Shirkuh enters Egypt, Shawar is killed, and Shirkuh takes the vizierate

دخول شيركوه مصر وقتل شاور وولايته الوزارة

c. 1168 CE · 564 AH

In Rabīʿ I Shirkuh entered Egypt with the Nūrid armies and took it. The Franks had stormed Bilbays — killing and enslaving — then besieged Cairo while Shawar burned Fusṭāṭ (the fire ran fifty-four days) and bought their withdrawal for a promised million dinars; al-ʿĀḍid had sent his womenfolk's hair to Nūr al-Dīn begging rescue. When Shirkuh arrived Shawar was killed — as commonly told, Saladin's hand at his uncle's order — and Shirkuh took the vizierate, dealt justly with the people, then died days later, choked, it was said, on a feast of rich food ¹.

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The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

In space

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

In Rabi al-Awwal 564 AH, Asad al-Din Shirkuh took control of the land of Egypt with Nur al-Din's troops, after he had defeated the Franks at Bilbays. The Franks had besieged Cairo, and Shawar had set fire to the city of Misr; the fire burned there for fifty-four days. Al-Adid had appealed to Nur al-Din by sending locks of his women's hair. Shawar then made peace with the Franks for a million dinars, and they withdrew. When Shirkuh arrived, Shawar was killed and the vizierate was given in his place. The new vizier ruled justly among the people for some days, then died. ¹

Connections

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Occurred at: Misr (Egypt)· Cairo
Had participant: أسد الدين شيركوه· شاور صاحب مصر· Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)· al-Adid li-Din Allah, last Ubaydid caliph· Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zangi

People and things also explored

death of Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh — Saladin chosen vizier in his place· Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt· The Burning of al-Fustat, the Vizierate of Shirkuh, then Salah al-Din· the hidden estrangement between Nūr al-Dīn and Saladin· Asad al-Din Shirkuh's first expedition to Egypt· the Ayyubid shuffle — al-Adil to Aleppo, al-Aziz to Egypt· The Frankish siege of Damietta (564 AH)· The battle of the Sudan between the two palaces

Sources

al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , p. 11-15

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Shirkuh enters Egypt, Shawar is killed, and Shirkuh takes the vizierate”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/shawar-killed-shirkuh-vizier-564/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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death of Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh — Saladin chosen vizier in his place

Shīrkūh died days into his vizierate — said to have choked on the rich marrow he loved. Al-ʿĀḍid invested his nephew Saladin Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, the youngest of the emirs, because the Nūrid commanders had written recommending him: they saw his humility, his good conduct, his kindness to his companions.