volume one

HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 387
provinces, sometimes slied by the executioners, sometimes by
the soldiers ; Egypt Avas at once desolated by its enemies, its
allies, and its inhabitants.
Chaver, ^vho, amidst these revolutions, had raised himself
from the humble condition of a slave to the post of vizier,
had been conquered and displaced by Dargan, one of the
principal officers of the Egyptian mihtia. Obliged to fly
and abandon Egypt, where his rival reigned, he went to seek
an asylum at Damascus, imploring the assistance of Noureddin,
and promisiug a considerable tribute if that prince
would furnish him with troops to protect his return into
Egypt. The sultan of Damascus yielded to the prayers of
Chaver. To command the army which he resolved to send
into Eg;v'pt, he selected Chirkou, the most skilful of his
emirs, who having always shown himself cruel and implaca-
ble in his military expeditions, was likely to be without pity
for the vanquished, and to take all advantage of the miseries
of a civil war, for the benefit of his master. The vizier
Dargan was not long in being warned of the projects of
Chaver and the preparations of Noureddin. To resist the
storm about to burst upon him, he implored the aid of the
Christians of Palestine, and promised to give up his treasures
to them if they succeeded in preserving his power.
AVliilst the king of Jerusalem, seduced by this promise,
was collecting an army, Chaver, accompanied by the troops
of jN'oureddin, crossed the desert, and approached the banks
of the Nile. Dargan, who came out to meet him with the
Egyptian army, was conquered by the Syrians, and lost his
life in the battle. The city of Cairo soon opened its gates
to the conqueror. Chaver,* whom the victory had delivered
* Among the Arabian authors who give the greatest number of details
of the conquest of Egypt, the continuator of Tabari deserves remark ;
Chehabeddin, son of Mohammed, the author of the Roudatins (the two
gardens or lives of Noureddin and Salaheddin), is also very explicit upon
this war between the Christians and the Mussulmans. Moudjireddin, in
his History of Jerusalem, says a few words of the conquest of Egypt by
Chirkou. Aboulmahason speaks also of the conquest of Egypt by the
Turks. When speaking of the influence the Franks exercised at Cairo,
he says they had a particular quarter of the city, and a market which
Chaver had had built for them. Kemaleddin, in his History of Aleppo,
relates these events with his usual clearness. This author agrees with
Tabari. Ibu-elatir, in his History of the Attabeks, says but a very few
18*