Mısır

Egypt is a region located in North Africa that held a central position in the Islamic period of Kurdish history —especially during and after the Ayyubid era. It stands out as both a political center of power and a center of science and culture where scholars and historians who contributed to Kurdish history were trained.

Egypt's entry into Islamic rule dates back to the early conquest period. The conquest campaign launched towards Iraq and Syria during the reign of Hz. Abu Bakr was completed with the capture of Syria, al-Jazira, and Egypt from the Byzantine Empire during the caliphate of Hz. Umar (634-644) (Cilt 1, s. 87).

The region's strongest connection with Kurdish history was established through the Ayyubid State. The Ayyubid State, whose foundations were laid by Selâhaddîn Yûsuf b. Necmeddîn Eyyûb b. Şâdî, shortly after seizing power in Egypt in 564/1169, brought a significant part of Hijaz, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, North Africa, and al-Jazira under its rule. The territories of the state, founded at a time when the Franks threatened the East, became the primary target of the Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Crusades; the dynasty, which waged an extraordinary struggle to stop the Crusaders, established a powerful civilization by patronizing scholars and cultural activities despite the exhausting war conditions (Cilt 1, s. 151).

Under Ayyubid rule, Egypt became a center where important bureaucrats, scribes, and scholars of the era gathered. Kâdî el-Fâzıl, one of the most influential bureaucrats and intellectuals of Selâhaddîn's era, remained in Egypt in 1189-90 to control the financial administration and reorganize the army and navy (Cilt 1, s. 156); his work, which recorded his activities in the Egyptian dîvans and economic developments in the form of diaries, is among the foremost first-hand sources for the Selâhaddîn period (Cilt 1, s. 157). Üsâme b. Münkız, after staying in Egypt for ten years, returned to Dımaşk and entered the service of Nûreddîn Mahmûd Zengî (Cilt 1, s. 153). Abdüllatîf el-Bağdâdî also went to Egypt in 1195 with the retinue of Selâhaddîn's son, el-Melikü'l-Azîz, and made good use of his time there by meeting with leading scholars of the era (Cilt 1, s. 164). His work, el-İfâde ve'l-İ'tibâr, is an important source for the cultural history of Egypt during the Ayyubid period, especially the Selâhaddîn era; the work states that Emîr Karakuş, one of Selâhaddîn's commanders, demolished numerous small pyramids, and their stones were used to build the city walls of Kahire and Fustat and the Kahire Kalesi (Cilt 1, s. 165). The Andalusian traveler İbn Cübeyr also spent the last years of his life in Egypt and died in İskenderiye in 614/1217 (Cilt 1, s. 162).

Egypt was a center of learning where numerous scholars and historians who contributed to Kurdish history lived. İbn Haldûn spent the last twenty-four years of his life in Kahire and died there on 26 Ramazan 808 (17 Mart 1406) (Cilt 1, s. 126). Belazurî's grandfather served as a scribe in Egypt during the time of Hârûnürreşîd (Cilt 1, s. 89).

In Antik times, Egypt was also home to geographers and thinkers who provided information about the region. The famous geographer Claudius Ptolemy (Batlamyus, AD 90-168) was born in Egypt in AD 90 (Cilt 1, s. 34). The Byzantine-era historian Theophylact Simocatta is also believed to have been of Egyptian origin and to have received legal and philosophical education in İskenderiye during his childhood (Cilt 1, s. 40).