’s family.
remained the governor until 589/1193 and received the news of
al-Dīn’s death that year while he was residing at Karak.
¹⁶⁰
Soon after Karak became an independent principality.
¹⁶¹
The town was passed on to
son
in 594/1197. He ruled at first under his father’s guardianship, and only became an independent ruler in 615/1218.
¹⁶²
Both the inscriptions and the sources show that it was during his reign that the town and its defenses were extensively built.

Dāwūd b.
received Karak from al-Kāmil in 625/1228, after losing Damascus. Karak soon became the capital of his principality, which extended over most of Trans-Jordan, and included Jerusalem, Nablus and Bayt Jibrīl.
¹⁶³
In 647/1249 the fortress surrendered to the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt,
Ayyūb, and for a brief period Karak fell again under the jurisdiction of Cairo.
¹⁶⁴
Ayyūb’s death a year later changed matters considerably.