Kurds and Iranians dominating as professors in Ayyubid Egypt

Post-Saladin, the Ayyubids established at least 35 madrasas. The teachers at these madrasas tell a story about talent recruitment and migratory elites. Gary Leiser's superb research spanned the whole Ayyubid period in Egypt. The nature of the inquiry provides for more in-depth insights on migration patterns throughout this time period, as well as a better grasp of the background of the literati. The research revealed a massive overrepresentation of professors from the "East". In this context, "East" refers to Kurdistan and Iran. Kurds made up the greatest number of professors in this period, followed by unidentified Iranians (very much possible that some of them would fit under the Kurd-label), based on the information that can be extracted from their biographies.

There are several possible explanations for this. The Ayyubids had to rely on these "Eastern men" since the institutions of higher learning in the pre-Ayyubid and post-Ayyubid eras were so unlike. The Ayyubids were responsible for the large-scale construction of these institutions.  Many primary sources credit Saladin/the Kurdish vizier who preceded Saladin, ibn al Sallar, with introducing madrasas to Egypt for the first time. This isn't exactly correct. There were several before Ibn Sallar/Saladin. They were not as sophisticated, though. The mature Madrasa system arrived in Egypt with the Ayyubids, bringing with it its scale and sophistication. This also applies to other services/institutions. The scale arrived with the Ayyubids.

Gary Leiser also raises an important point about the purpose of madrasas. Another attempt to portray Saladin as a pan-Islamic Sunni defender was to build a narrative in which Madrasas served the function of "fighting Shiism" from the perspective of the Ayyubid rulers. The claim, like everything else in that department, is unsubstantiated. 

Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2hq0hsf