A Kurdish ruler of Egypt and Syria and a hero of the Crusade wars against the Christian and conqueror of Jerusalem. Salahuddin known to the West as Saladin, served with Nuruddin who had undertaken a holy war to unify Syria. After the death of Nuruddin in 1174 Salahuddin began the conquests of the Frankish lands, occupied Damascus and by 1185 he had imposed his authority in Syria and Mesopotamia and had subdued such Western rulers as Baldwin and Raymond of Tripoli. The betrayal of a peace treaty by the Christians made him declare Jihad in 1187. He secured an overwhelming victory over the combined Christian forces at Hattin near Tiberias in July 1187. Christian towns of Hattin, Acre, Sidon, Jaffa, Cacsarea, Ascalon fell into Muslim hands and Jerusalem was occupied on 2nd October 1187. He employed diplomacy and sword to achieve his mission. King Richard of England tried to take back Jerusalem along with the Franks in 1192, but was unable to do so. An armistice followed and Richard gave his daughter in marriage to Salahuddin's brother. Salahuddin was generous and human in victory and even his adversaries respected the manner in which he treated his enemies and kept his promises. His tolerance was exemplary. He allowed Christians pilgrims in Jerusalem after its fall. The great Jewish sage Maimonides was his physician. It was Salahuddin who carried on the work of Nuruddin Zangi and completed the unity of Muslim. Even the Europeans considered him a paragon of chivalry. (see Watter Scott's Talisman). Salah-al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub or Sallahuddin was buried close by Ummayad mosque in Damascus.