AHC and WI: Keep Saladin's Empire around longer

Although Saladin is well remembered for fighting the crusaders, sadly, the rather large empire he created didn't last long after he was gone. So how could it have survived longer and what would have happened if it did?
 
Well the two main things Saladin could have done to secure his empire better would have been a) establish a clear line of succession and b) banned mamluks from taking an important role in government. Both of which would have departed radically from standard Muslim practice, so in a sense there really wasn't much he could have realistically done with regards to the Empire.

I suppose you could also argue that the Ayyubids could have centralized power in Cairo and barred royal relatives from commanding important fortresses in Syria, but I'm not sure that's a valid point since it's reasonable to believe that royal relatives are more trustworthy than some random general who came out of nowhere.
 
The Mamluks managed to hold together a pretty impressive Empire for a long time. What did they know that the Ayyubids didn't?

Question to the OP: If the Ayyubid Empire develops a mechanism of succession that allows for the current top dog to be proclaimed sultan, would it still count as 'Saladin's Empire' once that has happened a couple of times? Because that is the easiest pathway I can see, where the Ayyuibid Empire basically provides administrative continuity for a transition to Mamluk-style rule.
 
The Mamluks managed to hold together a pretty impressive Empire for a long time. What did they know that the Ayyubids didn't?

Question to the OP: If the Ayyubid Empire develops a mechanism of succession that allows for the current top dog to be proclaimed sultan, would it still count as 'Saladin's Empire' once that has happened a couple of times? Because that is the easiest pathway I can see, where the Ayyuibid Empire basically provides administrative continuity for a transition to Mamluk-style rule.

Well, in a sense. He did found it. I suppose someone might refer to the USA as Washington's republic.

But really having a clear succession is what could save it.
 
Well, in a sense. He did found it. I suppose someone might refer to the USA as Washington's republic.

But really having a clear succession is what could save it.

THe problem is, I don't think you can have both. Either you have a clear succession within the family, then every ambitious commander knows the main chance is breaking away with a defensible province. Or you give ambitrious commanders an incentive to stay within the system, but that means they have to have hopes of becoming sultan (or at last something to that effect - I suppose you could sideline the nominal sultan and instal some kind of amir as the real power)
 
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