Al-Aziz Muhammad ibn Ghazi ( – 26 November 1236) was the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...

Emir of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

and the son of

az-Zahir Ghazi Al-Malik az-Zahir Ghiyath ud-din Ghazi ibn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (commonly known as az-Zahir Ghazi; 1172 – 8 October 1216) was the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo between 1186 and 1216.

and grandson of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...

. His mother was

Dayfa Khatun Dayfa Khatun ( ar, ضيفة خاتون; died 1242) was Ayyubid princess, and the regent of Aleppo from 26 November 1236 to 1242, during the minority of her grandson An-Nasir Yusuf. She was an Ayyubid princess, as the daughter of Al-Adil, Sultan o ...

, the daughter of Saladin's brother

al-Adil Al-Adil I ( ar, العادل, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Abu-Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad-Din Ayyub, ar, الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب,‎ "Ahmed, son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Bakr, the Just K ...

. Al-Aziz was aged just three when his father az-Zahir Ghazi died in 1216 at the age of forty-five. He immediately inherited his father's position as ruler of Aleppo. A regency council was formed, which appointed Shihab ad-Din Toghrul as his ''atabeg'' or guardian. Toghril was a ''

mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

'' of az-Zahir Ghazi and the effective ruler of Aleppo for the next fifteen years.

Reign

Al-Aziz did not take actual control of power until the age of seventeen, at which point he retained Toghril as his treasurer. In general, he avoided becoming drawn into the complex disputes between different members of the Ayyubid dynasty, and concentrated instead on strengthening the defenses and infrastructure of Aleppo. Among the construction works begun by az-Zahir Ghazi and completed by al-Aziz Muhammad were the re-fortification of the citadel, and, within it, the building of the palace, the mosque, the arsenal and the water cisterns. Al-Aziz is known to have married Fatima Khatun, daughter of

al-Kamil Al-Kamil ( ar, الكامل) (full name: al-Malik al-Kamil Naser ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad) (c. 1177 – 6 March 1238) was a Muslim ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Cr ...

, who apparently shared his passion for building and commissioned the construction of two madrasas in Aleppo. In 1232, shortly after al-Aziz attained his majority, Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt gathered a major force bringing together armies from across the Ayyubid confederation to attack

Diyar Bakr Diyar Bakr ( ar, دِيَارُ بَكرٍ, Diyār Bakr, abode of Bakr) is the medieval Arabic name of the northernmost of the three provinces of the Jazira ( Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Mudar and Diyar Rabi'a. According to th ...

. Aleppo was the only emirate which stood aloof and contributed no troops. However, in 1234, Al Aziz did furnish units which he contributed to another army led by al-Kamil which went out to invade Anatolia, probably heading for

Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city h ...

. Al-Aziz did not himself take part in the campaign, which in any case was driven back by the Seljuq forces of Sultan Ala ad-Din Kayqubad.

Death

Al-Aziz died on 26 November 1236 at the age of twenty-three. His eldest son,

an-Nasir Yusuf An-Nasir Yusuf ( ar, الناصر يوسف; AD 1228–1260), fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy (), was the Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236� ...

, was only seven years old, so al-Aziz's mother

assumed the regency. Al-Aziz's daughter, Ghaziya Khatun, married the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, Kaykhusraw II.Humphreys,R. S. From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193-1260, SUNY Press 1977 p.389

References

{{Ayyubid dynasty 1236 deaths 13th-century Kurdish people 13th-century Ayyubid rulers Ayyubid emirs of Aleppo Medieval child rulers Year of birth unknown