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THE KARAK PLATEAU IN THE AYYUBID AND
MAMLUK PERIODS (1188-1516
C.E)
Note: Make yourself familiar with
the names of places and regions on the map below before
reading the text. For more detailed information on the
geographical extent of the Ayyubid and Mamluk empires, see the
historical atlases cited in the bibliography. All dates are
Common Era. Introduction
 In 1188 the Crusader soldiers and other inhabitants of the
castle of Karak (known in Crusader sources as Petra of the
Desert or Crac de Montréal) capitulated to the armies of the
sultan Salāh al-Dīn ibn Ayyūb (known in European history as
Saladin). The other castles of the Crusader barony of
Oultrejourdain including Montréal (Arabic: Shawbak), Vallem de
Messa (Arabic: Wu`ayra), Traphyla (Arabic: Tafila), Ahamant
(Arabic: `Ammān) and Celle (Arabic: Qusayr Sila`) surrendered in
1188 and the following year.
From this date onward the Karak plateau and the other regions of
Jordan remained under the control of Muslim rulers. Members of
the Ayyubid family controlled Karak from 1188 until 1263. In
1263 Karak and its surrounding regions were incorporated into
the Mamluk sultanate. The Mamluk period in Syria ended with the
victory of the armies of the Ottoman sultan Selim at the battle
of Marj Dābiq (in northern Syria) in 1516. In 1517 the Ottoman
army took Cairo, the capital of the Mamluk sultanate.
The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a period of
considerable prosperity in Jordan. At this time, the castle of
Karak [
Photo] played its most important role in the political
life of the Middle East. In order to understand this parallel
development it is necessary to consider the wider geographical
and political environment at this time. With the construction of
the castle by the Crusader lord, Pagan, after 1142, Karak became
the administrative and military center of a region that covered
the lands south of the Wādī Zarqa’ and east of the Jordan Valley
and Dead Sea valley [
Photo], as well as Hebron (Arabic: Khalīl)
in Palestine. In later periods Karak continued in this role as
the regional capital of Jordan. The importance of the lands of
Balqa’ (the area between the Wādī Zarqā’ and the Wādī al-Mūjib),
the Karak plateau, and the lands south of the Wādī al-Hasā was
both economic and strategic in nature. On the economic side, the
provided abundant quantities of wheat, barley, olives and fruit
(the Karak plateau had been the breadbasket of the Crusader
Kingdom before 1188). In the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas
this was supplemented by valuable crops such as sugar and indigo
and mineral resources such as salt, bitumen and, possibly,
copper. The bedouin tribes of the eastern Syrian desert (Arabic:
Bādiya al-Shām) not only raised large numbers of horses, camels
and sheep [
Photo] but also were employed as auxiliary troops.
 The location of Karak made it of crucial strategic importance.
In the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Crusaders
regained their strongholds on the coast of Palestine and Syria.
Karak thus became one of the border regions of this enemy state
guarding the passes across the Jordan valley and around the
south end of the Dead Sea. The castle housed garrisons and
functioned as an arsenal for weapons used in campaigns against
the Crusaders. The major trade route of the King’s Highway
(Arabic: Darb al-Malik) passed through the territories
controlled by Karak. This road carried much of the
commercial traffic passing between Cairo and Damascus, and every
year many pilgrims from Syria used the road south for the annual
pilgrimage (Arabic: hajj) to the Holy Cities of Mecca and
Medina. It was the responsibility of the officials in Karak and
other military sites along the King’s Highway to ensure that the
road remained safe for travellers. The Mongol invasions of Syria
in the second half of the thirteenth century further emphasized
the important role played by Karak. The town became one of the
main meeting points between state officials and the bedouin
tribes of the eastern desert. These groups performed valuable
services gathering intelligence about future military
expeditions by the Mongol army in Iraq.
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