Abu'-Fatḥ Nāṣir (or Amīr) al-Juyūsh Sayf al-Islām Sharaf al-Islām Yānis al-Rūmī al-Armanī al-Ḥāfiẓī, commonly simply known by his given name Yānis (i.e., John), was an

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 around the ...

military slave who served as

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...

for nine months in 1131–1132.

Life

A Christian of

origin, he became a military slave (''

mamlūk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-soldi ...

'') of

al-Afdal Shahanshah Al-Afdal Shahanshah (; ; 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 later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamed al-Malik al-Afdal ("the excellen ...

, the

(and ''de facto'' ruler) of the

from 1094 to 1121. In 1122/3, Yanis was promoted to head of the ''ṣibyān al-khāṣṣ''—a special corps of young men being trained for military service—and then to head of the treasury (''ṣāḥib bayt al-mal'') by the vizier

al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

. He rose further to head chamberlain ('' ṣāḥib al-bāb'' or ''ṣāḥib al-majlis''), a rank almost equal to the vizierate, and commander-in-chief of the army. Following the death of Caliph

al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li (; 31 December 1096 – 7 October 1130), better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah () was the tenth Fatimid caliph, ruling from 1101 to his death in 1130, and the 20th imam of the Musta'li Isma' ...

on 17 October 1130, the army raised al-Afdal's son

Kutayfat Kutayfāt, also known as Abu Ali Ahmad ibn al-Afdal or al-Afdal Kutayfāt, (d. 1131) was vizier and ''amīr al-juyūsh'' (commander of the armies) to al-Hafiz, Caliph of Egypt, from 1130 to 1131. He seized power by imprisoning al-Hafiz but was mu ...

to the vizierate. He soon imprisoned the regent Abd al-Majid, deposed the Fatimid dynasty and

Isma'ilism Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the ...

and imposed a

Twelver Shi'a Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as th ...

regime instead. This aroused the reaction of the old Fatimid elites, and members of al-Amir's ''ṣibyān al-khāṣṣ'' murdered Kutayfat on 8 December 1131. Abd al-Majid was released and reinstated, initially as regent, but in February 1132 he was raised to the caliphate as al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. Yanis emerged as the new strong man, and was named vizier. This has been seen by some modern historians as a reward for assisting in the murder of Kutayfat and the restoration of the dynasty. On the other hand, among his first moves was the elimination of about 300 of the approximately 500 ''ṣibyān'', exactly the same corps that had been responsible for Kutayfat's murder. This severity was a hallmark of Yanis, a strong personality and disciplinarian who tried to discipline the unruly army by tough measures. At the same time, he relied on a privately raised regiment of military slaves, which was known after him as ''Yānisiyya''. Yanis' efforts to impose control over the state extended to the administration as well, leading to the imprisonment of several prominent officials. His growing power alarmed al-Hafiz, and after nine months in power, he had the vizier's ablution water poisoned. After Yanis' death, the Caliph did not appoint another vizier, and for a time took governance into his own hands. It was not until 1134 that a new vizier was appointed, in the person of al-Hafiz's son and designated heir Sulayman. During his tenure, Yanis began constructing two mosques, the ''Masjid al-Fath'' and the ''Masjid Yanis'', which were completed by his two sons, whom al-Hafiz took under his protection.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Fatimid Caliphate topics 11th-century births 1131 deaths 12th-century Armenian people 12th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate Generals of the Fatimid Caliphate Viziers of the Fatimid Caliphate Deaths by poisoning Armenian Christians Fatimid ghilman