The Fatimid Caliphate was an
Ismaili Shi'a caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
in the east. The
Fatimids, a dynasty of Arab origin, trace their ancestry to Muhammad's daughter
Fatima and her husband
‘Ali b. Abi Talib, the first
Shi‘a imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different
Isma‘ili communities, but also in many other Muslim lands, including
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the adjacent regions. Originating during the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, the Fatimids conquered
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and established the city of "
al-Mahdiyya" ( ar, المهدية). The Ismaili dynasty ruled territories across the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
coast of Africa and ultimately made
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included – in addition to Egypt – varying areas of the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
,
Sudan,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
, and the
Hijaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...
.
Between 902 to 909 the foundation of the Fatimid state was realized by the
Kutama
The Kutama ( Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ar, كتامة) was a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. ...
Berbers, under the leadership of the ''
da'i'' (missionary)
Abu Abdallah, whose conquest of
Ifriqiya paved the way for the establishment of the Caliphate.
After this conquest,
Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah was retrieved from
Sijilmasa and then accepted as the Imam of the movement, becoming the first Caliph and founder of the ruling dynasty in 909.
In 921, the city of
al-Mahdiyya was established as the capital. In 948, they shifted their capital to
al-Mansuriyya, near
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...
. In 969, during the reign of
al-Mu'izz
Abu Tamim Ma'ad al-Muizz li-Din Allah ( ar, ابو تميم معد المعزّ لدين الله, Abū Tamīm Maʿad al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, Glorifier of the Religion of God; 26 September 932 – 19 December 975) was the fourth Fatimid calip ...
, they conquered
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, and in 973 the caliphate was moved to the new capital of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
. Egypt became the political, cultural, and religious centre of their empire, which developed a new and "indigenous Arabic" culture.
After its initial conquests, the caliphate often allowed a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Shia sects of
Islam, as well as to
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
. However, its
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
s made little headway in persuading the Egyptian population to adopt its religious beliefs.
After the reigns of al-'Aziz and al-Hakim, the long reign of al-Mustansir entrenched a regime in which the caliph remained aloof from state affairs and
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
s took on greater importance. Political and ethnic factionalism within the army led to a civil war in the 1060s which threatened the empire's survival. After a period of revival during the tenure of the vizier
Badr al-Jamali
Abū'l-Najm Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Jamālī al-Mustanṣirī, better known as Badr al-Jamali ( ar, بدر الجمالى) was an Armenian Shia Muslim Fatimid vizier, and prominent statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. H ...
(d. 1094), the Fatimid caliphate declined rapidly during the late eleventh and twelfth centuries. In addition to internal difficulties, the caliphate was weakened by the encroachment of the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
into
Syria in the 1070s and the arrival of the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
after 1098. In 1171,
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
abolished the dynasty's rule and founded the
Ayyubid dynasty, which incorporated Egypt into the nominal sphere of authority of the .
Name
The
Fatimid dynasty
The Fatimid dynasty () was an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty of Arab descent that ruled an extensive empire, the Fatimid Caliphate, between 909 and 1171 CE. Claiming descent from Fatima and Ali, they also held the Isma'ili imamate, claiming to be the r ...
claimed descent from
Fatimah
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, ...
, the daughter of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. The dynasty legitimized its claim through descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter and her husband
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
, the first
Shī'a Imām, hence the dynasty's name ''fāṭimiyy'' (), the Arabic
relative adjective for "Fāṭima".
Emphasizing its
Alid descent, the dynasty named itself simply as the 'Alid dynasty' (), but many hostile
Sunni sources only refer to them as the 'Ubaydids' (), after the diminutive form Ubayd Allah for the name of the first Fatimid caliph.
History
Origins
The Fatimid dynasty came to power as the leaders of
Isma'ilism
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-S ...
, a revolutionary
Shi'a movement "which was at the same time political and religious, philosophical and social", and which originally proclaimed nothing less than the arrival of an Islamic
messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
. The origins of that movement, and of the dynasty itself, are obscure prior to the late ninth century.
The
Fatimids rulers were Arab in origin, starting with its founder the
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
Shia
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah. Their military were from
Kabylia
Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region
Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which ...
in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, several historians attribute the military creation/establishment and its origin to the Kutama Berbers.
Early Shi'ism and the roots of Isma'ilism
The Shi'a opposed the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
and
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliphates, whom they considered usurpers. Instead, they believed in the exclusive right of the descendants of
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
through Muhammad's daughter,
Fatima, to lead the Muslim community. This manifested itself in a line of
imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
, descendants of Ali via
al-Husayn
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...
, whom their followers considered as the true representatives of God on earth. At the same time, there was a widespread messianic tradition in Islam concerning the appearance of a ("the Rightly Guided One") or ("He Who Arises"), who would restore true Islamic government and justice and usher in the
end times
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
. This figure was widely expectednot just among the Shi'ato be a descendant of Ali. Among Shi'a, however, this belief became a core tenet of their faith, and was applied to several Shi'a leaders who were killed or died; their followers believed that they had gone into "
occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...
" () and would return (or be resurrected) at the appointed time.
These traditions manifested themselves in the succession of the sixth imam,
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣādiq ( ar, جعفر بن محمد الصادق; 702 – 765 CE), commonly known as Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (), was an 8th-century Shia Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian.. He was the founder of th ...
. Al-Sadiq had appointed his son
Isma'il ibn Ja'far
Abū Muḥammad Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar al-Mubārak ( ar, إسماعيل بن جعفر; c.719 AD – c.762 AD) was the eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. He is also known as Isma'il al-Ãraj ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq (اسماعيل الاعرج ...
as his successor, but Isma'il died before his father, and when al-Sadiq himself died in 765, the succession was left open. Most of his followers followed al-Sadiq's son
Musa al-Kazim
Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after ...
down to a
twelfth and final imam who supposedly went into occultation in 874 and would one day return as the . This branch is hence known as the "Twelvers". Others followed other sons, or even refused to believe that al-Sadiq had died, and expected his return as the . Another branch believed that Ja'far was followed by a seventh imam, who had gone into occultation and would one day return; hence this party is known as the "Seveners". The exact identity of that seventh imam was disputed, but by the late ninth century had commonly been identified with
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, son of Isma'il and grandson of al-Sadiq. From Muhammad's father, Isma'il, the sect, which gave rise to the Fatimids, receives its name of "Isma'ili". Due to the harsh Abbasid persecution of the Alids, the Ismaili Imams went into hiding and neither Isma'il's nor Muhammad's lives are well known, and after Muhammad's death during the reign of
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
(), the history of the early Isma'ili movement becomes obscure.
The secret network
While the awaited Muhammad ibn Isma'il remained hidden, however, he would need to be represented by agents, who would gather the faithful, spread the word (, "invitation, calling"), and prepare his return. The head of this secret network was the living proof of the imam's existence, or "seal" (). It is this role that the ancestors of the Fatimids are first documented. The first known ''ḥujja'' was a certain Abdallah al-Akbar ("Abdallah the Elder"), a wealthy merchant from
Khuzestan, who established himself at the small town of
Salamiya
A full view of Shmemis (spring 1995)
Salamieh ( ar, سلمية ') is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located southeast of Hama, northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it wa ...
on the western edge of the
Syrian Desert. Salamiya became the centre of the Isma'ili , with Abdallah al-Akbar being succeeded by his son and grandson as the secret "grand masters" of the movement.
In the last third of the ninth century, the Isma'ili spread widely, profiting from the collapse of Abbasid power in the
Anarchy at Samarra
The Anarchy at Samarra () was a period of extreme internal instability from 861 to 870 in the history of the Abbasid Caliphate, marked by the violent succession of four caliphs, who became puppets in the hands of powerful rival military groups.
T ...
and the subsequent
Zanj Revolt
The Zanj Rebellion ( ar, ثورة الزنج ) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun near the city of Basra in present-day southern Iraq and led by one Ali ibn Muhammad, the insurrection invol ...
, as well as from dissatisfaction among Twelver adherents with the
political quietism of their leadership and the recent disappearance of the twelfth imam. Missionaries (s) such as
Hamdan Qarmat
Hamdan Qarmat ibn al-Ash'ath ( ar, حمدان قرمط بن الأشعث, Ḥamdān Qarmaṭ ibn al-Ashʿath; CE) was a Persian ruler and the eponymous founder of the Qarmatian sect of Isma'ilism. Originally the chief Isma'ili missionary () in ...
and
Ibn Hawshab
Abu'l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan ibn Faraj ibn Ḥawshab ibn Zādān al-Najjār al-Kūfī ( ar, أبو القاسم الحسن ابن فرج بن حوشب زاذان النجار الكوفي ; died 31 December 914), better known simply as Ibn Ḥawshab, ...
spread the network of agents to the area round
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...
in the late 870s, and from there to
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
(882) and thence India (884),
Bahrayn
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...
(899),
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
(893).
The Qarmatian schism and its aftermath
In 899, Abdallah al-Akbar's great-grandson,
Abdallah, became the new head of the movement, and introduced a radical change in the doctrine: no longer was he and his forebears merely the stewards for Muhammad ibn Isma'il, but they were declared to be the rightful imams, and Abdallah himself was the awaited . Various genealogies were later put forth by the Fatimids to justify this claim by proving their descent from Isma'il ibn Ja'far, but even in pro-Isma'ili sources, the succession and names of imams differ, while
Sunni and Twelver sources of course reject any Fatimid descent from the Alids altogether and consider them impostors. Abdallah's claim caused a rift in the Isma'ili movement, as Hamdan Qarmat and other leaders denounced this change and held onto the original doctrine, becoming known as the "
Qarmatians", while other communities remained loyal to Salamiya. Shortly after, in 902–903, pro-Fatimid loyalists began a great uprising in
Syria. The large-scale Abbasid reaction it precipitated and the attention it brought on him, forced Abdallah to abandon Salamiya for Palestine, Egypt, and finally for the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
, where the
Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i
Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i ( ar, ابو عبد الله الشيعي, Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shi'ī), was an Isma'ili missionary ('' dāʿī'') active in Yemen and North Africa, mainly amon ...
had made great headway in converting the
Kutama
The Kutama ( Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ar, كتامة) was a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. ...
Berbers to the Isma'ili cause. Unable to join his directly, Abdallah instead settled at
Sijilmasa sometime between 904 and 905.
Rise to power
Establishment of the Isma'ili State
Prior to the Fatimid rise to power, a large part of the Maghreb including
Ifriqiya was under the control of the
Aghlabids
The Aghlabids ( ar, الأغالبة) were an Arab dynasty of emirs from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a c ...
, an Arab dynasty who ruled nominally on behalf the Abbasids but were ''de facto'' independent. In 893 the Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i first settled among the Banu Saktan tribe (part of the larger Kutama tribe) in
Ikjan, near the city of
Mila (in northwestern Algeria today). However, due to hostility from the local Aghlabid authorities and other Kutuma tribes, he was forced to leave Ikjan and sought the protection of another Kutama tribe, the Banu Ghashman, in Tazrut (two miles southwest of Mila). From there, he began to build support for a new movement. Shortly after, the hostile Kutama tribes and the Arab lords of the nearby cities (Mila,
Setif, and
Bilizma) allied together to march against him, but he was able to move quickly and muster enough support from friendly Kutama to defeat them one by one before they were able to unite. This first victory brought Abu Abdallah and his Kutama troops valuable loot and attracted more support to the 's cause. Over the next two years Abu Abdallah was able to win over most of the Kutama tribes in the region through either persuasion or coercion. This left much of the countryside under his control, while the major cities remained under Aghlabid control. He established an Isma'ili theocratic state based in Tazrut, operating in a way similar to previous Isma'ili missionary networks in Mesopotamia but adapted to local Kutama tribal structures. He adopted the role of a traditional Islamic ruler at the head of this organization while remaining in frequent contact with Abdallah. He continued to preach to his followers, known as the ''Awliya' Allah'' ('Friends of God'), and to initiate them into Isma'ili doctrine.
Conquest of Aghlabid Ifriqiya
![Fall of the Aghlabid Emirate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Fall_of_the_Aghlabid_Emirate.svg)
In 902, while the Aghlabid emir
Ibrahim II was away on campaign in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, Abu Abdallah struck the first significant blow against Aghlabid authority in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
by attacking and capturing the city of Mila for the first time. This news triggered a serious response from the Aghlabids, who sent a punitive expedition of 12,000 men from Tunis in October of the same year. Abu Abdallah's forces were unable to resist this counterattack and after two defeats they evacuated Tazrut (which was largely unfortified) and fled to Ikjan, leaving Mila to be retaken. Ikjan became the new center of the Fatimid movement and the reestablished his network of missionaries and spies.
Ibrahim II died in October 902 while in
southern Italy and was succeeded by
Abdallah II. In early 903 Abdallah II set out on another expedition to destroy Ikjan and the Kutama rebels, but he ended the expedition prematurely due to troubles at home arising from disputes over his succession. On 27 July 903 he was assassinated and his son
Ziyadat Allah III
Abu Mudhar Ziyadat Allah III ( ar, أبو مضر زيادة الله الثالث) (died 911–916) was the eleventh and last Emir of the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya (903–909).
He came to power after the murder of his father Abdallah II on 27 Ju ...
took power in Tunis. These internal Aghlabid troubles gave Abu Abdallah the opportunity to recapture Mila and then go on to capture Setif, another fortified city, by October or November 904. In 905 the Aghlabids sent a third expedition to try and subdue the Kutama. They based themselves in
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
and in the fall of 905, after receiving further reinforcements, set out to march against Abu Abdallah. However, they were surprised by Kutama forces on the first day of their march, which caused a panic and scattered their army. The Aghlabid general fled and the Kutama captured a large booty. Another Aghlabid military expedition organized the next year (906) failed when the soldiers mutinied. Around the same time or soon after, Abu Abdallah's forces besieged and captured the fortified cities of
Tubna
Tubna ( ar, تبنة, also spelled ''Tibna'' or ''Tebnah'') is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. It is located 58 km south Damascus and 42 km from Daraa.
History
Tubna w ...
and Bilizma. The capture of Tubna was significant as it was the first major commercial center to come under Abu Abdallah's control.
Meanwhile, Ziyadat Allah III moved his court from Tunis to
Raqqada
Raqqāda ( ar, رقّادة) is the site of the second capital of the 9th-century dynasty of Aghlabids, located about ten kilometers southwest of Kairouan, Tunisia. The site now houses the National Museum of Islamic Art.
History
In 876, the ni ...
, the palace-city near
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...
, in response to the growing threat. He fortified Raqqada in 907. In early 907 another Aghlabid army marched eastwards again against Abu Abdallah, accompanied by Berber reinforcements from the
Aurès Mountains. They were again scattered by Kutama cavalry and retreated to
Baghaya, the most fortified town on the old southern Roman road between Ifriqiya and the central Maghreb. The fortress, however, fell to the Kutama without a siege when local notables arranged to have the gates opened to them in May or June 907. This opened a hole in the wider defensive system of Ifriqiya and created panic in Raqqada. Ziyadat Allah III stepped up anti-Fatimid propaganda, recruited volunteers, and took measures to defend the weakly-fortified city of Kairouan. He spent the winter of 907–908 with his army in al-Aribus (
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
-era Laribus, between present-day
El Kef
El Kef ( ar, الكاف '), also known as ''Le Kef'', is a city in northwestern Tunisia. It serves as the capital of the Kef Governorate.
El Kef is situated to the west of Tunis and some east of the border between Algeria and Tunisia. It has a ...
and
Maktar
Maktar or Makthar ( ar, مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia.
Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At th ...
), expecting an attack from the north. However, Abu Abdallah's forces had been unable to capture the northerly city of Constantine and therefore they instead attacked along the southern road from Baghaya in early 908 and captured
Maydara (present-day Haïdra). An indecisive battle subsequently occurred between the Aghalabid and Kutama armies near Dar Madyan (probably a site between
Sbeitla
Sbeitla or Sufetula ( ber, Sbitla or Seftula, ar, سبيطلة ') is a small town in west-central Tunisia. Nearby are the Byzantine ruins of Sufetula, containing the best preserved Byzantine forum temples in Tunisia. It was the entry point of the ...
and
Kasserine
Kasserine ( ar, القصرين, al-Qasrīn, Tunisian Arabic: ڨصرين ') is the capital city of the Kasserine Governorate, in west-central Tunisia. It is situated below Jebel ech Chambi ( جبل الشعانبي), Tunisia's highest mountain. ...
), with neither side gaining the upper hand. During the winter of 908–909 Abu Abdallah campaigned in the region around
Chott el-Jerid, capturing the towns of
Tuzur (Tozeur),
Nafta, and
Qafsa (Gafsa) and taking control of the region. The Aghlabids responded by besieging Baghaya soon afterward in the same winter, but they were quickly repelled.
On 25 February 909, Abu Abdallah set out from Ikjan with an army of 200,000 men for a final invasion of Kairouan. The remaining Aghlabid army, led by an Aghlabid prince named Ibrahim Ibn Abi al-Aghlab, met them near al-Aribus on 18 March. The battle lasted until the afternoon, when a contingent of Kutama horsemen managed to outflank the Aghlabid army and finally caused a rout. When news of the defeat reached Raqqada, Ziyadat Allah III packed his valuable treasures and fled towards Egypt. The population of Kairouan looted the abandoned palaces of Raqqada and resisted Ibn Abi al-Aghlab's calls to organise a last-ditch resistance. Upon hearing of the looting, Abu Abdallah sent an advance force of Kutama horsemen who secured Raqqada on 24 March. On 25 March 909 (Saturday, 1
Rajab
Rajab ( ar, رَجَب) is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect" which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative.
This month is re ...
296), Abu Abdallah himself entered Raqqada and took up residence here.
Establishment of the Caliphate
Upon assuming power in Raqqada, Abu Abdallah inherited much of the Aghlabid state's apparatus and allowed its former officials to continue working for the new regime. He established a new, Isma'ili Shi'a regime on behalf of his absent, and for the moment unnamed, master. He then led his army west to Sijilmasa, whence he led Abdallah in triumph to Raqqada, which he entered on 15 January 910. There Abdallah publicly proclaimed himself as
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
with the
regnal name
A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...
of , and presented his son and heir, with the regnal name of
al-Qa'im. Al-Mahdi quickly fell out with Abu Abdallah: not only was the over-powerful, but he demanded proof that the new caliph was the true . The elimination of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother led to an uprising among the Kutama, led by a child-, which was suppressed. At the same time, al-Mahdi repudiated the millenarian hopes of his followers and curtailed their
antinomian
Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί 'anti''"against" and νόμος 'nomos''"law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term ha ...
tendencies.
The new regime regarded its presence in Ifriqiya as only temporary: the real target was
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, the capital of the Fatimids' Abbasid rivals. The ambition to carry the revolution eastward had to be postponed after the failure of two successive invasions of Egypt, led by al-Qa'im, in
914–915 and
919–921. In addition, the Fatimid regime was as yet unstable. The local population were mostly adherents of
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
Sunnism and various
Kharijite sects such as
Ibadism
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
, so that the real power base of Fatimids in Ifriqiya was quite narrow, resting on the Kutama soldiery, later extended by the
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Ma ...
Berber tribes as well. The historian
Heinz Halm
Heinz Halm (born 21 February 1942 in Andernach, Rhine Province) is a German scholar of Islamic Studies, with a particular expertise on early Shia history, the Ismailites and other Shia sects.
Life
Born and raised in Andernach, Halm studied Islami ...
describes the early Fatimid state as being, in essence, "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib". In 912 al-Mahdi began looking for the site of a new capital along the Mediterranean shore.
Construction of the new fortified palace city,
al-Mahdiyya, began in 916. The new city was officially inaugurated on 20 February 921, though construction continued after this.
The new capital was removed from the Sunni stronghold of Kairouan, allowing for the establishment of a secure base for the Caliph and his Kutama forces without raising further tensions with the local population.
The Fatimids also inherited the Aghlabid province of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, which the Aghlabids had
gradually conquered from the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
starting in 827. The conquest was generally completed when the last
Christian stronghold,
Taormina
Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...
, was conquered by Ibrahim II in 902.
However, some Christian or Byzantine resistance continued in some spots in the northeast of Sicily until 967, and the Byzantines still held territories in southern Italy, where the Aghlabids had also campaigned.
This ongoing confrontation with the traditional foe of the Islamic world provided the Fatimids with a prime opportunity for propaganda, in a setting where geography gave them the advantage. Sicily itself proved troublesome, and only after a rebellion under
Ibn Qurhub was subdued, was Fatimid authority on the island consolidated.
Consolidation and western rivalry
For a large part of the tenth century the Fatimids also engaged in a rivalry with the
Umayyads of Cordoba – who ruled
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
and were hostile to the Fatimids' pretensions – in an effort to establish domination over the western Maghreb. In 911,
Tahert
Tiaret ( ar, تاهرت / تيارت; Berber: Tahert or Tihert, i.e. "Lioness") is a major city in northwestern Algeria that gives its name to the wider farming region of Tiaret Province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of ...
, which had been briefly captured by Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i in 909, had to be retaken by the Fatimid general
Masala ibn Habus of the
Miknasa
The Miknasa (Berber: ''Imeknasen'') was a Zenata Berber tribe in Morocco and Algeria.
The Miknasa Berbers historically populated the Aurès and are part of the Dharisa tribe belonging to Botr who descended from Madghis, coming from the Aures mount ...
tribe. The first Fatimid expeditions to what is now northern Morocco occurred in 917 and 921 and were primarily aimed at the
Principality of Nakur, which they subjugated on both occasions. Fez and Sijilmasa were also captured in 921. These two expeditions were led by Masala ibn Habus, who had been made governor of
Tahert
Tiaret ( ar, تاهرت / تيارت; Berber: Tahert or Tihert, i.e. "Lioness") is a major city in northwestern Algeria that gives its name to the wider farming region of Tiaret Province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of ...
. Thereafter, the weakened
Idrisids
The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ar, الأدارسة ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid and ...
and various local
Zenata
The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Etymology
''Iznaten ( ...
and
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Ma ...
leaders acted as proxies whose formal allegiances oscillated between the Umayyads or the Fatimids depending on the circumstances.
As a result of the political instability in the western Maghreb, effective Fatimid control did not extend much beyond the former territory of the Aghlabids. Masala's successor,
Musa ibn Abi'l-Afiya
Musa may refer to:
Places
*Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia
*Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon
*Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province
*Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran
*Musa, Kerman, Iran
*Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan Pro ...
, captured Fez from the Idrisids again, but in 932 defected to the Umayyads, taking the western Maghreb with him. The Umayyads gained the upper hand again in northern Morocco during the 950s, until the Fatimid general
Jawhar
Jawhar is a city and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division of India. Jawhar was a capital city of the erstwhile Koli princely state of Jawhar.
Situated in the ranges of the Western Ghats, Jawhar is ...
, on behalf of Caliph
Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, led another major
expedition to Morocco in 958 and spent two years subjugating most of northern Morocco. He was accompanied by
Ziri ibn Manad Ziri ibn Manad or Ziri son of Mennad (died in 971) was the founder of the Zirid dynasty in the Maghreb.
Ziri ibn Mennad was a chief of the Takalata branch of the Sanhajah confederation, to which the Kutama Berbers belonged located in the Central M ...
, the leader of the
Zirids
The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from ...
. Jawhar took Sijilmasa in September or October 958 and then, with the help of Ziri, his forces took Fez in November 959. He was unable, however, to dislodge the Umayyad garrisons in
Sala,
Sebta (present-day Ceuta) and
Tangier
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
, and this marked the only time that the Fatimid army was present at the
Strait of Gibraltar. Jawhar and Ziri returned to al-Mansuriyya in 960. The subjugated parts of Morocco, including Fez and Sijilmasa, were left under the control of local vassals while most of the central Maghreb (Algeria), including Tahert, was given to Ziri ibn Manad to govern on the caliph's behalf.
All this warfare in the Maghreb and Sicily necessitated the maintenance of a strong army, and a
capable fleet as well. Nevertheless, by the time of al-Mahdi's death in 934, the Fatimid Caliphate "had become a great power in the Mediterranean". The reign of the second Fatimid imam-caliph, al-Qa'im, was dominated by the Kharijite rebellion of
Abu Yazid
Abu Yazid Makhlad ibn Kaydad (; – 19 August 947), known as the Man on the Donkey (), was an Ibadi Berber of the Banu Ifran tribe who led a rebellion against the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria) starting ...
. Starting in 943/4 among the
Zenata
The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Etymology
''Iznaten ( ...
Berbers, the uprising spread through Ifriqiya, taking Kairouan and blockading al-Qa'im at al-Mahdiyya, which was besieged in January–September 945. Al-Qa'im died during the siege, but this was kept secret by his son and successor, Isma'il, until he had defeated Abu Yazid; he then announced his father's death and proclaimed himself imam and caliph as
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
. While al-Mansur was campaigning to suppress the last remnants of the revolt, a new palace city was being constructed for him south of Kairouan. Construction began around 946 and it was only fully completed under al-Mansur's son and successor, al-Mu'izz.
It was named
al-Mansuriyya (also known as Sabra al-Mansuriyya) and became the new seat of the caliphate.
Apogee
Conquest of Egypt and transfer of the Caliphate to Cairo
![Egypt, Cairo, The courtyard of Al-Azhar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Egypt%2C_Cairo%2C_The_courtyard_of_Al-Azhar.jpg)
In 969 Jawhar launched a carefully-prepared and successful
invasion of Egypt, which had been under the control of the
Ikhshidids
The Ikhshidid dynasty (, ) was a Turkic mamluk dynasty who ruled Egypt and the Levant from 935 to 969. Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, a Turkic mamluk soldier, was appointed governor by the Abbasid Caliph al-Radi. The dynasty carried the Arabic t ...
, another regional dynasty whose formal allegiance was to the Abbasids. Al-Mu'izz had given Jawhar specific instructions to carry out after the conquest, and one of his first actions was to found a new capital named ''al-Qāhira'' (
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
) in 969. The name ''al-Qāhirah'' ( ar , القاهرة), meaning "the Vanquisher" or "the Conqueror", referenced the planet
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
, "The Subduer",
rising in the sky at the time when the construction of the city started. The city was located several miles northeast of
Fusṭāt, the older regional capital founded by the
Arab conquerors in the seventh century.
Control of Egypt was secured with relative ease and soon afterward, in 970, Jawhar sent a force to invade Syria and remove the remaining Ikhshidids who had fled there from Egypt. This Fatimid force was led by a Kutama general named
Ja'far ibn Falāḥ. This invasion was successful at first and many cities, including Damascus, were occupied that same year. Ja'far's next step was to attack the Byzantines, who had captured
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
and subjugated
Aleppo in 969 (around the same time as Jawhar was arriving in Egypt), but he was forced to call off the advance in order to face a new threat from the east. The Qarmatis of Bahrayn, responding to the appeal of the recently defeated leaders of Damascus, had organized a large coalition of Arab tribesmen to attack him. Ja'far chose to confront them in the desert in August 971, but his army was surrounded and defeated and Ja'far himself was killed. A month later the Qarmati imam Hasan al-A'ṣam led the army, with new reinforcements from
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to:
* Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River
* Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan
* Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946)
* Hashemite Kingdom of ...
, into Egypt, seemingly without opposition. The Qarmatis spent time occupying the Nile Delta region, which gave Jawhar time to organize a defense of Fustat and Cairo. The Qarmati advance was halted just north of the city and eventually routed. A
Kalbid
The Kalbids () were a Muslim Arab dynasty in the Emirate of Sicily, which ruled from 948 to 1053. They were formally appointed by the Fatimids, but gained, progressively, ''de facto'' autonomous rule.
History
In 827, in the midst of internal By ...
relief force arriving by sea secured the expulsion of the Qarmatis from Egypt.
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
, the capital of
Palestine, was retaken by the Fatimids in May 972, but otherwise the progress in Syria had been lost.
Once Egypt was sufficiently pacified and the new capital was ready, Jawhar sent for al-Mu'izz in Ifriqiya. The caliph, his court, and his treasury, departed from al-Mansuriyya in fall 972, traveling by land but shadowed by the Fatimid navy sailing along the coast. After making triumphant stops in major cities along the way, the caliph arrived in Cairo on 10 June 973. Like other royal capitals before it, Cairo was constructed as an administrative and palatine city, housing the
palaces of the caliph and the official state mosque,
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the histori ...
. In 988 the mosque also became an academic institution that was central in the dissemination of Isma'ili teachings.
Until the last years of the Fatimid Caliphate, the economic centre of Egypt remained Fustat, where most of the general population lived and traded.
Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the centre of an empire that included at its peak parts of North Africa, Sicily, the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
(including Transjordan), the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
coast of Africa,
Tihamah
Tihamah or Tihama ( ar, تِهَامَةُ ') refers to the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb.
Etymology
Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for ' sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in m ...
,
Hejaz,
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, with its most remote territorial reach being
Multan (in modern-day Pakistan).
Egypt flourished, and the Fatimids developed an extensive trade network both in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean. Their trade and diplomatic ties, extending all the way to China under the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(), eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...
. The Fatimid focus on agriculture further increased their riches and allowed the dynasty and the Egyptians to flourish. The use of cash crops and the propagation of the
flax trade allowed Fatimids to import other items from various parts of the world. The Fatimids built upon some of the bureaucratic foundations laid by the Ikhshidids and the old Abbasid imperial order. The office of the ''wazīr'' (
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
), which existed under the Ikhshidids, was soon revived under the Fatimids. The first to be appointed to this position was the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
convert
Ya'qub ibn Killis Abu'l-Faraj Ya'qub ibn Yusuf ibn Killis ( ar, يعقوب ابن كلس, Abu’l-Faraj Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Killis, he, יעקוב אבן כיליס), (930 in Baghdad – 991), commonly known simply by his patronymic surname as Ibn Killis, was a ...
, who was elevated to this office in 979 by al-Mu'izz's successor
al-Aziz
Abu Mansur Nizar ( ar, أبو منصور نزار , Abū Manṣūr Nizār; 10 May 955 – 14 October 996), known by his regnal name as al-Aziz Billah ( ar, العزيز بالله, al-ʿAzīz bi-llāh, the Mighty One through God), was the fifth ...
. The office of the vizier became progressively more important over the years, as the vizier became the intermediary between the caliph and the large bureaucratic state that he ruled.
Campaigns in Syria
In 975 the Byzantine emperor
John Tzimisces retook most of Palestine and Syria, leaving only
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
in Fatimid control. He aimed to eventually capture
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, but he died in 976 on his way back to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, thus staving off the Byzantine threat to the Fatimids. Meanwhile, the Turkish ''
ghulām'' (plural: ''ghilmān'', meaning soldiers recruited as slaves)
Aftakin
Alptakin (also known as Aftakin) was a Turkish military officer of the Buyids, who participated, and eventually came to lead, an unsuccessful rebellion against them in Iraq from 973 to 975. Fleeing west with 300 followers, he exploited the power v ...
, a
Buyid
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Islam, Shia Iranian peoples, Iranian dynasty of Daylamites, Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central ...
refugee who had fled an unsuccessful rebellion in Baghdad with his own contingent of Turkish soldiers, became the protector of Damascus. He allied with the Qarmatis and with Arab
Bedouin tribes in Syria and invaded Palestine in the spring of 977. Jawhar, once again called into action, repelled their invasion and besieged Damascus. However he suffered a rout during the winter and was forced to hold out in
Ascalon against Aftakin. When his Kutama soldiers mutinied in April 978, Caliph al-Aziz himself led an army to relieve him. Instead of returning to Damascus, Aftakin and his Turkish ''ghilman'' joined the Fatimid army and became a useful instrument in the Syrian effort.
After Ibn Killis became vizier in 979, the Fatimids changed tactics. Ibn Killis was able to subjugate most of Palestine and southern Syria (the former Ikhshidid territories) by paying off the Qarmatis with an annual tribute and making alliances with local tribes and dynasties, such as the
Jarrahids
The Jarrahids () (also known as Banu al-Jarrah) were an Arab dynasty that intermittently ruled Palestine and controlled Transjordan and northern Arabia in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. They were described by historian Marius Canard ...
and the
Banu Kilab
The Banu Kilab ( ar, بنو كِلاب, Banū Kilāb) was an Arab tribe in the western Najd (central Arabia) where they controlled the horse-breeding pastures of Dariyya from the mid-6th century until at least the mid-9th century. The tribe was div ...
. Following another failed attempt by a Kutama general, Salman, to take Damascus, the Turkish ''ghulām'' Bultakīn finally succeeded in occupying the city for the Fatimids in 983, demonstrating the value of this new force. Another ''ghulām'', Bajkūr, who appointed governor of Damascus at this time. That same year he tried and failed to take Aleppo, but he was soon able to conquer
Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
and
Rahba
Al-Rahba (/ALA-LC: ''al-Raḥba'', sometimes spelled ''Raḥabah''), also known as Qal'at al-Rahba, which translates as the "Citadel of al-Rahba", is a medieval Arab fortress on the west bank of the Euphrates River, adjacent to the city of Ma ...
in the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
valley (present-day northeast
Syria). Cairo eventually judged him to be a little too popular as governor of Damascus and he was forced to move to Raqqa while Munir, a eunuch in the caliph's household (like Jawhar before him), took direct control in Damascus on behalf of the caliph. Further north, Aleppo remained out of reach and under
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern ...
control.
The incorporation of the Turkish troops into the Fatimid army had long-term consequences. On the one hand, they were a necessary addition to the military in order for the Fatimids to compete militarily with other powers in the region. The Fatimids began to recruit ''ghilmān'' much as the Abbasids had done before them. They were soon joined by recruited
Daylamis (footmen from the Buyid homeland in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
).
Black Africans
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
from the
Sudan (upper Nile valley) were also recruited afterward. In the short term the Kutama warriors remained the most important troops of the Caliph, but resentment and rivalry eventually grew between the different ethnic components of the army.
Bajkūr, based in Raqqa, made another unsuccessful attempt against Aleppo in 991 which resulted in his capture and execution. That same year, Ibn Killis died and Munir was accused of conducting treasonous correspondence with Baghdad. These difficulties triggered a strong response in Cairo. A major military campaign was prepared to impose Fatimid control over all of Syria. Along the way, Munir was arrested in Damascus and sent back to Cairo. Circumstances were favourable to the Fatimids as the Byzantine emperor
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
was campaigning far away in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and the Hamdanid ruler
Sa'd al-Dawla
Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by his honorific title, Sa'd al-Dawla ( ar, سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria. The son of the emirate's founder, Sayf al-D ...
died in late 991. Manjūtakīn, the Turkish Fatimid commander, advanced methodically north along the Orontes valley. He took Homs and Hama in 992 and defeated a combined force from Hamdanid Aleppo and Byzantine-held Antioch. In 993 he took Shayzar and in 994 he began the siege of Aleppo. In May 995, however, Basil II unexpectedly arrived in the region after a
forced march
A loaded march is a relatively fast march over distance carrying a load and is a common military exercise.
A loaded march is known as a forced foot march in the US Army. Less formally, it is a ruck march in the Canadian Armed Forces and the US A ...
with his army through Anatolia, forcing Manjūtakīn to lift the siege and return to Damascus. Before another Fatimid expedition could be sent, Basil II negotiated a one-year truce with the caliph, which the Fatimids used to recruit and build new ships for their fleet. In 996 many of the ships were destroyed by a fire at al-Maqs, the port on the Nile near Fustat, further delaying the expedition. Finally, in August 996 al-Aziz died and the objective of Aleppo became secondary to other concerns.
The Zirids in the Maghreb
Before leaving for Egypt, al-Mu'izz had installed
Buluggin ibn Ziri
Buluggin ibn Ziri, often transliterated Bologhine, in full ʾAbū al Futūḥ Sayf ad Dawlah Bulukīn ibn Zīrī ibn Manād aṣ Ṣanhājī ( ar, أبو الفتوح سيف الدولة بلكين بن زيري بن مناد الصنهاجي; die ...
, the son of Ziri bn Manad (who died in 971), as his viceroy in the Maghreb. This established a dynasty of viceroys, with the title of "amir", who ruled the region on behalf of the Fatimids.
Their authority remained disputed in the western Maghreb, where the rivalry with the Umayyads and with local Zenata leaders continued. After Jawhar's successful western expedition, the Umayyads returned to northern Morocco in 973 to reassert their authority. Buluggin launched one last expedition in 979–980 that reestablished his authority in the region temporarily, until a final decisive Umayyad intervention in 984–985 put an end to further efforts.
In 978 the caliph also gave
Tripolitania
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
to Buluggin to govern, though Zirid authority there was later replaced by a local dynasty in 1001.
In 988 Buluggin's son and successor al-Mansur moved the Zirid dynasty's base from
Ashir
Ashir ( fa, اشير, also Romanized as Āshīr) is a village in Kuhestan Rural District, Kelardasht District, Chalus County, Mazandaran Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is ...
(central Algeria) to the former Fatimid capital al-Mansuriyya, cementing the status of the Zirids as more or less ''de facto'' independent rulers of Ifriqiya, while still officially maintaining their allegiance to the Fatimid caliphs. Caliph al-Aziz accepted this situation for pragmatic reasons to maintain his own formal status as universal ruler. Both dynasties exchanged gifts and the succession of new Zirid rulers to the throne was officially sanctioned by the caliph in Cairo.
The reign of al-Hakim
![Mosquee al-akim le caire 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Mosquee_al-akim_le_caire_1.jpg)
After al-Aziz's unexpected death, his young son al-Mansur, 11 years old, was installed on the throne as
al-Hakim. Hasan ibn Ammar, the leader of the Kalbid clan in Egypt, a military veteran, and one of the last remaining members of al-Mu'izz's old guard, initially became regent, but he was soon forced to flee by Barjawan, the eunuch and tutor of the young al-Hakim, who took power in his stead. Barjawan stabilized the internal affairs of the empire but refrained from pursuing al-Aziz's policy of expansion towards Aleppo. In the year 1000, Barjawan was assassinated by al-Hakim, who now took direct and autocratic control of the state. His reign, which lasted until his mysterious disappearance in 1021, is the most controversial in Fatimid history. Traditional narratives have described him as either eccentric or outright insane, but more recent studies have tried to provide more measured explanations based on the political and social circumstances of the time.
Among other things, al-Hakim was known for executing his officials when unsatisfied with them, seemingly without warning, rather than dismissing them from their posts as had been traditional practice. Many of the executions were members of the financial administration, which may mean that this was al-Hakim's way of trying to impose discipline in an institution rife with corruption. He also opened the ''Dar al-'Ilm'' ("House of Knowledge"), a library for the study of the sciences, which was in line with al-Aziz's previous policy of cultivating this knowledge. For the general population, he was noted for being more accessible and willing to receive petitions in person, as well as for riding out in person among the people in the streets of Fustat. On the other hand, he was also known for his capricious decrees aimed at curbing what he saw as public improprieties. He also unsettled the plurality of Egyptian society by imposing new restrictions on Christians and Jews, particularly on the way they dressed or behaved in public. He ordered or sanctioned the destruction of a number of churches and monasteries (mostly
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
or
Melkite), which was unprecedented, and in 1009, for reasons that remain unclear, he ordered the demolition of the
Church of the Holy Sephulchre in Jerusalem.
Al-Hakim greatly expanded the recruitment of Black Africans into the army, who subsequently became another powerful faction to balance against the Kutama, Turks, and Daylamis. In 1005, during his early reign, a dangerous uprising led by
Abu Rakwa was successfully put down but had come within striking distance of Cairo. In 1012 the leaders of the Arab
Tayyi tribe occupied Ramla and proclaimed the
sharif
Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...
of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
,
al-Ḥasan ibn Ja'far, as the Sunni anti-caliph, but the latter's death in 1013 led to their surrender. Despite his policies against Christians and his demolition of the church in Jerusalem, al-Hakim maintained a ten-year truce with the Byzantines that began in 1001. For most of his reign, Aleppo remained a buffer state that paid tribute to Constantinople. This lasted until 1017, when the Fatimid
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
general
Fatāk finally occupied Aleppo at the invitation of a
local commander who had expelled the Hamdanid ''ghulām'' ruler
Mansur ibn Lu'lu'
Manṣūr ibn Luʾluʾ ( ar, منصور بن لؤلؤ), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) of Murtaḍā ad-Dawla (, 'Approved of the State'), was the ruler of the Emirate of Aleppo between 1008 and 1016. He succeeded his father Lu' ...
. After a year or two, however, Fatāk made himself effectively independent in Aleppo.
Al-Hakim also alarmed his Isma'ili followers in several ways. In 1013 he announced the designation of two great-great-grandsons of al-Mahdi as two separate heirs: one, Abd al-Raḥīm ibn Ilyās, would inherit the title of caliphate as the role of political ruler, and the other, Abbās ibn Shu'ayb, would inherit the imamate or religious leadership. This was a serious departure from a central purpose of the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs, which was to combine these two functions in one person. In 1015 he also suddenly halted the Isma'ili doctrinal lectures of the ''majālis al-ḥikma'' ("sessions of wisdom") which had taken place regularly inside the palace. In 1021, while wandering the desert outside Cairo on one of his nightly excursions, he disappeared. He was purportedly murdered, but his body was never found.
Decline
Losses, successes, and civil war
After al-Hakim's death his two designated heirs were killed, putting an end to his succession scheme, and his sister
Sitt al-Mulk
Sitt al-Mulk ( ar, ست الملك, , Lady of the Kingdom ; 970–1023), was a Fatimid princess. After the disappearance of her half-brother, the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, in 1021, she was instrumental in securing the succession of her ne ...
arranged to have his 15-year-old son Ali installed on the throne as
al-Zahir
Abū Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Nāsir ( ar, أبو نصر محمد بن الناصر; 1175 – 11 July 1226), better known with his regnal name al-Zāhir bi-Amr Allāh ( ar, الظاهر بأمر الله, , He Who Appears Openly by the Order of God) ...
. She served as his regent until her death in 1023, at which point an alliance of courtiers and officials ruled, with
al-Jarjarā'ī, a former finance official, at their head. Fatimid control in Syria was threatened during the 1020s. In Aleppo, Fatāk, who had declared his independence, was killed and replaced in 1022, but this opened the way for a coalition of Bedouin chiefs from the Banu Kilab, Jarrahids, and
Banu Kalb
The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...
led by
Salih ibn Mirdas
Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas ( ar, ابو علي صالح بن مرداس, Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of ...
to take the city in 1024 or 1025 and to begin imposing their control on the rest of Syria. Al-Jarjarā'ī sent
Anushtakin al-Dizbari
Sharaf al-Maʿālī Abu Manṣūr Anūshtakīn al-Dizbarī (died January 1042) was a Fatimid statesman and general who became the most powerful Fatimid governor of Syria. Under his Damascus-based administration, all of Syria was united under a si ...
, a Turkish commander, with a force that defeated them in 1029 at the Battle of Uqḥuwāna near Lake Tiberias. In 1030 the new Byzantine emperor
Romanos III
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
broke a truce to
invade northern Syria and forced Aleppo to recognize his suzerainty. His death in 1034 changed the situation again and in 1036 peace was restored. In 1038 Aleppo was directly annexed by the Fatimids state for the first time.
Al-Zahir died in 1036 and was succeeded by his son,
al-Mustansir, who had the longest reign in Fatimid history, serving as caliph from 1036 to 1094. However, he remained largely uninvolved in politics and left the government in the hands of others. He was seven years old at his accession and thus al-Jarjarā'ī continued to serve as vizier and his guardian. When al-Jarjarā'ī died in 1045 a series of court figures ran the government until
al-Yāzūrī, a
jurist of Palestinian origin, took and kept the office of vizier from 1050 to 1058.
In the 1040s (possibly in 1041 or 1044), the Zirids declared their independence from the Fatimids and recognized the Sunni Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad, which led the Fatimids to launch the devastating
Banū Hilal invasions of North Africa.
Fatimid suzerainty over Sicily also faded as the Muslim polity there fragmented and external attacks increased. By 1060, when the
Italo-Norman
The Italo-Normans ( it, Italo-Normanni), or Siculo-Normans (''Siculo-Normanni'') when referring to Sicily and Southern Italy, are the Italian-born descendants of the first Norman conquerors to travel to southern Italy in the first half of th ...
Roger I Roger I may refer to:
:''In chronological order''
* Roger I of Carcassonne (died 1012), Count of Carcassonne
* Roger I of Tosny (), Norman noble
* Roger I "de Berkeley" (died 1093), Norman noble, possibly the son of Roger I of Tosny - see Baron ...
began his conquest of the island (completed in 1091), the Kalbid dynasty, along with any Fatimid authority, were already gone.
There was more success in the east, however. In 1047 the Fatimid
Ali Muhammad al-Ṣulayḥi in Yemen built a fortress and recruited tribes with which he was able to capture
San'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...
in 1048. In 1060 he began a campaign to conquer all of Yemen, capturing
Aden and
Zabid
Zabid ( ar, زَبِيد) (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since ...
. In 1062 he marched on Mecca, where
Shukr ibn Abi al-Futuh's death in 1061 provided an excuse. Along the way he forced the
Zaydi
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, ...
Imam in
Sa'da into submission. Upon arriving in Mecca, he installed
Abu Hashim Muhammad ibn Ja'far
Abū Hāshim Muḥammad ibn Ja‘far al-Ḥasanī al-‘Alawī ( ar, أبو هاشم محمد بن جعفر الحسني العلوي; d. 1094/1095) was the first Emir of Mecca from the sharifian dynasty of the Hawashim. He was appointed Emir by ...
as the new sharif and custodian of the holy sites under the suzerainty of the Fatimids. He returned to San'a where he established his family as rulers on behalf of the Fatimid caliphs. His brother founded the city of
Ta'izz
Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. With a populat ...
, while the city of Aden became an important hub of trade between Egypt and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, which brought Egypt further wealth.
Events degenerated in Egypt and Syria, however. Starting in 1060, various local leaders began to break away or challenge Fatimid dominion in Syria. While the ethnic-based army was generally successful on the battlefield, it had begun to have negative effects on Fatimid internal politics. Traditionally the Kutama element of the army had the strongest sway over political affairs, but as the Turkish element grew more powerful, it began to challenge this. In 1062, the tentative balance between the different ethnic groups within the Fatimid army collapsed and they quarreled constantly or fought each other in the streets. At the same time, Egypt suffered a 7-year period of drought and famine. Viziers came and went in flurry, the bureaucracy broke down, and the caliph was unable or unwilling to assume responsibilities in their absence. Declining resources accelerated the problems among the different ethnic factions, and outright civil war began, primarily between the Turks under
Nasir al-Dawla ibn Hamdan
Nasir al-Dawla Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Hamdan () was a descendant of the Hamdanid dynasty who became a general of the Fatimid Caliphate, ruing Egypt as a ''de facto'' dictator in 1071–1073.
Abu Muhammad al-Husayn was a grandson of Abu Abdall ...
, a scion of the Hamdanids of Aleppo, and Black African troops, while the Berbers shifted alliance between the two sides. The Turkish faction under Nasir al-Dawla seized partial control of Cairo but their leader was not given any official title. In 1067–1068 they plundered the state treasury and then looted any treasures they could find in the palaces. The Turks turned against Nasir al-Dawla in 1069, but he managed to rally Bedouin tribes to his side, took over most of the Nile Delta region, and blocked supplies and food from reaching the capital from this region. Things degenerated further for the general population, especially in the capital, which relied on the countryside for food. Historical sources of this period report extreme hunger and hardship in the city, even to the point of
cannibalism. The depredations in the Nile Delta may have also been a turning point that accelerated the long-term decline of the Coptic community in Egypt.
Badr al-Jamali and the Fatimid revival
![Cairo, porte settentrionali, 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Cairo%2C_porte_settentrionali%2C_01.JPG)
By 1072, in a desperate attempt to save Egypt, al-Mustansir recalled general
Badr al-Jamali
Abū'l-Najm Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Jamālī al-Mustanṣirī, better known as Badr al-Jamali ( ar, بدر الجمالى) was an Armenian Shia Muslim Fatimid vizier, and prominent statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. H ...
, who was at the time the governor of
Acre. Badr led his troops into Egypt, entered Cairo in January 1074, and successfully suppressed the different groups of the rebelling armies. As a result, Badr was made vizier, becoming one of the first military viziers ( ar, امير الجيوش, translit=amīr al-juyūsh, lit=commander of the armies) who would dominate late Fatimid politics. In 1078 al-Mustansir formally abdicated responsibility for all state affairs to him. His ''de facto'' rule initiated a temporary and limited revival of the Fatimid state, although it was now faced with serious challenges. Badr reestablished Fatimid authority in the
Hejaz (Mecca and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
) and the
Sulayhids were able to hold on in Yemen. Syria, however, saw the advance of the Sunni-aligned
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
who had invaded much of the Middle East and had become the guardians of the Abbasid Caliphs as well as independent Turkmen groups.
Atsiz ibn Uwaq, a Turkmen of the Nawaki tribe,
conquered Jerusalem in 1073 and Damscus in 1076 before attempting to invade even Egypt itself. After defeating him at a battle close to Cairo,
Badr was able to start a counter-offensive to secure coastal cities, such as
Gaza and Ascalon, and later
Tyre,
Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
, and
Byblos
Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
further north in 1089.
Badr made major reforms to the state, updating and simplifying the administration of Egypt. As he was of Armenian background, his term also saw a large influx of Armenian immigrants, both Christian and Muslim, into Egypt. The
Armenian church
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, patronised by Badr, established itself in the country along with a clerical hierarchy. He commanded a large contingent of Armenian troops, many (if not all) of whom were also Christian. Badr also used his relations and influence with the Coptic Church for political advantage. In particular, he enlisted
Cyril II (
Coptic Pope
The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ, translit=Papa; ar, البابا, translit=al-Bābā), also known as the Bishop of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Egypt. The ...
from 1078 to 1092
) to secure the allegiance of the Christian kingdoms of
Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
(specifically
Makuria) and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
(specifically the
Zagwe dynasty
The Zagwe dynasty ( Ge'ez: ዛጔ ሥርወ መንግሥት) was an Agaw medieval dynasty that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the t ...
) as vassals to the Fatimid state.
The
Juyushi Mosque
The Juyushi Mosque ( ar, الجامع الجيوشى, lit=Mosque of the Armies) was built by the vizier Badr al-Jamali who was ''Amir al-Juyush'' ( ar, امير الجيوش, lit=Commander of the Armies) for the Fatimid Caliphate. The mosque was co ...
( ar, الجامع الجيوشي, lit=the Mosque of the Armies), was commissioned by Badr and completed in 1085 under the patronage of the caliph. The mosque, identified as a ''
mashhad'', was also a victory monument commemorating vizier Badr's restoration of order for al-Mustansir. Between 1087 and 1092, the vizier also replaced the mudbrick walls of Cairo with new stone walls and slightly expanded the city. Three of its monumental gates still survive today:
Bab Zuweila
Bab Zuweila or Bab Zuwayla ( ar, باب زويلة) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the Old City of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman period. It is considered one of the ...
,
Bab al-Futuh Bab al-Futuh ( ar, باب الفتوح, , Conquest Gate) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the old city of Cairo, Egypt. It is located at the northern end of al-Mu'izz Street. The other two remaining gates are Bab al-Nasr (Victory ...
, and
Bab al-Nasr.
Final decline
As the military viziers effectively became heads of state, the Caliph himself was reduced to the role of a figurehead. The reliance on the
Iqta
An iqta ( ar, اقطاع, iqṭāʿ) and occasionally iqtaʿa ( ar, اقطاعة) was an Islamic practice of tax farming that became common in Muslim Asia during the Buyid dynasty. Iqta has been defined in Nizam-al-Mulk's Siyasatnama. Administrat ...
system also ate into Fatimid central authority, as more and more the military officers at the further ends of the empire became semi-independent.
Badr al-Jamali died in 1094 (along with Caliph al-Mustansir that same year) and his son
Al-Afdal Shahanshah
Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...
succeeded him in power as vizier. After al-Mustansir, the Caliphate passed on to
al-Musta'li, and after his death in 1101 it passed to the 5-year-old
al-Amir
Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li ( ar, أبو علي المنصور بن المستعلي, Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ibn al-Mustaʿlī; 31 December 1096 – 7 October 1130), better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah ( ar, الآمر ...
. Another of al-Mustansir's sons,
Nizar, attempted to take the throne after his father's death and organized a rebellion in 1195, but he was defeated and executed that same year. Al-Afdal arranged for his sister to marry al-Musta'li and later for his daughter to marry al-Amir, hoping in this way to merge his family with that of the caliphs. He also attempted to secure the succession of his son to the vizierate as well, but this ultimately failed.
During al-Afdal's tenure (1094–1121) the Fatimids faced their greatest external threat yet: the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
, which
captured Antioch in 1098 and then
captured Jerusalem in 1099. The
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
overran much of the coastal Levant, with
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
,
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, and Sidon falling to them between 1109 and 1110. The Fatimids retained Tyre, Ascalon, and Gaza with the help of their fleet. After 1107, a new rising star rose through the ranks of the regime in the form of Muḥammad ʿAlī bin Fatik, better known as
Ibn al-Baṭā'iḥī. He managed to carry out various administrative reforms and infrastructural projects during in the later years of al-Afdal's term, including the construction of an astronomical observatory in 1119. Al-Afdal's was assassinated in 1121, an act blamed on the
Nizaris
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...
or
Assassins
An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder.
Assassin may also refer to:
Origin of term
* Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins
Animals and insects
* Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...
, though the truth of this is unconfirmed.
Ibn al-Baṭā'iḥī took al-Afdal's place as vizier, but unlike his predecessors he had less support in the army and was ultimately reliant on the caliph for power. In 1124 he lost Tyre to the Crusaders. He was also responsible for constructing a small but notable mosque in Cairo, the
Al-Aqmar Mosque, which was completed in 1125 and has largely survived to the present day. That same year, however, Caliph al-Amir had him arrested, probably due to his failure to resist the Crusaders or due to the caliph's resentment of his wealth and power. Three years later he was executed. Al-Amir then ruled the Caliphate personally, briefly interrupting the long period of ''de facto'' rule by the caliph's viziers. Al-Amir himself was assassinated in 1130, probably by the Nizari Assassins.
Al-Amir apparently had a son born shortly before his death, known as al-Ṭayyib. One of Al-Amir's cousins (a grandson of al-Mustansir), Abd al-Majid, had himself appointed regent. Under pressure from the army, one of al-Afdal's sons, Abu Ali Ahmad (known as Kutayfāt), was appointed vizier with titles similar to al-Adal and Badr al-Jamali. Kutayfāt attempted to depose the Fatimid dynasty by imprisoning Abd al-Majid and by declaring himself to be the representative of
Muhammad al-Muntazar, the "hidden" Imam awaited by
Twelver Shi'as
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
. The coup did not last long, as Kutayfāt was assassinated in 1131 by al-Amir's followers in the Fatimid establishment. Abd al-Majid was released and resumed his role as regent. In 1132, however, he declared himself to be the new Imam-Caliph, taking the title of
al-Hafiz
Abūʾl-Maymūn ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mustanṣir, better known by his regnal name as al-Ḥāfiẓ li-Dīn Allāh ( ar, الحافظ لدين الله, , Keeper of God's Religion), was the eleventh Fatimid caliph, ruling over Egyp ...
, sidelining the infant al-Ṭayyib and breaking with the tradition of the succession passing directly from father to son. Most of the Fatimid lands acknowledged his succession, but the Sulayhids in Yemen did not and broke away from the Caliphate in Cairo, recognizing al-Ṭayyib as the true Imam. This caused another schism between the
Hafizi
Hafizi Isma'ilism ( ar, حافظية, Ḥāfiẓiyya or , ) was a branch of Musta'li Isma'ilism that emerged as a result of a split in 1132. The Hafizis accepted the Fatimid caliph Abd al-Majid al-Hafiz li-Din Allah () and his successors as imams ...
and
Tayyibi
Tayyibi Isma'ilism is the only surviving sect of the Musta'li branch of Isma'ilism, the other being the extinct Hafizi branch. Followers of Tayyibi Isma'ilism are found in various Bohra communities: Dawoodi, Sulaymani, and Alavi.
The Tayyibi ...
branches of the
Musta'li Isma'ilis.
In 1135 al-Hafiz was pressured by the Fatimid Armenian troops into appointing
Bahram, a Christian Armenian, to the office of vizier. Opposition from Muslim troops forced him to leave in 1137, when
Ridwan, a Sunni Muslim, was appointed vizier. When Ridwan began to plot the deposition of al-Hafiz, he was expelled from Cairo and later defeated in battle. He accepted a pardon from the caliph and remained at the palace. Al-Hafiz chose not to appoint another vizier, and instead took direct control of the state until his death in 1149. During this time, the fervor of the Isma'ili religious cause in Egypt had significantly faded, and political challenges to the caliph became more common. Sunni Muslims were also increasingly appointed to high posts. The Fatimid dynasty largely continued to survive due to the established common interests that many factions and elites had in maintaining the current system of government.
![Mosque of Salih Talai from above](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Mosque_of_Salih_Talai_from_above.jpg)
Al-Hafiz was the last Fatimid caliph to rule directly and the last one to ascend to the throne as an adult. The last three caliphs,
al-Zafir
Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ ( ar, أبو منصور إسماعيل بن الحافظ, February 1133 – April 1154), better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh (, ) or al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh (, ), was the t ...
(r. 1149–1154),
al-Fa'iz
Abūʾl-Qāsim ʿĪsā ibn al-Ẓāfir ( ar, أبو القاسم عيسى بن الظافر; 1149–1160), better known by his regnal name al-Fāʾiz bi-Naṣr Allāh (), was the thirteenth and penultimate Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1 ...
(r. 1154–1160), and
al-Adid
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ( ar, أبو محمد عبد الله بن يوسف; 1151–1171), better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh ( ar, العاضد لدين الله, , Strengthener of God's Faith), was th ...
(r. 1160–1171), were all children when they came to the throne. Under al-Zafir, an elderly Berber named Ibn Masal was initially vizier, per the instructions left by Al-Hafiz. The army, however, supported a Sunni named Ibn Sallar instead, whose supporters managed to defeat and kill Ibn Masal in battle. After negotiating with the women of the palace, Ibn Sallar was installed as vizier in 1150. In January 1153, the Crusader king
Baldwin III of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
besieged Ascalon, the last remaining Fatimid foothold in the Levant. In April, Ibn Sallar was murdered in a plot organized by Abbas, his stepson, and Abbas's son, Nasr. As no relieving force arrived, Ascalon surrendered in August, on the condition that the inhabitants could leave safely for Egypt. It was on this occasion that the head of
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
was allegedly brought from Ascalon to Cairo, where it was housed in what is now the
al-Hussein Mosque
The Imam Hussein Mosque ( ar, مسجد الإمام ٱلحُسين) or Jame Sayyidna Husayn ( ar, جامِع سيّدنا ٱلحُسين) is a mosque and mausoleum of Husayn ibn Ali, originally built in 1154, and then later reconstructed in 1874. ...
. The next year (1154), Nasr murdered al-Zafir, and Abbas, now vizier, declared his 5-year-old son 'Isa (al-Fa'iz) the new caliph. The women of the palace intervened, calling on
Ṭalā'i' ibn Ruzzīk, a Muslim Armenian governor in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient E ...
, to help. Tala'i drove out Abbas and Nasr from Cairo and became vizier that same year. Afterwards he also conducted renewed operations against the Crusaders, but he could do little more than harass them by sea. Al-Fa'iz died in 1160 and Tala'i was assassinated in 1161 by Sitt al-Qusur, a sister of al-Zafir. Tala'i's son, Ruzzīk ibn Ṭalā'i', held the office of vizier until 1163, when he was overthrown and killed by Shawar, the governor of Qus.
As vizier, Shawar came into conflict with his rival, the Arab general Dirgham. The internal disorder of the Caliphate attracted the attention and meddling of the Sunni Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din Zangi, Nūr ad-Dīn, who was now in control of Damascus and a large part of Syria, and of the King of Jerusalem, Amalric of Jerusalem, Amalric I. The Crusaders had already forced Tala'i ibn Ruzzik to pay them a tribute in 1161 and had made an attempt to invade Egypt in 1162. When Shawar was driven out of Cairo by Dirgham in 1163, he sought refuge and help with Nur al-Din. Nur al-Din sent his general, Shirkuh, Asad al-Din Shirkuh, to seize Egypt and reinstall Shawar as vizier. The accomplished this task in the summer of 1164, when Dirgham was defeated and killed.
Shawar's remaining years continued in chaos as he made shifting alliances with either the King of Jerusalem or with Nur al-Din, depending on circumstances. In 1167 the Crusaders pursued Shirkuh's forces in to Upper Egypt. In 1168 Shawar, worried about the possible Crusader capture of Cairo, infamously set fire to Fustat in an attempt to deny the Crusaders a base from which to besiege the capital. After forcing the Crusaders to leave Egypt again, Shirkuh finally had Shawar murdered in 1169, with the agreement of Caliph al-Adid. Shirkuh himself was appointed as al-Adid's vizier, but he died unexpectedly two months later. The position passed to his nephew, Saladin, Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (known in the West as Saladin). Salah ad-Din was openly pro-Sunni and suppressed the Shi'a call to prayer, ended the Isma'ili doctrinal lectures (the ''majālis al-ḥikma''), and installed Sunni Qadi, judges. He finally and officially deposed al-Adid, the last Fatimid caliph, in September 1171. This ended the Fatimid dynasty and began the Ayyubid Dynasty, Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt and Syria.
Dynasty
Caliphs
#Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh al-Mahdī bi'llāh (909–934), founder of the Fatimid dynasty
#Al-Qa'im (Fatimid caliph), Abū'l-Qāsim Muḥammad al-Qā'im bi-Amr Allāh (934–946)
#Al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah, Abū Ṭāhir Ismāʿil al-Manṣūr bi-Naṣr Allāh (946–953)
#Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, Abū Tamīm Maʿadd al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh (953–975). Egypt is conquered during his reign.
#al-Aziz Billah, Abū Manṣūr Nizār al-ʿAzīz bi-llāh (975–996)
#Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (996–1021). The Druze religion is founded during his lifetime.
#al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah, Abū'l-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Ẓāhir li-Iʿzāz Dīn Allāh (1021–1036)
#Al-Mustansir Billah, Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh (1036–1094).
Quarrels over his succession led to the Nizari split.
#Al-Musta'li, Abū'l-Qāsim Aḥmad al-Musta'lī bi-llāh (1094–1101)
#Al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah, Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh (1101–1130).
The Fatimid rulers of Egypt after him are not recognized as Imams by Mustaali/Taiyabi Ismailis.
#Al-Hafiz, Abu'l-Maymūn ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Ḥāfiẓ li-Dīn Allāh (1130–1149).
The Hafizi sect is founded with Al-Hafiz as Imam.
#Al-Zafir, Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿil al-Zāfir bi-Amr Allāh (1149–1154)
#Al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, Abū'l-Qāsim ʿĪsā al-Fā'iz bi-Naṣr Allāh (1154–1160)
#Al-Adid, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh (1160–1171)
Consorts
# Rasad, wife of the seventh caliph Ali al-Zahir and mother of the eighth caliph al-Mustansir bi-llāh.
Burial place
The Fatimid caliphs were buried in a mausoleum known as ''Turbat az-Za'faraan'' ("the Saffron Tomb"), located at the southern end of the eastern Fatimid palace in Cairo on the site now occupied by the Khan el-Khalili market. The remains of the early Fatimid caliphs in Ifriqiya were also transferred here when al-Mu'izz moved his capital to Cairo.
However, the mausoleum was completely demolished by the Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk amir Jaharkas al-Khalili in 1385 to make way for the construction of a new merchant building (which gave its name to the present-day market).
During the demolition, Jaharkas reportedly desecrated the bones of the Fatimid royal family by having them dumped into the rubbish hills east of the city.
Society
Religious communities
Fatimid society was highly pluralistic. Isma'ili Shi'ism was the religion of the state and the caliph's court, but most of the population followed different religions or denominations. Most of the Muslim population remained Sunni, and a large part of the population remained Christian.
Jews were a smaller minority.
As in other Islamic societies of the time, non-Muslims were classified as Dhimmi, ''dhimmi''s, a term which implied both certain restrictions and certain liberties, though the practical circumstances of this status varied from context to context.
Scholars generally agree that, on the whole, Fatimid rule was highly tolerant and inclusive towards different religious communities.
Unlike western European governments of the era, advancement in Fatimid state offices was more meritocracy, meritocratic than hereditary. Members of other branches of Islam, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites. Tolerance was extended to non-Muslims, such as Christians and Jews,
who occupied high levels in government based on ability, and this policy of tolerance ensured the flow of money from non-Muslims in order to finance the Caliphs' large army of Mamluks brought in from Circassia by Genoese merchants.
There were exceptions to this general attitude of tolerance, however, most notably by Al-Hakim, though this has been highly debated, with Al-Hakim's reputation among medieval Muslim historians conflated with his role in the Druze, Druze faith.
Christians in general and Persecution of Copts, Copts in particular were persecuted by Al-Hakim;
[Robert Ousterhout, "Rebuilding the Temple: Constantine Monomachus and the Holy Sepulchre" in ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (March, 1989), pp. 66–78] the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians included closing and demolishing churches and forced conversion to Islam. With the succession of Caliph al-Zahir, the Druze faced a mass persecution, which included large massacres against the Druze in Antioch, Aleppo, and other cities.
Isma'ilis
![Al-Azhar 2019-11-02q](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Al-Azhar_2019-11-02q.jpg)
It's unclear what number or percentage of the population inside the caliphate were actually Isma'ilis, but they always remained a minority. Historical chronicles report large numbers of enthusiastic converts in Egypt during the reign of al-'Aziz, but this trend dropped significantly around the middle of al-Hakim's reign. The Fatimid state promoted Isma'ili doctrine (the ''da'wa'') through a hierarchical organization. The Imam-Caliph, as successor to the Prophet Muhammad, was both the political and religious leader. Below the Imam-Caliph, the top of this hierarchy was headed by the ''dā'ī l-du'āt'' or "supreme missionary". Newcomers to the doctrine were initiated by attending the ''majālis al-ḥikma'' ("Sessions of Wisdom"), lectures and lessons that were delivered in a special hall inside the palaces of Cairo. The doctrine was kept secret from those who were not initiated. Additionally, Isma'ili doctrines were disseminated through the lectures hosted at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, which became an intellectual center hosting teachers and students.
Beyond the borders of the Fatimid Caliphate, recruitment to the ''da'wa'' continued to be performed in secret as it had been before the caliphate's establishment, though the many missionaries maintained contact with the leadership in Ifriqiya or Egypt. Some of the ''da'i''s (missionaries) abroad sometimes came to Cairo and became important figures in the state, as with the example of Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, al-Kirmani during al-Hakim's reign.
Isma'ili unity was weakened over time by several schisms after the establishment of the caliphate (in addition to the Qarmatian schism before its establishment). The Druze, who believed in the divinity of Caliph al-Hakim, were suppressed in Egypt and elsewhere, but eventually found a home in the region of Mount Lebanon. After the death of Caliph al-Mustansir, a succession crisis resulted in the breakaway of the Nizaris, who supported the claim of his oldest son Nizar, as opposed to the Musta'lis who supported the successful enthronement of al-Musta'li. The Nizaris were also suppressed inside the Caliphate's borders, but continued to be active outside it, mostly in Iran, Iraq, and parts of Syria. After the death of Caliph al-Amir, al-Hafiz, his cousin, successfully claimed the title of Imam-Caliph at the expense of al-Amir's infant son, al-Tayyib. Those who recognized al-Hafiz in Cairo were known as the al-Hafizi branch, but those who opposed this unusual succession and supported the succession of al-Tayyib were known as the al-Tayyibi branch. This particular schism resulted in the loss of Fatimid support in Yemen.
Other Muslims
In Ifriqiya, the Sunni Muslims of the cities largely followed the
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school or ''madhhab''. The Maliki school had become predominant here during the eighth century at the expense of the Hanafi school, which had generally been favoured by the Aghlabids. In Egypt, the majority of Muslims were Sunni and remained so throughout the Fatimid period. Cognizant of this, the Fatimid authorities introduced Shi'a changes to religious rituals only gradually after Jawhar's conquest. It was also in this era that the followers of the Hanafi, Shafiʽi school, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Maliki schools were beginning to think of themselves collectively, to one extent or another, as Sunni, which undermined the universalism that the Shi'a Isma'ilis promoted. Some Shi'as, including some Hasanids, Hasanid and Husaynids, Husaynid families, were also present in Egypt and welcomed the Fatimids as fellow Shi'as or as blood relatives, but without necessarily converting to Isma'ilism. Many non-Isma'ili Muslims also accepted the Fatimid caliphs as having legitimate rights to lead the Muslim community but did not accept the more absolute Shi'a beliefs in the concept of the Imamate.
Christians
![Cairo, chiesa sospesa, interno, iconostasi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Cairo%2C_chiesa_sospesa%2C_interno%2C_iconostasi.JPG)
Christians may have still constituted a majority of the population in Egypt during the Fatimid period, although scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors.
The proportion of Christians would have likely been greater in the rural population than in the main cities.
Among Christians, the largest community were Copts, followed by Melkite Christians.
A large number of Armenian immigrants also arrived in Egypt during the late 11th and early 12th centuries when Armenian viziers like Badr al-Jamali dominated the state, which led to the Armenian church establishing a foothold in the country as well.
In addition to churches in towns and cities, Christian Monastery, monasteries also dotted the countryside. Some regions, like Wadi El Natrun, Wadi al-Natrun, were ancient centres of Coptic monasticism.
Italian traders, led by Amalfitans, were also present in Fustat and Alexandria, moving goods between Egypt and the rest of the Mediterranean world.
Within the Christian communities, and especially among Copts, there emerged a relatively affluent class of notables who served as scribes or administrators in the Fatimid regime. These Laity, laymen used their wealth to patronize, and in turn influence, their churches.
The state also had influence on the church, as demonstrated by the transfer of the Coptic Patriarchate from Alexandria to Fustat (specifically what is now Old Cairo) during the patriarchate of Cyril II (1078–1092), due to the demands of Badr al-Jamali, who wished for the Coptic pope to stay close to the capital.
The Church of the Virgin, now known as the Hanging Church, became the new seat of the Patriarchate, along with an alternative church compound built on the upper floor of the Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo, St. Mercurius Church. Until the 14th century (when the seat was moved to the Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila), Church of the Virgin Mary in Harat Zuwayla), both churches were residences of the Coptic pope and served as venues for the consecrations of new popes and other important religious events.
Jews
![Leningrad_Codex_Carpet_page_e](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Leningrad_Codex_Carpet_page_e.jpg)
Jewish communities existed across the territories under Fatimid control and also enjoyed a degree of self-governance.
Although a smaller minority compared to Christians and Muslims, their history is relatively well-documented thanks to the Cairo Geniza, Genizah documents.
The community was divided between Rabbinic Judaism, Rabbanites and Karaite Judaism, Karaites.
Traditionally, up until the late 11th century, the most powerful head of the Jewish community was the ''ga'on'' or leader of the ''yeshiva'' of Jerusalem, who appointed judges and other Jewish community officials across the region. The Fatimids formally charged the ''ga'on'' of Jerusalem with responsibilities as representative of the community.
By 1100, however, a new position was established by Egyptian Jews in Fustat, known as the "Head of the Jews" or as the ''nagid''. This official in the Egyptian capital became recognized afterward as the head and representative of the Jewish community in its dealings with the Fatimid state. This shift was likely due to the Jerusalem ''ga'on''
's own loss of influence and to the Jewish community's engagement with the centralizing politics that Badr al-Jamali pursued around this time (which had already resulted in the transfer of the Coptic Patriarchate to Fustat).
Language
Religious diversity notwithstanding, the spread of Arabic as the main language of the population had already progressed rapidly before the Fatimid period. In parts of Egypt, Copts and possibly also some Muslim communities were still speaking Coptic language, Coptic when the Fatimids arrived on the scene. It is during the Fatimid period, however, that Coptic religious culture began to be translated into Arabic. By the end of the Fatimid period (12th century), many Coptic Christians could no longer understand the Coptic language, and eventually its usage was reduced to a Sacred language, liturgical language.
Military system
The Fatimid military was based largely on the
Kutama
The Kutama ( Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ar, كتامة) was a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. ...
Berber people, Berber tribesmen brought along on the march to Egypt, and they remained an important part of the military even after Ifriqiya began to break away.
A fundamental change occurred when the Fatimid Caliphate attempted to push into Syria in the latter half of the tenth century. The Fatimids were faced with the now Turkish-dominated forces of the Abbasid Caliphate and began to realize the limits of their current military. Thus during the reign of al-Aziz Billah and al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Caliph began incorporating armies of Turkic peoples, Turks and, later, black Africans (even later, other groups such as Armenians were also used). The army units were generally separated along ethnic lines: the Berbers were usually the light cavalry and foot skirmishers, while the Turks were the horse archers or heavy cavalry (known as ''Mamluks''). The black Africans, Syrians, and Arabs generally acted as the heavy infantry and foot archers. This ethnic-based army system, along with the partial slave status of many of the imported ethnic fighters, would remain fundamentally unchanged in Egypt for many centuries after the fall of the Fatimid Caliphate.
The Fatimids focused their military on the defence of the empire as threats presented, which they were able to repel. In the mid-10th century, the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
was ruled by Nikephoros II Phokas, who had destroyed the Muslim Emirate of Crete in 961 and conquered Tartus, Al-Masaisah, 'Ain Zarbah, among other areas, gaining complete control of Iraq and the Syrian borders, and earning the sobriquet "The Pale Death of the Saracens". With the Fatimids, however, he proved less successful. After renouncing his payments of tribute to the Fatimid caliphs, he sent an expedition to
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, but was forced by defeats on land and sea to evacuate the island completely. In 967, he made peace with the Fatimids and turned to defend himself against their common enemy, Otto I, who had proclaimed himself Roman Emperor and had attacked Byzantine possessions in Italy.
Capital cities
Al-Mahdiyya
Al-Mahdiyya, the first capital of the Fatimid dynasty, was established by its first caliph, 'Abdullāh al-Mahdī (297–322 AH/909–934 CE) in 300 AH/912–913 CE. The caliph had been residing in nearby Raqqada but chose this new and more strategic location in which to establish his dynasty. The city of al-Mahdiyya is located on a narrow peninsula along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, east of Kairouan and just south of the Gulf of Hammamet, in modern-day Tunisia. The primary concern in the city's construction and locale was defense. With its peninsular topography and the construction of a wall 8.3 m thick, the city became impenetrable by land. This strategic location, together with a navy that the Fatimids had inherited from the conquered Aghlabids, made the city of Al-Mahdiyya a strong military base where ʿAbdullāh al-Mahdī consolidated power and planted the seeds of the Fatimid caliphate for two generations. The city included two royal palaces – one for the caliph and one for his son and successor al-Qāʾim – as well as a mosque, many administrative buildings, and an arsenal.
Al-Mansuriyya
Al-Manṣūriyya (also known as Ṣabra al-Manṣūriyya
) was established between 334 and 336 AH (945 and 948 CE) by the third Fatimid caliph al-Manṣūr (334–41 AH/946–53 CE) in a settlement known as Ṣabra, located on the outskirts of Kairouan in modern-day Tunisia. The new capital was established in commemoration of the victory of al-Manṣūr over the Khārijite rebel Abū Yazīd at Ṣabra.
Construction of the city was not quite finished when al-Manṣūr died in 953, but his son and successor, al-Muʿizz, finished it and completed the city's mosque that same year.
Like Baghdad, the plan of the city of Al-Manṣūriyya is round, with the caliphal palace at its center. Due to a plentiful water source, the city grew and expanded a great deal under al-Manṣūr. Archaeological evidence suggests that there were more than 300 Hammam, hammams built during this period in the city as well as numerous palaces.
When al-Manṣūr's successor, al-Mu'izz, moved the caliphate to Cairo he left his deputy, Buluggin ibn Ziri, as regent of Ifriqiya, marking the beginning of the city's Zirid period. In 1014–15 the Zirid ruler Badis ibn al-Mansur ordered merchants and artisans of Kairouan to be transferred to al-Manṣūriyya, which may have helped provoke a revolt in 1016 which damaged the city. In 1057, under pressure from the Banu Hilal invasions, the Zirids abandoned al-Manṣūriyya for Mahdiyya and the city was devastated. Unlike Kairouan, it remained in ruins afterwards and was never revived. The site was pillaged over time. Modern archeological excavations here began in 1921.
[Talbi, M., "Ṣabra or al-Manṣūriyya", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 24 April 2017]
Cairo
Cairo was established by the fourth Fatimid caliph, al-Mu'izz, in 359 AH/970 CE and remained the capital of the Fatimid caliphate for the duration of the dynasty. The city was officially named ''al-Mu'izziyya al-Qāhirah'' ( ar, المعزية القاهرة, links=no), which can be translated as the "Victorious City of al-Mu'izz", known afterward simply as ''al-Qāhira'' and giving us the modern English name "Cairo". Cairo can thus be considered the capital of Fatimid cultural production. Though the original Fatimid palace complex, including administrative buildings and royal residents, no longer exists, modern scholars can glean a good idea of the original structure based on the Mamluk-era account of al-Maqrīzī. Perhaps the most important of Fatimid monuments outside the palace complex is the mosque of al-Azhar (359–61 AH/970–72 CE) which still stands today, though the building was significantly expanded and modified in later periods. Likewise the important Fatimid mosque of al-Ḥākim, built from 380 to 403 AH/990-1012 CE under two Fatimid caliphs, was significantly rebuilt and renovated in the 1980s. Cairo remained the capital for, including al-Muʿizz, eleven generations of caliphs, after which the Fatimid Caliphate finally fell to Ayyubid forces in 567 AH/1171 CE.
Art and architecture
![Fragment of a Bowl Depicting a Mounted Warrior, 11th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Fragment_of_a_Bowl_Depicting_a_Mounted_Warrior%2C_11th_century._86.227.83.jpg)
The Fatimids were known for their exquisite arts. The Fatimid period is important in the history of Islamic art and Islamic architecture, architecture as it is one of the earliest Islamic dynasties for which enough materials survive for a detailed study of their evolution.
The stylistic diversity of Fatimid art was also a reflection of the wider cultural environment of the Mediterranean world at this time.
The most notable characteristics of their decorative arts are the use of lively Figurative art, figurative motifs and the use of an angular, floriated Kufic script for Arabic inscriptions.
Among the best-known art forms that flourished are a type of ceramic lustreware and the crafting of objects carved in solid Quartz, rock crystal. The dynasty also sponsored the production of linen textiles and a ''tiraz'' workshop. A vast collection of different luxury objects once existed within the caliph's palaces, but few examples of them have survived to the present day.
Many traces of Fatimid architecture exist in both Egypt and present-day Tunisia, particularly in the former capitals of Mahdia (al-Mahdiyya) and Cairo (al-Qahira). At Mahdia, the most important surviving monument is Great Mosque of Mahdiya, Great Mosque.
In Cairo, prominent examples include the
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the histori ...
and the Al-Hakim Mosque, as well as the smaller monuments of Aqmar Mosque, al-Aqmar Mosque, the Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya, and the Al-Salih Tala'i Mosque, Mosque of al-Salih Tala'i.
Al-Azhar Mosque, which was also a center of learning and teaching known today as al-Azhar University, was named in honour of Fatimah (the daughter of Muhammad from whom the Fatimids claimed descent), who was called ''Az-Zahra'' (the brilliant). There were two main Fatimid Great Palaces, Fatimid palaces in Cairo, covering a huge area around Bayn al-Qasrayn, near Khan el-Khalili. Parts of the city walls constructed by Badr al-Jamali – most notably three of its gates – also survive.
Important figures
List of important figures:
*
Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i
Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i ( ar, ابو عبد الله الشيعي, Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shi'ī), was an Isma'ili missionary ('' dāʿī'') active in Yemen and North Africa, mainly amon ...
(d. After 911)
* Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani (d. After 971)
* Al-Qadi al-Nu'man (d. 974)
* Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani (d. After 1020)
* Nasir Khusraw, Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw (d. After 1070)
* Al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi (d. 1078)
* Al-Sayyida al-Mu'iziyya (also known as Durzan)
Legacy
After Al-Mustansir Billah, his sons Nizar (Fatimid Imam), Nizar and Al-Musta'li both claimed the right to rule, leading to a split into the Nizari and Musta'li factions respectively. Nizar's successors eventually came to be known as the ''Aga Khan'', while Musta'li's followers eventually came to be called the ''Dawoodi bohra''.
The Fatimid dynasty continued and flourished under Al-Musta'li until Al-Amir bi-Ahkami'l-Lah's death in 1130. Leadership was then contested between At-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim, Al-Amir's two-year-old son, and Al-Hafiz, Al-Amir's cousin whose supporters (Hafizi) claimed Al-Amir died without an heir. The supporters of At-Tayyib became the Tayyibi Isma'ilis. At-Tayyib's claim to the imamate was endorsed by Arwa al-Sulayhi, Queen of Yemen. In 1084, Al-Mustansir had Arwa designated a ''hujjah'' (a holy, pious lady), the highest rank in the Yemeni Da'wah. Under Arwa, the ''Da'i al-Balagh'' (the imam's local representative) Lamak ibn Malik and then Yahya ibn Lamak worked for the cause of the Fatimids. After At-Tayyib's disappearance, Arwa named Dhu'ayb bin Musa the first ''Da'i al-Mutlaq'' with full authority over Tayyibi religious matters. Tayyibi Isma'ili missionaries (in about 1067 AD (460 AH)) spread their religion to India, leading to the development of various Isma'ili communities, most notably the Alavi Bohra, Alavi, Dawoodi Bohra, Dawoodi, and Sulaymani Bohras. Syedi Nuruddin went to Dongaon to look after southern India and Syedi Fakhruddin went to East Rajasthan.
See also
*List of Shia Islamic dynasties
Notes
References
Sources
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* Cortese, Delia, "Fatimids", in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol I, pp. 187–191.
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External links
Fatimids entry in the ''Encyclopaedia of the Orient''.
The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London.The Shia Fatimid Dynasty in Egypt
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