The Rebirth of Egypt
1194:
Al-Aziz spent a year besieging Damascus. A third force under Al-Zahir was on it's way, but at the last moment he was abandoned by the Zengids due to events closer to home. King Demetrius II of Georgia had decisively defeated the Ildenizids of Azerbaijan and annexed Derbent (OTL Dagestan) up to the Caspian sea. The Ildenizid remnants had surrendered to the Khwarezmians under Sultan Muhammad ibn Tekish. The Sultan had further disputes with the caliph in Baghdad and was preparing to invade Iraq. Seeing the Khwarezmians as the lesser of two evils, the Zengids of Mosul abandoned Al-Zahir and swore fealty to Tekish. The caliph was spared invasion when he named Tekish Shah of Persia, Khwarezm and Turkestan. Al-Zahir, realising he had no chance of victory, surrendered himself to Al-Aziz who had him exiled to Petra. Further west, Yemen under Turan-Shah had become independant in all but name and Upper Egypt was being raided by the neighbouring Nubian Kingdoms of Makuria, Nobatia and Alodia. Now was the moment the rebels had been waiting for.
On July 3rd, 1194, the revolt erupted in Damietta. Armoured and unarmoured Copts charged out into the streets, shouting and brandishing swords, spears and axes. The unprepared city was caught completely off-guard and fell by nightfall. A week later, they received news that Alexandria had fallen with the aid of group of Cumans and Alans pretending to be Mamluk slaves. Damascus was still under siege when the news reached Al-Aziz and Al-Adil. At the same time, they heard that King Conrad of Jerusalem was marching south to retake Ascalon and Gaza. Al-Adil persuaded Al-Aziz to focus on Damascus while he dealt with the unrest. Al-Adil, however, sent his son Al-Mu'azzam* with a small force to Egypt while he marched into the Hedjaz to bring the Hashemites and Turan-Shah back in line. Alexios Erotikos and Zakariyah began to march along the Nile towards Cairo, meeting up with reinforcements from Alexandria, Genoa and Ethiopia. The combined force should be enough to take the city. The emirs of Upper Egypt, torn between defending their holdings from the Nubians and coming to the aid of their Ayyubid masters, eventually chose the former, abandoning Cairo to its fate...
1195:
Conrad had just taken Gaza when Al-Mu'azzam arrived with his army. Al-Mu'azzam decided to beseige the fortress, expecting the crusaders to capitulate easily. He was unaware of supplies being shipped in via the coast, however, and of reinforcements. As night fell, Conrad and the crusaders launched a daring night attack in conjuncture with reinforcements from Rhomania - The Excubitors, a former guard unit now reorganised as a military order in the vein of the Hospitallers. Caught off-guard, hundreds of Ayyubid soldiers were cut to pieces or run down by the hooves of the Excubitors...
Medina had fallen to Al-Adil and its Hashemite leaders put to the sword by the middle of 1195. Just as they were preparing to march on Mecca itself, a blood-stained sack arrived. When Al-Adil saw it's contents, he was stunned into silence. He died a few days later. When Al-Aziz heard of the loss of his uncle and cousin, he confronted Al-Afdal and stabbed him to death in a murderous rage, blaming him for the downfall of his father's empire. Tired of bloodshed and wanting to consolidate his rule over Damascus at least, Al-Aziz made peace with his enemies and named his son, Al-Mansur as his only heir to ensure nothing like this ever happened again.
The gains of the rebels are consolidated to form the Coptic Kingdom of Egypt, with Zakariyah crowned as King Zakariyah I, known as Muzaffaraddin** to his enemies. Zakariyah further approves the creation of a Miaphysite military order - the Order of Saint Anthony, open to all Miaphysite Christians. No sooner had the blood dried in the sand than King Bela crossed the Danube and attacked Syrmia and Bosnia, intending to annex it from the empire. Emperor Alexios orders his brother to return immediately, but Alexios Erotikos was already on his way to Cyrenaica...
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*: OTL, he succeeded Al-Adil as Sultan of Damascus.
**: I think 'Muzafaraddin' means 'victorious of the religion' in Arabic