Al-Hakim I (), (c. 1247 – 19 January 1302) (full name: ''Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Abu Bakr'') was the second

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came t ...

whose seat was in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and who was subservient to the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th ...

. He reigned between 1262 and 1302.

Life

Al-Hakim I held the position of the Caliph of Cairo from 1262 to 1302. He was an alleged great-great-great grandson of the Abbasid caliph

al-Mustarshid Abu Mansur al-Faḍl ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir ( ar, أبو منصور الفضل بن أحمد المستظهر; 1092 – 29 August 1135) better known by his regnal name Al-Mustarshid Billah ( ar, المسترشد بالله) was the Abbasid calip ...

( r. 1118–1135), who had died in 1135. When Baghdad fell to the Mongols in 1258, al-Hakim I escaped to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

where he befriended the Arab tribal chief 'Isa ibn al-Muhanna, who tried to set him up as caliph, but in the confusion surrounding the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1259–1260, he ended up in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, where he was proclaimed. However, the much closer and probably genuine uncle of the last Abbasid caliph

al-Musta'sim Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir Billah (; 1213 – 20 February 1258), better known by his regnal name al-Musta'sim Billah ( ar, المستعصم بالله, al-Mustaʿṣim billāh, label=none) was the 37th and last caliph of the Abbasid dynas ...

, Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad al-Mustansir, was proclaimed caliph in Cairo in 1261. Al-Hakim I joined Ahmad al-Mustansir's invasion of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, also submitting to Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad as caliph, but the latter was slain with most of the invaders near

Hīt Hīt, also spelled ''Heet'' ( ar, هيت), ancient name ''Is'', is an Iraqi city in Al-Anbar province. Hīt lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital. Straddling the Euphrates River, the city of Hīt was originally a small walled town su ...

by the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

. Only about fifty troops escaped with al-Hakim, who, making his way back to Cairo and after a careful scrutiny of his genealogical claim to be an Abbasid, was proclaimed caliph in succession to al-Mustansir in 1262. Since al-Hakim's connection with the Abbasids is distant and faint, it cannot now be determined whether he was really from that family as he claimed or not. In any case, al-Hakim I had no further adventures, served as a legitimating and ceremonial functionary for the Mamluk sultans in Cairo, reigned for thirty-nine years, and became the progenitor of all the subsequent Caliphs of Cairo, whether he was really an Abbasid or not. Although he was kept in office after 1262, the Mamluk sultans kept him as a virtual prisoner in the citadel, until Sultan

Lajin Lachin ( ar, لاجين), full royal name al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri (; d. January 16, 1299, Cairo) was a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 1296 to 1299. Originally Greek, he was a mamluk of Al-Mansur Qalawun and had participate ...

released him in December 1296, allowing him to live in a house in the city and giving him a bigger financial emolument.

Family tree

Al-Hakim traced his roots back to ''Al-Mustarshid'' in the following line: Abu 'Ali al-Hasan, the son of ''Abu Bakr'', the son of ''al-Hasan'', the son of 'Ali, son of ''al-Mustarshid''. His relation with the dynasty was distant and faint.

References

Bibliography

*Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. ''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War 1260-1281''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. 58–59, 61–63. * *Glubb, John Bagot. ''Soldiers of Fortune: The Story of the Mamlukes''. New York: Dorset Press, 1988. Pp. 77, 80, 171. * 13th-century births 1302 deaths Cairo-era Abbasid caliphs 13th-century Abbasid caliphs {{MEast-royal-stub