(Salah al Din)
(1137-1193)
Although he thought of himself primarily as a Muslim, Saladin was arguably the greatest and most famous Kurd who ever lived. Born in Tikrit (ironically the hometown of Saddam Hussein), Saladin was a tribal Kurd who earned fame as a Muslim warrior.
In 1171, he overthrew the Shiite Fatimid caliphate in Egypt and established the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Saladin, of course, gained his greatest fame in the West as the chivalrous and generous Muslim leader who defeated the Christian Crusaders in the famous Battle of Hattin (near Tiberias) in modern Israel and regained the holy city of Jerusalem for Islam.
Saladin also constructed fine mosques, restored irrigation systems, patronized literature and learning, and was an able theological disputant. His descendants continued to rule Egypt until 1249 and Syria until 1260. In addition, the meliks of Hasankeyf in what is now Turkey descended from the Ayyubids.
Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Michael M. Gunter.