entually he
with al-'Aziz besieged and took Damascus, and sent al-Afdal to Sarkhad,
while al-'Adil remained in possession of Damascus. On the death of
al-'Aziz on the 29th of November 1198 in consequence of a hunting
accident, his infant son Mahommed was raised to the throne with the
title _Malik al-Mansur Nasir al-din_, and his uncle al-Afdal sent for
from Sarkhad to take the post of regent or Atabeg. So soon as al-Afdal
had got possession of his nephew's person, he started on an expedition
for the recovery of Damascus: al-'Adil not only frustrated this, but
drove him back to Egypt, where on the 25th of January 1200 a battle was
fought between the armies of the two at Bilbeis, resulting in the defeat
of al-Afdal, who was sent back to Sarkhad, while al-'Adil assumed the
regency, for which after a few months he substituted the sovereignty,
causing his nephew to be deposed. He reigned under the title _Malik
al-'Adil Saif al-din_. His name was Abu Bakr.

Though the early years of his reign were marked by numerous disasters,
famine, pestilence and earthquake, of which the second seems to have
been exceedingly serious, he reunited under his sway the whole of the
empire which had belonged to his brother, and his generals conquered for
him parts of Mesopotamia and Armenia, and in 1215 he got possession of
Yemen. He followed the plan of dividing his empire between his sons, the
eldest Mahommed, called _Malik al-Kamil_, being his viceroy in Egypt,
while al-Mu'azzam 'Isa governed Syria, al-Ashraf Musa his eastern and
al-Malik al-Auhad Ayyub his northern possessions. His attitude towards
the Franks was at the first peaceful, but later in his reign he was
compelled to adopt more strenuous measures. His death occurred at Alikin
(1218), a village near Damascus, while the Franks were besieging
Damietta--the first operation of the Fifth Crusade--which was defended
by al-Kamil, to whom his father kept sending reinforcements. The efforts
of al-Kamil after his accession to the independent sovereignty were
seriously hindered by the endeavour of an amir named Ahmed b. Mashtub to
depose him and appoint in his place a brother called al-Fa'iz Sabiq
al-din Ibrahim: this attempt was frustrated by the timely interposition
of al-Mu'azzam 'Isa, who came to Egypt to aid his brother in February
1219, and compelled al-Fa'iz to depart for Mosul. After a siege of
sixteen and a half months Damietta was taken by the Franks on Tuesday
the 6th of November 1