Bahaaeddin Qaraqosh the builder of the Cairo Citadel

Bahaaeddin Qaraqosh, the builder of the Cairo Citadel, Story

Bahaaeddin Qaraqosh, the builder of the Cairo Citadel, may have been the victim of a whispering campaign in his lifetime, writes Samir Sobhi

In the late 12th century, Egyptians complained a lot about their ruler, the indomitable Bahaaeddin Qaraqosh, whose last name in Turkish means “black eagle”.

Qaraqosh was a stern man whose iron-fisted style of governance was often ridiculed, albeit in hushed voices, by his subjects.
Qaraqosh was first minister of Egypt under Salaheddin Al-Ayoubi, the great 12th-century commander known in western lore as Saladin. The image of Qaraqosh in popular history is that of an unjust, feeble-minded and heartless tyrant, says historian Mohamed Anan, and to this day Egyptians sometimes refer to hukm Qaraqosh, or “Qaraqosh’s justice”, to denote situations of extreme unfairness.

In his book Wafiyat Al-Ayan (Deceased Luminaries), the 13th-century Arab chronicler Ibn Khalkan challenges this popular image, saying that Qaraqosh, who started his life as a slave working for Assadeddin Shirkuh, Salaheddin’s uncle, was a prudent governor. When Salaheddin served briefly as minister under the Fatimid caliph Al-Moatad, he made Qaraqosh his chief of staff.

When Salaheddin himself became sultan of Egypt, he made Qaraqosh his minister, turning the latter into the de facto ruler of the country because the sultan was mostly absent giving battle to the Crusaders in and around Syria.
During this time, Qaraqosh built the Cairo Citadel, which of course still stands today, also known as the Salaheddin Citadel. It was Qaraqosh who supervised the building of a wall surrounding not only the Fatimid city of Cairo, but also the older city of Masr, or Fustat, to the south.
To carry out these ambitious constructions, Qaraqosh ordered the removal of many of the cemeteries and mosques that were obstructing the path of the wall. He also demolished many of the smaller pyramids in Giza and used their stones to build the wall. He is also credited with building a bridge linking the two sides of the Nile near Giza in around 1174.

When Salaheddin seized Acre from the Crusaders, he sent Qaraqosh to the city to build a wall around it. However, the Crusaders staged a counter-attack and took Qaraqosh prisoner, and Saladin was forced to ransom him for 10,000 dinars, practically a king’s ransom at the time. It is said that he was almost beside himself with pleasure when he saw his friend and helper again.
Qaraqosh, who died in 1201, was described by the historian Al-Asfahani as a man of sound opinion, great insight, and firm resolve. Ibn Khalkan, for his part, said that he was “of great intentions and auspicious actions”.
So how did Qaraqosh earn his legendary reputation for brutality and injustice? Anan mentions a short book, which may have been written by a contemporary official, Al-Assad Ibn Mamati, that lashes out at Qaraqosh. The book, called Al-Fashush fi Ahkam Qaraqosh (Snippets of Qaraqosh’s Rulings) says that Salaheddin’s strongman in Cairo acted with unusual brutality and ignorance.
“When I saw the twisted mentality of Qaraqosh wreaking havoc on the situation through his actions, I decided to write this book for Salaheddin. Perhaps he would relieve him from office and give all Muslims a respite,” the author of the pamphlet says. Some people claim that the author of the book may not have been Ibn Mamati, claiming that it was penned by the prominent historian Al-Siyouti instead.
The book attributes a host of bizarre rulings to Qaraqosh. For instance, one man is recorded as having complained that a debtor was not paying him what he owed. The debtor told Qaraqosh that whenever he tried to find his creditor he could not find him. Being a poor man, he would then spend the money he owed, having to begin saving it all over again. Hearing this, Qaraqosh ordered the creditor to be imprisoned until the debtor, poor as he was, had saved the entire sum of money and was able to pay it back. At this point, the debtor declared that he had forgiven the debt, and the case was closed.
Most of the tales in this book are of a fantastical nature that does not tally with the immense achievements of Qaraqosh, to which his public works and military skills attest.
Anan says that this case of historical libel against Qaraqosh can only be explained by the animosities he must have generated while conducting his ambitious schemes.
Imagine a man who had the power to recruit thousands for what may have been forced labour to construct great walls and fortifications. Then imagine these men, working against their will in hard conditions, gathering at night, perhaps around a fire. Ill-fed and tired, not knowing when they will once again see their families, they elaborate on the pointlessness of whatever they have been ordered to do.
Their complaints, spun into tales and possibly plagiarised from the true or imagined history of factual or fictional circumstances, then circulated widely for the entertainment of a nation that could enjoy a well-told story, the more bizarre the better, producing the legend of Qaraqosh.