logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
47m 45s

20: History of Everything: Saladin

Stakuyi
About this episode

Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known simply as Salah ad-Din or Saladin, was a Sunni Muslim Arab who became the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria, and was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant.

Bonus episodes as well as ad-free episodes on Patreon.

Find us on Instagram. Join us on Discord.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Nov 11
The Ustase and the Darkness of Croatia
Croatia is a land with a rich and vast history going back over 2000 years. However it was not really an independent country until the 1990s as for 1000 years it was subservient to other powers. Many croatians did not like this and it ultimately led to something truly horrible hap ... Show More
31m 22s
Nov 3
Hey Kids, Do You Want To Crash A Train?
Today, people use the phrase "train wreck" to describe a disaster from which you cannot tear your eyes. More than a century ago, clever hucksters spotted the potential for profit in getting two steam locomotives to smash into each other and charging people to watch the spectacle. ... Show More
32m 10s
Oct 28
The Silly History of Beating People Up
Martial arts history began in prehistoric times, with evidence of combat techniques dating back to at least 3000 BC in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. Early forms like Pankration in Greece and Shuai Jiao in China developed thousands of years ago, while other traditions like Malla ... Show More
1h 8m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
Khalid Ibn al-Walid: The Sword of God
In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of months, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth. Much of that grow ... Show More
10m 25s
Jul 2021
Saladin and the Crusades
Saladin was one of the greatest Sultans of the middle ages, and the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He famously defeated the Crusader army at the Battle of Hattin, and recaptured Jerusalem. The Christian armies of the west never recaptured the Holy City. Saladin's legacy still h ... Show More
25m 30s
Feb 2024
122. Iran & Saudi Arabia: The Rivalry that Split the Islamic World
1979 was the year that set the Islamic world on the path to today. In Iran, the revolution established the nation as a theocracy that sought to defend Shi'ism across the world. In Saudi Arabia, the siege of the Holy Mosque led to the nation embracing a more radical Sunni Islam th ... Show More
50m 55s
Dec 2023
104. How Persian Religion Changed the World
Three great religions have come out of Persia and all of them have influenced world history. First there was Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion, which had significant influence over Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Then there was Mithraism. It began in Persia but, t ... Show More
52m 31s
Dec 2023
106. The Rise of Islam
With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the world. Both of these superpowers have drained their resources fighting each other over the past 30 years, consuming many of the great cities of antiquity. To the so ... Show More
44m 55s
Aug 2023
The Firebrand from Damascus (Part 2)
The later part of Ibn Taymiyyah’s life saw continued invasions from Mongol Hordes from the outside, and a battle against Sufi mystics in his own society. And for the man himself, it was defined by a continuation of one thing more than any other: a zeal against irreligion. While c ... Show More
57m 23s
Jul 2023
The Firebrand from Damascus (Part 1)
Ibn Taymiyyah is known as the “Sheikh of Islam” to his admirers, and to his detractors, one of the most significant antecedents of modern Salafi Jihadism. Simultaneously a genius scholar, brutal warrior and unflinching polemicist, he is one of the most important pioneers of a mil ... Show More
52m 46s
Jul 2023
Khalid Ibn al-Walid: The Sword of Allah (Encore)
In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of years, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth.  Much of that grow ... Show More
9m 35s
Jan 2024
115. The Great Conversion: How Iran became Shia
How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th century confrontation between the Ottomans of Turkey and the Safavids of Iran cemented what had previously been a much more porous division. Iran has been a Shia country ... Show More
53m 8s
Oct 2023
376. Baghdad: The Forging of Islam (Part 1)
A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamental episode in the development of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China; no dynasty had ever preside ... Show More
51m 3s