Tuareg
Tuareg (Touareg) (Twareg). Nomadic Berber people living in the parts of the Sahara that covers Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The Tuaregs speak a Berber language called Tamershak, to which there is a proper alphabet.
In earlier times, their three of their principal sources of income were taxation of caravan routs crossing Sahara, plundering settled neighboring peoples and pastoral activities. These activities have been strongly reduced due to stronger state structures, border control, and the need for control over citizens in the modern state. Hence a large part of today’s Tuaregs have now moved into cities.
Tuaregs have long since converted to Islam, but their beliefs have a higher component of traditional religious elements than in many other Muslim communities.
Women in Tuareg societies have a strong and free position. Men, not women, wear veils in public but this has more to do with practical needs than with moral attitudes since men move around more in the desert than women, they have more need for covering and protecting their face.
However, women play so strong a role in the society that social status depends on matrilineal descent.
The society is strongly hierarchic, divided into nobles, vassals, and serfs (descendants of slaves that have faced problems breaking free from their inherited social status).
The Tuareg are Berber-speaking pastoralists who inhabit an area in North and West Africa ranging from Touat, Algeria, and Ghudāmis, Libya, to northern Nigeria and from Fezzan, Libya, to Timbuktu, Mali. Their political organizations extend across national boundaries. In the late 20th century there were estimated to be 900,000 Tuareg.
The northern Tuareg live mainly in true desert country, whereas the southerners live primarily in steppe and savanna. The Tuareg consist of confederations including the Ahaggar (Hoggar) and Azjer (Ajjer) in the north and the Asben (Aïr Tuareg), Ifora, Itesen (Kel Geres), Aulliminden, and Kel Tademaket in the south. The southerners breed zebu cattle and camels, some of which are sold to the northern Tuareg. Raiding of caravans and travelers was important in pre-European times, as was caravan trading, which declined with the introduction of motor vehicles. Droughts across southern Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), and Chad in the 1970s and ’80s both reduced the numbers of the southern Tuareg and eroded their traditional pastoral way of life.
Tuareg society is traditionally feudal, ranging from nobles, through clergy, vassals, and artisans, to laborers (once slaves). The conventional Tuareg dwelling is a tent of red-dyed skin (sometimes replaced in the later 20th century with plastic). Traditional weapons include two-edged swords, sheathed daggers, iron lances, and leather shields. Adult males wear a blue veil in the presence of women, strangers, and in-laws, but that practice began to be abandoned with urbanization. They have preserved a peculiar script (tifinagh) related to that used by ancient Libyans.
One special cultural note of interest, the Tuareg are the antagonists of the French Foreign Legion in Percival Christopher Wren's 1924 adventure novel Beau Geste and the films that were based on it.
Touareg see Tuareg
Twareg see Tuareg
Tudeh
Tudeh (Hezb-e Tudeh-ye Iran) ("Party of the Iranian Masses"). Pro-Communist Worker’s Party of Iran.
The Tudeh Party was formed in 1941 in Iran by members of the famous Fifty-three, who had been arrested in 1937 but were released immediately on the British-Soviet occupation of Iran during World War II. The Fifty-three were predominantly young, university-educated Marxist intellectuals from middle-class and Persian-speaking families. The Tudeh Party quickly grew to become the organization of the masses in reality as well as in name. It did so in part because its labor unions mobilized a significant portion of the wage-earning population; in part because it attracted many civil servants, professionals, and intellectuals; and in part because it successfully portrayed itself as the champion of patriotism and constitutional liberties against foreign imperialism and the threat of royal dictatorship. By 1945, the list of Tudeh sympathizers read like a Who's Who of Iran's intelligentsia.
After 1945, however, the Tudeh suffered a series of setbacks. Its patriotic credentials were undermined when it supported the Soviet-sponsored revolt in Azerbaijan, echoed the demands of the Soviet Union's Josef Stalin for an oil concession, and failed to give full backing to Mohammad Mossadegh's campaign to nationalize the petroleum industry. Its constitutional and democratic credentials were brought into question once it declared itself a Marxist-Leninist party and became a formal member of the Soviet-led Communist movement. Moreover, its ability to function was drastically curtailed - first in 1949, when the party was banned after an attempt was made on the life of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; and second after the 1953 coup, when SAVAK, the secret police, helped by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, vigorously unearthed its underground network. Over forty Tudeh members were executed in the 1950s.
The Tudeh was further weakened by two major internal disputes. In the aftermath of the Azerbaijan revolt, a number of intellectuals left the party and in later years joined Mosaddegh's National Front (Jebhe-ye Melli). In the 1960s, at the height of the Sino-Soviet dispute, a number of younger activists, denouncing the Tudeh leadership as reformist and revisionist, formed their own pro-Chinese Sazman-e Engelab-e Hezb-e Tudeh-ye Iran (Revolutionary Organization of the Tudeh Party of Iran).
By the time of the Iranian Revolution (1979), little remained of the Tudeh within Iran. Despite this, the party tried a comeback. It instructed its cadres to return and elected as its first secretary Nur al-Din Kianuri, the proponent of an alliance with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The previous first secretary, Iraj Iskandari, had favored the secular liberals, especially the National Front. From 1978 until 1983, the Tudeh supported the Islamic Republic of Iran, even when much of the left denounced the regime as a medieval theocracy.
This support ended abruptly in 1983, in the midst of the Iran - Iraq War, after Khomeini ordered Iranian troops to cross the border into Iraq. As soon as the Tudeh criticized this action, most of the party's leaders and cadres were arrested and tortured into confessing that they were spies and traitors plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic. The most extensive recantation came from Ehsan Tabari, a member of the Fifty-three and the most important intellectual in the Tudeh leadership. Tabari died in prison from heart failure, but 163 of his colleagues were killed - some under torture, others by hanging. A few party leaders escaped to Western Europe, where they continued to be active. They published a biweekly, Nameh-ye Mardom (People's newsletter) and a periodical, Donya (The world), and ran a clandestine radio station. They held a party congress in 1998 in Germany and often sent delegates to international communist meetings.
Tughluqs
Tughluqs. Dynasty of the Delhi sultanate (r.1320- 1414). Sultan Ghiyas ud-Din Tughluq (Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq Shah I) (r.1320-1325), Muhammad bin Tughluq (r.1325-1351), and Firuz Shah Tughluq (r. 1351-1388) were the most outstanding among its eleven sultans.
The Tughluq sultans made a deep impact on the political, social, and economic developments of the period. Although Ghiyas ud-Din and Muhammad bin Tughluq were greater imperialists than Ala ud-Din Khalji, they softened the militaristic aspect of the state and initiated many measures of public welfare. Ghiyas ud-Din Tughluq brought about reform in agrarian administration. Muhammad bin Tughluq formulated a code for agricultural development and established a department for that purpose. Firuz provided irrigational facilities on an extensive scale.
Muhammad bin Tughluq attempted to achieve the political and administrative unity of India and undertook the Qarachil expedition, seeking to complete fortification of vulnerable areas connecting India with China. He established diplomatic relations with West Asian, Central Asian, and even Southeast Asian countries. The empire of Delhi having grown in dimensions during his time, Muhammad bin Tughluq created a second administrative city in the South and named it Daulatabad. Muslim elite administrators, scholars, and mystics were forced to leave Delhi and settle there. The sultan made an experiment in token currency and introduced copper coin in place of silver. Under the influence of Ibn Taimiya, the renowned fundamentalist scholar of Damascus, Muhammad bin Tughluq punished some of the mystics who did not fall in line with his policies. However, he was extremely liberal in his dealings with the Hindus whose festivals he celebrated, and gave endowments to shelters for cows.
Firuz Shah was interested in the preservation of old buildings and the founding of new cities. According to the accounts of Arab travelers, there were one thousand colleges and two thousand mystic centers in Delhi during the time of Muhammad bin Tughluq. The Firuzi College founded by Firuz was an impressive building where free food was given to the students and both teachers and students were required to wear uniforms.
During the later years of Firuz Shah, the empire of Delhi began to decline. After Firuz, Tughluq power began to disintegrate, and centrifugal tendencies appeared. The invasion of Timur in 1398 destroyed the empire’s economic prosperity. The later Tughluqs were unable to cope with the situation and the Tughluq dynasty was replaced by the Sayyids.
The Tughluq rulers were:
1 Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I (Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq) 1321 – 1325
2 Muhammad Shah II (Muhammad bin Tughluq) 1325 – March 20, 1351
2 Mahmud ibn Muhammad March 20, 1351 – March 23, 1351
4 Firuz Shah Tughluq March 23, 1351 – 1388
5 Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II 1388 - February 18, 1389
6 Abu Bakr Shah February 19, 1389 - August 31, 1390
7 Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III August 31, 1390 - January 20, 1394
8 Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah I January 22, 1394 - March 8, 1394
9 Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq (Sultan Mahmud II) March 8, 1394 - 1412 (or February, 1413)
Nusrat Shah, grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq, controlled the western part of the sultanate from Firozabad and Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Tughluq, youngest son of Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad, controlled the eastern part of the sultanate from Delhi from 1394–1398.
9A Nusrat Shah Tughluq 1394-1398
Tughra’i, Mu’ayyid al-Din al-
Tughra’i, Mu’ayyid al-Din al- (Mu’ayyid al-Din al-Tughra’i) (1061-c.1121). Arab poet, calligrapher and alchemist from Isfahan. He is known for a poem in which he complains about the evil times in which he lived. It was perhaps the earliest specimen of Arabic poetry accessible to wider circles in Europe.
Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Tughra'i, was born in Isfahan. He was an important alchemist, poet, and administrative secretary (therefore the name Tughra'i'). He ultimately became the second most senior official (after the vizier) in the civil administration of the Seljuk empire. He was, however, executed, unjustifiably according to most historians, in the year 1121 after a Seljuk power struggle.
Al-Tughra'i is best known for his large compendium titled Mafatih al-rahmah wa-masabih al-hikmah, which incorporated extensive extracts from earlier Arabic alchemical writings, as well as Arabic translations from Zosimos of Panopolis,-- old alchemy treatises written in Greek, which were until 1995 erroneously attributed to unknown alchemists.
In 1112, he also composed Kitab Haqa'iq al-istishhad, a rebuttal of a refutation of alchemy written by Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Mu'ayyid al-Din al-Tughra'i see Tughra’i, Mu’ayyid al-Din al-
Tughril I
Tughril I (Rukn al-Dunya wa’l-Din Tughril I) (Tughril Beg) (Tuğril) (Tuğrul) (Toghrïl Beg) (Togrul) (c. 990–September 4, 1063). First Great Saljuq ruler of Iraq and Persia (r.1038-1063). He entered Nishapur in 1038 at the request of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, who had complained about the robberies of the Oghuz, but he was driven out of the town by the Ghaznavids. After his defeat at Dandanqan in 1040, the Ghaznavid Mas‘ud I was forced to withdraw from Khurasan and leave this province to the Saljuqs. Tughril, who had a certain pre-eminence among the Saljuqs, submitted the Ziyarids of Tabaristan and Gurgan in 1041, conquered Khwarazm and Rayy, and defeated the Buyid Majd al-Dawla, who had still been holding out in the stronghold of Tabaraq. The Buyid Abu Kalijar al-Marzuban made peace with the Saljuqs in 1047. The Marwanids of Diyarbakr submitted to Tughril, and in 1051 he took Isfahan, which he made into his residence. Tabriz and Ganja in Azerbaijan submitted in 1054. Meanwhile, the Buyid Khusraw-Firuz had made secret arrangements at Baghdad with the Fatimids of Egypt, and the ‘Abbasid caliph invited Tughril to march against the capital. Tughril entered Baghdad in 1055 and brought an end to Buyid rule. While he was away in 1058 to fight the Saljuq Ibrahim Inal, who had joined the pro-Fatimid policy of al-Basasiri, the military commander of Baghdad, the latter re-entered the capital, upon which the caliph left the city. Tughril returned in 1059, brought the caliph back and defeated al-Basasiri.
Tuğrul was the second ruler of the Seljuk dynasty. Tuğrul united the Turkomen warriors of the Great Eurasian Steppes into a confederacy of tribes, who traced their ancestry to a single ancestor named Seljuk, and led them in conquest of eastern Iran. He would later establish the Seljuk Sultanate after conquering Persia and retaking the Abbasid Capital of Baghdad from the Buyid Dynasty in 1055. Tuğrul relegated the Abbasid Caliphs to state figureheads and took command of the caliphate's armies in military offensives against the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in an effort to expand his empire's borders and unite the Islamic world.
Tugrul ascended to power in 1016. In 1025 he and his brother Chaghri (Çağrı)served under the Kara-Khanids of Bukhara, but they were defeated by the Ghaznavid Empire under Mahmud of Ghazni, and Toğrul was forced to flee to Khwarezm. When their uncle was later driven out of Khorasan by Mahmud, Toğrul and his brother moved onto Khorasan and conquered the cities of Merv and Nishapur in 1028–1029. They then extended their raids to Bokhara and Balkh and in 1037 sacked Ghazni and in 1038 he was crowned Sultan at Nishapur. In 1040 they decisively won the Battle of Dandanaqan against Mahmud's son, Mas'ud I, forcing Mas'ud I to abandon his western provinces and flee towards Lahore. Toğrul then installed Chagri to govern Khorasan and prevent a Ghaznavid reconquest, then moved on to the conquest of the Iranian plateau in 1040-1044. By 1054, his forces were contending in Anatolia with the Byzantines and in 1055 he was commissioned by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Qa'im (caliph) to recapture Baghdad from the Fatimids. A revolt by Turkmen forces under his foster brother Ibrahim Yinal, Buyid forces and an uprising against the Seljuks led to the loss of the city to the Fatimid Caliph in 1058. Two years later Toğrul crushed the rebellion, personally strangling Ibrahim with his bowstring and entered Baghdad. He then married the daughter of the Abbasid Caliph.
Tugrul died childless in the city of Rayy in modern Iran and was succeeded by his nephew Suleiman which was contested by Alp Arslan, both of them sons of his brother Chagri Begh. His cousin Kutalmish who had both been a vital part of his campaigns and later a supporter of Yinal's rebellion also put forth a claim. Alp Arslan defeated Kutalmish for the throne and succeed on April 27, 1064.
Rukn al-Dunya wa'l-Din Tughril I see Tughril I
Tughril Beg see Tughril I
Tugril see Tughril I
Tugrul see Tughril I
Toghril Beg see Tughril I
Togrul see Tughril I
Tughril II
Tughril II (Rukn al-Din Tughril II ibn Muhammad) (b.1109). Great Saljuq ruler in Iraq and western Persia (r.1132-1134). He plotted against his brother the Great Saljuq Mahmud II and sought refuge with the Great Saljuq Sanjar who installed Tughril as sultan in 1132. The latter however was not a match for his brother Mas‘ud.
Rukn al-Din Tughril II ibn Muhammad see Tughril II
Tughril III
Tughril III (Rukn al-Din Tughril III ibn Arslan) (b. 1168). Last of the Great Saljuqs in Iraq and western Persia (r.1175-1194). He made arrangements with a number of Turkish amirs and seized the Saljuq capital Hamadhan. In 1188, he defeated an army sent from Baghdad, led by the vizier Ibn Yunus, but was taken prisoner by the Ildenizid Qizil Arslan ‘Uthman (r.1186-1191) of Azerbaijan. Tughril III fell in a battle against the Khwarazm Shah Tekish.
Rukn al-Din Tughril III ibn Arslan see Tughril III
Tughril-Shah ibn Qilij Arslan II
Tughril-Shah ibn Qilij Arslan II (d.1225). Rum Saljuq. When his father divided his kingdom among his many sons, Tughril-Shah received the town of Elbistan. In 1200 his brother Rukn al-Din Sulayman II conquered Erzurum, which he handed over to Tughril Shah. He was a vassal of the Georgian king Georgi III Lasha in Tiflis.
Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla (Amin al-Dawla Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah) (Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin) (Tuğtekin) (Toghtekin) (d. February 12, 1128). Founder of the Burid dynasty (r.1104-1128). He became actual ruler after the death of the Saljuq Duqaq (r.1095-1104), thrusting aside the latter’s brother Ertash, who entered into negotiations with king Baldwin I of Jerusalem. He is described by historians as an able and just ruler, and as one of the most dreaded enemies of the Christians.
Toghtekin was a Turkic military leader, who was atabeg of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder of the Burid dynasty of Damascus.
Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin was a junior officer to Tutush I, Seljuk ruler of Damascus and Syria. After the former's death in 1095, civil war erupted, and Toghtekin supported Tutush's son Duqaq as emir of the city against Radwan, the emir of Aleppo. In the chaotic years which ensued Toghtekin was sent to reconquer the town of Jebleh, which had rebelled against the qadi of Tripoli, but he was unable to accomplish his task.
On October 21, 1097, a Crusader army appeared at the gates of Antioch. The local emir, Yaghi-Siyan, though nominally under Radwan's suzerainty, appealed to Duqaq to send an armed force to their rescue. Duqaq sent Toghtekin, but on December 31, 1097, he was defeated by Bohemund of Taranto and Robert Curthose, and was forced to retreat. Another relief attempt was made by a joint force under Kerbogha, the emir of Mosul, and Toghtekin, which was also crushed by the Crusaders on June 28, 1098.
When the Crusaders moved southwards from the newly-conquered Antioch, the qadi of Jebleh sold his town to Duqaq, who installed Toghtekin's son, Taj al-Mulk Buri, as its ruler. His tyrannical rule, however, led to his quick downfall. In 1103 Toghtekin was sent by Duqaq to take possession of Homs at the request of its inhabitants, after the emir Janah al-Dawla had been assassinated by order of Radwan.
The following year Duqaq died and Toghtekin, now acting as regent and de facto ruler, had the former's junior son Tutush II proclaimed emir, while he married Duqaq's widow and reserved for himself the title of atabeg. After deposing Tutush II he had another son of Duqaq, Baqtash, named emir, but soon afterward he had him exiled. Baqtash, with the support of Aitekin, the sahib of Bosra, tried to reconquer Damascus, but was pushed back by Toghtekin and forced to find help at the court of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
Around 1106 Toghtekin intervened to momentarily raise the siege of Tripoli by the Crusaders, but could not prevent the definitive capture of the city. In May 1108 he was able to defeat a small Christian force under Gervaise of Bazoches, lord of Galilee. Gervaise was proposed to be freed in exchange for his possession, but he refused and was executed. In April 1110 Toghtekin besieged and captured Baalbek and named his son Buri as governor.
Late in November 1111, the town of Tyre, which was besieged by Baldwin's troops, put itself under Toghtekin's protection. Toghtekin, supported by Fatimid forces, intervened, forcing the Franks to raise the siege on April 10, 1112. However, he refused to take part in the anti-Crusade effort launched by Mawdud of Mosul, fearing that the latter could take advantage of it to gain rule over the whole of Syria.
Nonetheless, in 1113 the two Muslim commanders allied in reply to the ravages of Baldwin of Jerusalem and Tancred of Hauteville. Their army besieged Tiberias, but they were unable to conquer it despite a sound victory at the Battle of Al-Sannabra, and they were forced to retreat to Damascus when Christian reinforcements arrived and supplies began to run out. During his sojourn in the city, Mawdud was killed by the Hashshashin (October 2, 1113); the inhabitants accused Toghtekin of the deed. In 1114 he signed an alliance against the Franks with the new emir of Aleppo, Alp Arslan, but the latter was also assassinated a short time later.
In 1115 Toghtekin decided to ally himself with the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the Seljuk general Aq Sonqor Bursuqi, who had been sent by the Seljuk sultan to fight the Crusaders. The following year, judging the Franks too powerful, he visited Baghdad to obtain a pardon from the sultan, though never forgetting to remain independent himself between the two main forces.
Allied with Ilghazi of Aleppo, he attacked Athareb in the Christian Principality of Antioch, but was defeated at Hab on August 14, 1119. In the June of the following year he sent help to Ilghazi, who was again under peril of annihilation in the same place. In 1122 the Fatimids, no longer able to defend Tyre, sold it to Toghtekin, who installed a garrison there, but the garrison was unable to prevent its capture by the Christians on July 7, 1124.
In 1125, Bursuqi, now in control of Aleppo, appeared in the Antiochean territory with a large army which Toghtekin joined. However, the two were defeated at the Battle of Azaz on June 11, 1125. The following January Toghtekin also had to repel an invasion by Baldwin II of Jerusalem. In late 1126 he again invaded the Principality of Antioch with Bursuqi, but again with no results.
Toghtekin died in 1128. He was succeeded by his son Buri.
In the Old French cycle of crusade chansons, Toghtekin is known as "Dodequin".
Amin al-Dawla Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah see Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin see Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Tuğtekin see Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Toghtekin see Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Dodequin see Tughtigin ibn ‘Abd Allah, Amin al-Dawla
Tujibids
Tujibids (Banu Tujib). Name of an Arab family, who ruled in Saragossa (r.1019-1029). They became divided into the Banu Hisham of Saragossa and the Banu Sumadih of Almeria.
The Banu Tujibi were a dynasty that were appointed to govern Catalayud in 872, and in 886 were given Saragossa (Zaragoza). This they held as governors (sometimes only nominally, carrying out their own foreign policy) under the Umayyads. The collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba allowed them to found the Taifa of Zaragoza, which they ruled from 1018 until they were expelled by a rival dynasty, the Banu Hud, in 1039.
Banu Tujib see Tujibids
Tukulor
Tukulor (Tukolor) (Toucouleur) (in Arabic, Takrur). Muslim theocracy of the nineteenth century in the western Sudan. The name is a corruption of the local Tokoror or Tokolor and denotes, strictly speaking, the Futa of Senegal. The term may have been derived from the name Takrur, a town in ancient middle Senegal. Islam penetrated to the Futa around 1050 under the influence of the Almoravid movement, and Tukulor became synonymous with Muslim.
The theocratic Tukulor state was founded by Sulayman Bal, who succeeded in casting off Futa suzerainty in 1775. In 1841, a treaty of friendship was signed with France. The state lasted until 1890, when it was annexed to the French colony of Senegal.
The French adopted this term to refer to sedentary peoples who speak Peuhl, but who are of multiple ethnic origins, who settled in the middle valley of the Senegal River (Futa Toro). The Tukolor call themselves the Futanke (“the people of Futa”) or the Hal-Pularen (“those who speak Peuhl”). The term Futankobe is the plural of the term Futanke
In 1801, the Tukulor Usman dan Fodio founded the state of Sokoto. Another Tukulor state was founded by al-Hajj ‘Umar Tal. It was destroyed by the French in 1893.
Tukulor refers to an ethnic group of Muslims in West Africa. Arab geographers called them Takarir, inhabitants of the kingdom of Tekrur. As for themselves, the Tukulor use the term “Haopholaren” (Pholarphone) or “Futankobe,” if they come from Senegal. They speak Fulani (Fulfulde), a West Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo family. They are distinguished from the Fulani by the important role thy played in the history of West African Islam and their sedentary occupations, which contrast with Fulani pastoral nomadism. They are a mixed group through intermarriage with Fulani and, to a lesser extent, Moors and Soninke. The Tukulor’s main concentration is in Senegal, where they inhabit both banks of the Dagana (a tributary of the Senegal River) to halfway between Matam and Bakel. They are numerous also in and around Kayes, Nioro-du-Sahel, in the region of Segu on the Niger River, in eastern Massina and Dinginray.
Islam came to the Tukulor in the eleventh century with the conversion of the ruling class. The common people followed during the next few centuries, and today nearly all Tukulor are Muslims.
In the past the Tukulor have been associated with various Sufi orders. Early in the nineteenth century, the Shadhili was introduced among them by a Fulani cleric, Ali As-Sufi, but they ultimately adopted the Tijani upon the rise of Al-Hajj Umar.
The Tukolor are a Muslim people who mainly inhabit Senegal, with smaller numbers in western Mali. Their origins are complex: they seem basically akin to the Serer and Wolof peoples, and contacts with the Fulani have greatly influenced their development. They speak the Fulani language, called Fula, which belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family.
From the 10th to the 18th century the Tukulor were organized in the kingdom of Tekrur, which, until the emergence of a Tukulor empire in the 18th century, was ruled by a succession of non-Tukulor groups. In the mid-19th century, many Tukulor supported a religious war against other groups in the area and, unsuccessfully, against the French. Defeated, many fled to present-day Mali, where they continue to live.
The Tukulor embraced Islam in the 11th century and take great pride in their strong Islamic tradition. Their social structure is highly stratified and is based primarily on male lineage (patrilineage) groups, which are usually scattered among several villages. The typical household comprises a segment of a patrilineage (usually a father, his sons, and grandchildren), their wives, children, and sometimes more distant kin. The Tukulor are polygynous, although only some 20 percent of males have more than one wife. A bride-price, often substantial if the bride enjoys high social status, is required. High status attaches to membership in a noble lineage or a prosperous family; low status is associated with membership in certain artisan castes or with slave ancestry. Leadership in Muslim religious brotherhoods has in recent times assumed importance in status rankings.
The Tukulor economy rests equally on stock raising, fishing, and cultivating such crops as millet and sorghum. A corollary of the hierarchical social structure is a marked inequality in the distribution of land; and this, together with a steadily rising population, has resulted in the emigration of considerable numbers of youth to the cities.
The Toucouleur Empire (also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor/Toucouleur Empire) was founded in the nineteenth century by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur people, in part of present-day Mali.
Umar Tall returned from the Hajj in 1836 with the titles of El Hadj and caliph of the Tijaniyya brotherhood of the Sudan. After a long stay in Fouta-Toro (present day Senegal), he moved to Dinguiraye (to the east of Fouta Djallon in present-day Guinea), which became the staging ground for his 1850 jihad.
Abandoning his assault on the French colonial army after an 1857 failure to conquer Medina fort, Umar Tall struck out against the Bambara kingdoms with much greater success - first Kaarta and then Segou. Following a decisive victory in the Battle of Segou on March 10, 1861, he made Segou the capital of his empire. A year later he left its management to his son Ahmadu Tall to go conquer Hamdullahi, capital of the Fula empire of Massina. Umar Tall again tasted defeat in a failed attempt to conquer Timbuktu, and retreated to Deguembéré, near Bandiagara of the Dogon region. In 1864, he died there in an explosion of his gunpowder reserves.
His nephew Tidiani Tall succeeded him and installed the capital of the Toucouleur Empire at Bandiagara. At Segou, Ahmadu Tall continued to reign, successfully suppressing the attempts of several neighboring cities to break away, but he found himself in increasing conflict with his brothers.
In 1890, the French, allied with the Bambara, entered Ségou, and Ahmadu fled to Sokoto in present-day Nigeria, marking the effective end of the empire.
Tukolor see Tukulor
Toucouleur see Tukulor
Takrur see Tukulor
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal (Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi). One of the tribal leaders who headed the so-called “apostasy” (in Arabic, ridda) under Caliph Abu Bakr after the Bedouin tribes had renounced their personal allegiance to the Prophet. Tulayha was defeated in the expedition of Qatan in 625, took part in the siege of Medina in 626, but submitted to the Prophet in 630. In 631, he rebelled again, assuming the role of prophet. After the Prophet’s death he was defeated by Khalid ibn al-Walid in 632. On ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab’s election as caliph in634, he came to pay homage, and later took a valiant part in the battles of al-Qadisiyya, Jalula and Nihawand.
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi belonged to the Bani Assad tribe. He was a wealthy chief and a great warrior. In 625, he was defeated in the Expedition of Qatan (against the Muslims). He also took part in the Battle of the Trench in 627. In 630, he submitted to Muhammad. However, he rebelled against Muhammad in 631 when he claimed to be a prophet and the recipient of divine revelation. Thus, Tulayha became the third person to claim prophethood among the Arabs against Muhammad. Many tribes acknowledged him as a prophet, which made him sufficiently strong and powerful to lead a confederacy of numerous tribes against the Muslims. Thereafter, Khalid ibn al-Walid was sent to crush him and his confederacy. The armies of Khalid and Tulayha met at a place named Buzaka in 632. In this engagement, the army of Tulayha was defeated in the Battle of Buzakha. Following this battle, many of the rebellious tribes surrendered and accepted Islam. However, Tulayha escaped from Buzaka and sought refuge in Syria. But when Syria was conquered by the Muslims, Tulayha accepted Islam. In 634, he personally paid homage to Umar after the latter’s assumption of the position of Caliph. Later on, Tulayha enthusiastically took part in the Battle of Jalula, the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah and the Battle of Nahāvand alongside the Muslim armies and later died as a Muslim.
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal al-Asadi see Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nawfal
Tulaytili, Abu’l-Qasim Sa‘id al-
Tulaytili, Abu’l-Qasim Sa‘id al- (Abu'l-Qasim Sa'id al-Tulaytili) (Qadi Sa‘id, al) (1029-1070). Spanish Muslim jurist, historian, mathematician and astronomer. He was judge at Toledo during the rule of the Dhu’l-Nunids, and compiled a history of the sciences, later considered as a first-hand source of information.
Abu'l-Qasim Sa'id al-Tulaytili see Tulaytili, Abu’l-Qasim Sa‘id al-
Qadi Sa‘id, al see Tulaytili, Abu’l-Qasim Sa‘id al-
Tulunids
Tulunids. Arabized Turkish dynasty in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine (r.868-905). Their main capital was Fustat. The founder of the dynasty was the Turkish military slave Tulun, who rose to the office of commander of the household troops at the court of the Abbasids. His son, Ahmad (r.868-884), inherited this office in 854, and in 868 became deputy governor and resident of the caliph in Egypt, where he immediately gained independence. In 877, he occupied Syria and Palestine with the help of mercenary armies. Ahmad ibn Tulun (r.868-884) created a strong army and a naval base at Acre and succeeded in uniting Egypt and Syria under his rule, in virtual independence of the caliphate in Baghdad. His son, Khumavaraih (r. 884-895), gained recognition as governor of Egypt, Syria, and northern son, Harun (896-904), there was a fall from power and battle against the Qaramita. In 905, the Tulunid territory was reconquered by the caliph’s troops in Baghdad. The Tulunid period was one of marked material prosperity and progress, and was in afterdays recalled as a golden age. The dynasty was brought to an end by the caliphal general Muhammad ibn Sulayman.
The Tulunid dynasty was the first local dynasty of Egypt and Syria to exist independently of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate in Baghdad, ruling 868–905. Its founder, Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn, a Turk, arrived in Egypt in 868 as vice governor and promptly (868–872) established a military and financial foothold in the province by organizing an independent Egyptian army and securing the management of the Egyptian and Syrian treasuries. Insufficient payment of tribute brought caliphal troops against him in 877, but Aḥmad maintained his position by occupying Syria (878). During his rule (868–884), the most significant in Ṭūlūnid history, the provinces developed agriculturally, commerce and industry were encouraged, and the artistic traditions of the ʿAbbāsids of Baghdad and Sāmarrāʾ were introduced into western Islām. A public building program was initiated, in which Al-Qaṭāʾīʿ, the Ṭūlūnid capital, and the great Mosque of Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn were constructed. The mosque, modeled after the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil in Sāmarrāʾ, is made of brick and plaster, materials rarely used previously in Egyptian architecture but popular in Iraq.
The subsequent Ṭūlūnids, Khumārawayh (884–896), Jaysh (896), Hārūn (896–905), and Shaybān (905), were ineffectual rulers, totally reliant on a Turkish-black military caste. Under the administration of Khumārawayh, Aḥmad’s son, the Syro-Egyptian state’s financial and military stability was destroyed, and the state finally reverted to the ʿAbbāsids in 905.
After the fall of the Ṭūlūnids, the arts in Egypt deteriorated and did not recover until the Fāṭimids took power. They were strongly influenced by the Ṭūlūnids and, by the 11th century, had made Egypt the cultural center of western Islām.
The Tulunids were the first independent dynasty in Islamic Egypt (868–905 AD), when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid dynasty that ruled the Islamic Caliphate during that time. In the 9th century, internal conflict amongst the Abbasids meant that control of the outlying areas of the empire was increasingly tenuous, and in 868 the Turkic officer Ahmad ibn Tulun established himself as an independent governor of Egypt. He subsequently achieved nominal autonomy from the central Abbasids. During his reign (868–884) and those of his successors, the Tulunid domains were expanded to include Palestine and Syria, as well as small holdings in Asia Minor. Ahmad was succeeded by his son Khumarawayh, whose military and diplomatic achievements made him a major player in the Middle Eastern political stage. The Abbasids affirmed their recognition of the Tulunids as legitimate rulers, and the dynasty's status as vassals to the caliphate. After Khumarawayh's death, his successor emirs were ineffectual rulers, allowing their Turkic and black slave-soldiers to run the affairs of the state. In 905, the Tulunids were unable to resist an invasion by the Abbasid troops, who restored direct caliphal rule in Syria and Egypt.[1][2]
The Tulunid period was marked by economic and administrative reforms alongside cultural ones. Ahmad ibn Tulun changed the taxation system and aligned himself with the merchant community. He also established the Tulunid army. The capital was moved from Fustat to al-Qatta'i, where the celebrated mosque of Ibn Tulun was constructed.
Tuman Bay II, al-Ashraf
Tuman Bay II, al-Ashraf (al-Ashraf Tuman Bay II). Last of the Mameluke sultans (r.1516-1517). After the defeat of his predecessor Qansawh al-Ghawri by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I at Marj Dabiq in 1516, he restored order and was unanimously elected sultan. Sultan Selim offered peace, wanting only to be recognized as suzerain. Tuman Bay wished to submit, but Selim’s envoys were put to death by the Egyptian amirs, making the continuation of the war inevitable. The Mameluke army was defeated and Cairo plundered. Tuman Bay fled to Upper Egypt, again entered into negotiation with Selim I, who promised to retire provided his name was put on the coins and mentioned in the Friday service. But the Ottoman envoys again were put to death, and the war continued. After an initial Mameluke success, Tuman Bay’s forces were crushed by the Turkish artillery, a new weapon despised by the Mamelukes. The Mamelukes sultan finally was betrayed by a Bedouin chief. Selim I was impressed by his noble bearing and was inclined to give him his life, but had him hanged at Bab Zuwaylain Cairo on the advice of the Egyptian amirs who had gone over to him.
As late as 1968, some Copts still observed the anniversary of Tuman's death as "Holy Friday."
Ashraf Tuman Bay II, al- see Tuman Bay II, al-Ashraf
Tunisi, Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Sulayman al-
Tunisi, Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Sulayman al- (Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Sulayman al-Tunisi) (1789-1857). Tunisian Arab scholar. Born in Tunis, he stayed for a number of years in Dar Fur and returned to Tunis in 1813. From there he moved to Cairo where he entered the service of Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha. He left valuable descriptions of Dar Fur and Wada’i.
Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Tunisi see Tunisi, Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Sulayman al-
Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Sulayman al-Tunisi see Tunisi, Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ibn Sulayman al-
Tunjur
Tunjur (Tungur). Tradition, supported by archaeological remains, records the existence of a Tunjur kingdom seated in northern Darfur (Sudan), powerful in the sixteenth century and destroyed by the rising power of the Fur at the beginning of the seventeenth century. A perhaps less important Tunjur kingdom flourished in Wadai (Chad) at about the same time until it was ended by the Maba supporters of Abd al-Karim early in the seventeenth century. The Tunjur, or at least some of them, migrated to the west and settled among the Kanembu of Mao (Kanem), where they failed in trying to found an autonomous kingdom.
It is their pride in past glories and bitterness against those who later oppressed them which today prevent the few remaining Tunjur from disappearing altogether.
The Tunjur are zealous Muslims and may be described as orthodox Sunni following the Maliki school of jurisprudence and following mainly the teachings of the Risala. Traces of pre-Islamic rituals do exist and deserve further research, but this is a difficult and sensitive matter.
The Tunjur are a Muslim people, living in central Darfur, a province of Sudan. They are mainly farmers, and closely associated with the Fur, even if differently from these they have been fully Arabized. Like the Fur and the Zaghawa, after the start of the Darfur conflict in February 2003, many Tunjur were displaced and some killed. A number of Tunjur took part to the fight against the Sudanese government fighting under the banners of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).
Historically, the Tunjur were one of the ruling dynasties of Darfur, circa 1200-1600. Little is known about them, or about their predecessors (the Daju) or their successors (the Keira), beyond the fact that they were probably centralized, slave-based polities sharing a fondness for stone walling. The precise timing of Islamization is unclear.
It is not known why the Tunjur dynasty collapsed, apparently in the late sixteenth century. Oral tradition suggests that the last Tunjur ruler Shau Dorshid was driven out by his own subjects because of his dispiriting habit of making them cut the tops off mountains for him to build palaces on. His capital is said to have been the site of Ain Farah, which lies in the Furnung Hills some 130 kilometers north-west of El Fasher and comprises large-scale stone and brick walling. It has an enduring appeal and has been visited or described many times. Ain Farah moved one author to quote Macaulay – “like an eagle’s nest that hangs on the crest”, for it is built some 100 meters above the spring, is characterized by several hundred brick and stone structures and terraces, and is defended by steep ridges and by a massive stone wall three or four kilometers long. There is a brick and stone edifice which appears to have served as a mosque, a large stone group which may have served as a public building, and a main group on the highest point of the ridge, described variously as a royal residence or military defense.
Tungur see Tunjur
Tun Mahmud
Tun Mahmud. Raja muda of Johor (1708-1718). The younger brother of Sultan Abdul Jalil Riayat Syah, Tun Mahmud was a highly able and ambitious ruler. His aggressive policy was designed to legitimize the new regime by gaining wealth and power through control of the internal traffic of the straits and by drawing foreign trade to Johor’s port-capital, which he re-established at Riau. His policies antagonized Dutch Melaka and alienated two groups of recent immigrants to the straits area, the Minangkabau of Siak, who resented his interference in their trade with Melaka, and the Bugis of Selangor. These conflicts, combined with the weakness of the new regime, led to his defeat and death in a rebellion of 1718.
Mahmud, Tun see Tun Mahmud.
Turabi, Hasan al-
Turabi, Hasan al- (Hasan al-Turabi) (Hassan Turabi) (Hassan al-Turabi) (Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi) (al-Duktūr Ḥassan 'Abd Allah at-Turābī) (Hassan al-Tourabi) (b. 1932). Sudanese Islamist and political leader. Hasan al-Turabi was born in central Sudan and grew up in a particularly devout Muslim family. He received an Islamic education from his father as well as a standard modern education, going on to study law at the universities of Khartoum, London, and the Sorbonne. He joined Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood as a student in the early 1950s and came to prominence during the popular uprising of October 1964. The brotherhood subsequently founded a small but vociferous party, the Islamic Charter Front, through which al-Turabi pushed for an Islamic constitution.
The military coup of 1969 was a setback, and al-Turabi later went into exile, but in 1977 President Ja‘far Nimeiri sought reconciliation with al-Turabi and his brother-in-law Sadiq al-Mahdi. Al-Turabi became attorney general and encouraged the Muslim Brothers to move into many areas of public life, including the new Islamic banks and the armed forces. Many Sudanese believed al-Turabi was behind Nimeiri’s introduction of Islamic law in September 1983. However, Nimeiri broke with al-Turabi and imprisoned him shortly before the popular uprising of 1985 in which Nimeiri was overthrown.
In the 1986 elections al-Turabi’s party, now known as the National Islamic Front (NIF), came third, but it was clearly the rising force in Sudanese politics. For the next three years the NIF was in an out of Sadiq al-Mahdi’s weak coalition governments, but the party remained determined to develop Sudan as an Islamic state, even at the expense of perpetuating the civil war in the south. It was widely believed that it was the prospect of a secularizing compromise with the south which precipitated the NIF backed coup of June 30, 1989 (although al-Turabi was briefly imprisoned along with other leaders of the officially banned parties). Since 1989, he has been seen as the mastermind behind Sudan’s effort to establish an Islamic state, even though he has held no formal position in the government.
Al-Turabi never published a comprehensive account of his thought, but his various writings and pronouncements presented a relatively liberal interpretation of Islam, including a belief in democracy and pluralism. He did not repudiate this line of thought. However, the regime for which he regularly spoke, both in Sudan and abroad, was widely seen as the most restrictive since independence in 1956. Parliamentary democracy was abolished by the military, which forcibly repressed not only political parties but also many independent groups in civil society in promoting its Islamic revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood became dominant not only in government but also in the civil service, the professions, and the economy. Feared by neighborning Arab states as a promoter of radical Islamic activism, the new regime cooperated in turn with Libya, Iraq, and Iran; and the latter connection in particular supported government victories in the civil war in the south in 1992.
Al-Turabi won a reputation for pragmatism and flexibility in the pursuit of resurgent Islam, which he sought expand not only in Sudan but also in neighboring African and Arab countries. His success in building the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan before 1989 enabled the military regime to pursue its islamizing policies. These actions entrenched the brotherhood within the country and made it a wider force for the promotion of radical Islamic fundamentalism throughout North and East Africa.
After receiving a law degree at Gordon Memorial College (later the University of Khartoum)—where, in the early 1950s, he joined the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood—he pursued graduate studies at the University of London and the Sorbonne in Paris. While teaching law at the University of Khartoum, he participated in the 1964 revolution that ended military rule. He later served in the national legislature (1965–67). He supported the 1985 overthrow of Gaafar Mohamed el-Nimeiri. That same year he formed the National Islamic Front (NIF), an incarnation of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1989 the NIF supported a coup that brought ʿUmar Ḥasan al-Bashīr to power. He later served as speaker of the National Assembly (1996–99), but political hostilities between Turābī and Bashīr led to the dissolution of parliament and a subsequent power struggle. Turābī was arrested and imprisoned in 2001; although he was freed in October 2003, he was arrested over an alleged coup plot several months after his release and held until mid-2005. Conflict with Bashīr persisted thereafter, and Turābī continued to experience periodic arrests and detainment in the years that followed.
After a political falling out with President Omar al-Bashir in 1999, Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy before being released in October 2003. He was again imprisoned in the Kober (Cooper) prison in Khartoum in March 2004. He was released on June 28, 2005.
In 2004, Turabi was reported to have been associated with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), an Islamist armed rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict. Turabi himself denied these claims.
In 2006, al-Turabi made international headlines when he issued a fatwa allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, in contradiction to the accepted Sharia law.
After the JEM attacked Khartoum and Omdurman on May 10, 2008, Turabi was arrested on the morning of May 12, 2008, along with other members of his Popular Congress Party (PCP). He said that he had expected the arrest, which occurred while he was returning to Khartoum from a PCP gathering in Sennar. He was questioned and released without charge later in the day, after about 12 hours in detention.
Presidential advisor Mustaf Osman Ismail said that Turabi's name had been found on JEM documents, but he denied that Turabi had been arrested, asserting that he had merely been "summoned" for questioning. Turabi, however, said that it was an arrest and that he had been held at Kober. According to Turabi, he was questioned regarding the relationship between the PCP and JEM, but he did not answer this question, although he denied that there was a relationship after his release. Turabi also said that he was asked why he did not condemn the rebel attack. He said that the security officers questioning him had "terrified" him and that, although they claimed to have proof against him, they did not show him this proof when he asked to see it.
In an interview on May 17, 2008, Turabi described the JEM's attack on Khartoum as "positive" and said that there was "so much misery in Darfur, genocidal measures actually". He also said that the JEM attack could spark more unrest.
On January 12, 2009, Turabi called on Bashir to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court for the sake of the country, while holding Bashir politically responsible for war crimes in Darfur. He was then arrested on January 14 and held in prison for two months (until March 8) at the Kober prison before being moved to Port Sudan prison. During this time members of his family expressed concern about his health and his being held in solitary confinement at least some of the time. Amnesty International also released a statement about Turabi's arrest on January 16, describing it as "arbitrary" and politically motivated. Noting Turabi's advanced age and his need for medication and a special diet. The Sudanese Media Center reported on January 19 that Turabi would be put on trial for his alleged assistance to the JEM.
On March 8, 2009, Turabi was released only days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir. On April 11, 2009, the PCP called for the creation of a transitional government to lead Sudan to the planned 2010 election, and Turabi suggested that he would not stand as a candidate due to his advanced age. He emphasized the importance of leadership coming from younger generations and said that he did not have enough energy to run. In April al-Turabi was stopped at Khartoum airport and prevented from travelling to Paris for medical tests despite having obtained permission to travel from the interior ministry.
Turabi announced on January 2, 2010, that the PCP had designated his deputy, Abdullah Deng Nial, as its candidate for the 2010 presidential election. Turabi was again arrested in mid May 2010, but was released on July 1, 2010.
Hasan al-Turabi see Turabi, Hasan al-
Hassan Turabi see Turabi, Hasan al-
Hassan al-Turabi see Turabi, Hasan al-
Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi see Turabi, Hasan al-
Duktūr Ḥassan 'Abd Allah at-Turābī, al- see Turabi, Hasan al-
Hassan al-Tourabi see Turabi, Hasan al-
Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub
Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub (Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din) (Turan-Shah) (d. 1180). Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty of Yemen (r.1174-1176). His brother Saladin sent him to Yemen, where he conquered Zabid, Aden and San‘a’. Not feeling comfortable there, he urgently requested Saladin for a transfer, and became governor of Damascus in 1176, where he spent three years. He died at Alexandria.
Turan-Shah was the Ayyubid governor of Yemen (1174-1176), then Damascus (1176-1179). He is noted for strengthening the position of his younger brother, Saladin, in Egypt and playing the leading role in the Ayyubid conquests of both Nubia and Yemen. Like many of the Ayyubids, little is known of his early life before his arrival in Egypt.
Nur ad-Din Zangi, the Sultan of Syria at the time, allowed Turan-Shah to join Saladin in Egypt where he was vizier to the Fatimid caliph in 1171 when tensions between Nur al-Din and Saladin were rising. Nur al-Din empowered Turan-Shah to supervise Saladin, hoping to provoke dissension between the brothers. However, this attempt failed as Turan-Shah was immediately granted an immense amount of lands by Saladin who was in the process of reforming the power structure of the Fatimid state around him and his relatives. The iqta' or "fief" given to Turan-Shah composed of the major cities of Qus and Aswan in Upper Egypt as well as the Red Sea port of Aidab. Turan-Shah was the main force behind the deposition of a revolt staged in 1171 by the Black African garrisons of the Fatimid army in 1171.
Turan-Shah developed a close relationship with the poet courtier 'Umara, who had been a power player in Fatimid politics before Saladin's ascendancy to the vizierate in 1169. On September 11, 1171, the last Fatimid caliph al-Adid died and the Ayyubid dynasty gained official control of Egypt. A number of accusations of murder against Turan-Shah arose following his death. According to a eunuch in the service of al-Adid's widow, al-Adid died after hearing that Turan-Shah was in the palace looking for him. In another version, Turan-Shah is said to have killed al-Adid himself after the latter refused to reveal the location of state treasures that were hidden in the palace. After his death, Turan-Shah settled in Cairo in a quarter formerly occupied by Fatimid emirs.
The Nubians and Egyptians had long been engaged in a series of skirmishes along the border region of the two countries in Upper Egypt. After the Fatimids were deposed, tensions rose as Nubian raids against Egyptian border towns grew bolder ultimately leading to the siege of the valuable city of Aswan by former Black Fatimid soldiers in late 1172-early 1173. The governor of Aswan, a former Fatimid loyalist, requested help from Saladin.
Saladin dispatched Turan-Shah with a force of Kurdish troops to relieve Aswan, but the Nubian soldiers had already departed. Nonetheless, Turan-Shah conquered the Nubian town of Ibrim and began to conduct a series of raids against the Nubians. His attacks appear to have been highly successful, resulting in the Nubian king based in Dongola, requesting an armistice with Turan-Shah. Apparently eager for conquest, he was unwilling to accept the offer until his own emissary had visited the King of Nubia and reported that the entire country was poor and not worth occupying. Although the Ayyubids would be forced to take future actions against the Nubians, Turan-Shah set his sights on more lucrative territories. He managed to acquire considerable wealth in Egypt after his campaign against Nubia, bringing back with him many Nubian and Christian slaves.
Following his success in Nubia, Turan-Shah still sought to establish a personal holding for himself while Saladin was facing an ever increasing amount of pressure from Nur al-Din who seemed to be attempting to invad.e Egypt. Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Saladin's aide, suggested that there was a heretical leader in Yemen who was claiming to be the messiah, and that this was the principal reason that Saladin dispatched Turan-Shah to conquer the region. While this is likely, it also appears 'Umara had considerable influence on Turan-Shah's desire to conquer Yemen and may have been the one who pushed him to gain Saladin's approval to use such a large part of the military forces in Egypt when the showdown with Nur al-Din seemed to be so near. Turan-Shah's departure from Egypt did not bode well for his adviser, 'Umara, however, as the poet found himself caught up in an alleged conspiracy against Saladin and was executed
Turan-Shah set out in 1174 and quickly conquered the town of Zabid in May and the strategic port city of Aden (a crucial link in trade with India, the Middle East, and North Africa) later that year. In 1175, he drove out the Hamdanid emir, Ali ibn Hakim al-Wahid, from Sana'a after the latter's army was weakened by continuous raids from the Zaidi tribes of Sa'dah. Turan-Shah then devoted much of his time to securing the whole of southern Yemen and bringing it firmly under the control of the Ayyubids. Although al-Wahid managed to escape Yemen through its northern highlands, Yasir, the head of the Shia Banu Karam tribe that had ruled Aden was arrested and executed on Turan-Shah's orders. The Kharijite rulers of Zabid—Mahdi Abd al-Nabi and his two brothers—shared the same fate. Turan-Shah's conquest held great significance for Yemen which was previously divided into three states (Sana'a, Zabid, and Aden) and was united by the Ayyubid occupation.
Although Turan-Shah had succeeded in acquiring his own territory in Yemen, he had clearly done so at the expense of his power in Cairo. Saladin rewarded him with rich estates in Yemen as his personal property. Turan-Shah did not feel comfortable in Yemen, however, and repeatedly requested from his brother to be transferred. In 1176, he obtained a transfer to Syria which he governed from Damascus. In addition, he was given large fiefs in Baalbek that used to belong to his father Najm ad-Din Ayyub.
Upon leaving Yemen, the administrator of his estates there was unable to promptly transfer the revenue from his properties to Turan-Shah. Instead, he left Turan-Shah behind roughly 200,000 dinars in debt, but this was paid off by Saladin. In 1179, he was transferred to govern Alexandria and died soon after on June 27, 1180. His body was taken by his sister Sitt al-Sham Zumurrud to be buried beside a madrasa built by her in Damascus.
Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din see Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub
Turan-Shah see Turan-Shah ibn Ayyub
