Misplaced Pages

#869130

158-412: The Fatimids were a Shia Muslim Caliphate that initially controlled Ifriqiya , where they founded their first capital at Mahdia . They then conquered Egypt in 969 CE with a North African Kutama Berber army under the command of the general Jawhar al-Siqilli . In 970, Jawhar was responsible for planning, founding, and constructing a new city to serve as the residence and center of power for

316-890: A Buyid 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

474-683: 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

632-565: 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 and Rahba in the Euphrates valley (present-day northeast Syria ). Cairo eventually judged him to be

790-483: 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 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

948-427: A counter-offensive to secure coastal cities, such as Gaza and Ascalon, and later Tyre , Sidon , and Byblos 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 , patronised by Badr, established itself in

1106-500: 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

1264-512: 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 led by Salih ibn Mirdas 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 ,

1422-669: 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 , where the dā'ī Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i had made great headway in converting the Kutama Berbers to the Isma'ili cause. Unable to join his dā'ī directly, Abdallah instead settled at Sijilmasa sometime between 904 and 905. Prior to

1580-560: A large area of North Africa and West Asia , it ranged from the western Mediterranean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids trace their ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad 's daughter Fatima and her husband Ali , the first Shia imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different Isma'ili communities as well as by denominations in many other Muslim lands and adjacent regions. Originating during

1738-516: 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 control. The incorporation of the Turkish troops into the Fatimid army had long-term consequences. On the one hand, they were

SECTION 10

#1732764833870

1896-687: 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 ). Black Africans from the Sudan (upper Nile valley) were also recruited afterward. In the short term the Kutama warriors remained

2054-513: 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. Before leaving for Egypt, al-Mu'izz had installed Buluggin ibn Ziri ,

2212-490: A pattern repeated from the original Fatimid royal city at al-Mahdiya , Tunisia . This square was rectangular and measured 105 by 255 meters (344 by 837 ft), taking up over 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres). It had great public and symbolic significance, and was the site of various ceremonies related to the dynasty. The grand official entrance to the Great Eastern Palace, known as Bab al-Dhahab ("The Golden Gate"),

2370-593: A push for dominance. One source of great wealth was the lucrative gold-mining areas of Sub-Saharan Africa . The existence of these gold mines made expansion into Africa very worthwhile. The Muslim Empires pushed for influence and control of both the Northern and Southern parts of Africa. By the end of the 11th century, Islam had firmly established itself along the Mediterranean. Like the Europeans , Muslims felt

2528-580: 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 -era Laribus, between present-day El Kef and Maktar ), expecting an attack from

2686-725: 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 was campaigning far away in the Balkans and the Hamdanid ruler Sa'd al-Dawla died in late 991. Manjūtakīn, the Turkish Fatimid commander, advanced methodically north along

2844-488: A third expedition to try and subdue the Kutama. They based themselves in Constantine 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

3002-671: A wave of medical knowledge they had had little access to before. His book The Total Art is based on The Royal Book by Persian physician Ali ibn al Abbas . Ibn Khaldun , a historian born in Tunis, was one of the most prolific academics of the Middle Ages. Ibn Khaldun's book Muqadimmah influenced waves of writers in Egypt, Turkey, and France from the 15th through 19th centuries. Ibn Khaldun served in numerous political positions in al Andalus and Al Maghreb. He fell in and out of favor with

3160-518: A year (in 1058–59); however, this purpose was never served. The palace was also known as Qasr al-Bahr ("Palace of the Sea/River") in reference to the fact that it lay near the Khalij canal , which passed next to Cairo and which once extended to the Red Sea . Throughout the Fatimid period various other minor palaces and establishments were also built in the areas surrounding the caliphs' palaces. To

3318-531: 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 mahdī . 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 , son of Isma'il and grandson of al-Sadiq. From Muhammad's father, Isma'il,

SECTION 20

#1732764833870

3476-490: 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 . Thereafter, the weakened Idrisids and various local Zenata and Sanhaja leaders acted as proxies whose formal allegiances oscillated between

3634-401: Is uncertain whether an agreement was reached but it seems that the parties expected to reach a conclusion in Cairo. Al-Afdal took then advantage of the crusader victory at Antioch to reconquer Jerusalem in August 1098, possibly to be in a better position in the negotiations with the crusaders. The next time both parties met was at Arqah in April 1099 where an impasse was reached in regard to

3792-575: The Abbasid Caliphate , the Fatimids initially conquered Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia ). They extended their rule across the Mediterranean coast and ultimately made Egypt the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included—in addition to Egypt—varying areas of the Maghreb , Sicily , the Levant , and the Hejaz . Between 902 and 909, the foundation of the Fatimid state

3950-729: The Awliya' Allah ('Friends of God'), and to initiate them into Isma'ili doctrine. In 902, while the Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II was away on campaign in Sicily , Abu Abdallah struck the first significant blow against Aghlabid authority in North Africa 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

4108-539: 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

4266-628: The Dar al-Khilafa ("Abode of the Caliphate"). Information about the layout and appearance of these palaces comes from a few written reports, and especially from the chronicles of the Arab historian Maqrizi and of the Persian traveler Nasir Khusraw . The two palaces faced each other across an open square or plaza which became known as Bayn al-Qasrayn (meaning "Between the Two Palaces"), on

4424-549: The Isma'ili Shia caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah . The caliphate's establishment was accomplished by Kutama Berbers from Little Kabylia , who converted to the Fatimid cause early and made up its original military forces. The Shi'a opposed the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, whom they considered usurpers. Instead, they believed in the exclusive right of the descendants of Ali through Muhammad's daughter Fatima , to lead

4582-502: The Isma'ili religious establishment (scholars and clerics) were also housed in or around the palace, which had its own muezzin and thus did not rely on the call to prayer of the al-Azhar Mosque. The Eastern Palace was composed of many great halls, the most important of which were preceded by courtyards (called dihliz ). The palace also featured many gardens or courtyards, often bordered by porticos and featuring pavilions and fountains, where court life unfolded. Visitors who wrote about

4740-716: The Italo-Norman Roger I 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 dā'ī Ali Muhammad al-Ṣulayḥi in Yemen built a fortress and recruited tribes with which he was able to capture San'a in 1048. In 1060 he began a campaign to conquer all of Yemen, capturing Aden and Zabid . In 1062 he marched on Mecca, where Shukr ibn Abi al-Futuh 's death in 1061 provided an excuse. Along

4898-561: The Levant (including Transjordan), the Red Sea coast of Africa, Tihamah , Hejaz , Yemen , 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 ( r.  960–1279 ), eventually determined

Fatimid Great Palaces - Misplaced Pages Continue

5056-553: The Lu'lu'a or Pearl Palace built by al-'Aziz and rebuilt by al-Zahir . (It was later used as the residence for Salah ad-Din's father.) The mother of al-'Aziz also built a large palace within al-Qarafa , the vast necropolis and cemetery of the main city of Fustat to the south. Cairo was definitively opened to all people under the rule of Salah ad-Din (Saladin), who dismantled the Fatimid Caliphate in 1171 and embarked on

5214-503: The Mamluk amir Jaharka al-Khalili to make way for the Khan al-Khalili in the late 14th century, which gave its name to the surrounding souq area still present today. Jaharkas reportedly disposed of the bones of the Fatimid royal family by throwing them into the rubbish hills east of the city. Also adjacent to the caliphs' mausoleum was the later 12th-century shrine which allegedly housed

5372-663: The Maristan complex of Qalawun and in the Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad . Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate ( / ˈ f æ t ɪ m ɪ d / ; Arabic : ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْفَاطِمِيَّة , romanized :  al-Khilāfa al-Fāṭimiyya ), 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 Shia dynasty. Spanning

5530-599: The Mustansirite Hardship . 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 , a scion of the Hamdanids of Aleppo, and Black African troops, while

5688-588: The Nizaris or Assassins , though the truth of this is unconfirmed. Ifriqiya French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present Ifriqiya ( Arabic : إفريقية , lit.   'Africa' Ifrīqya ), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( Arabic : المغرب الأدنى ), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia , eastern Algeria , and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya ). It included all of what had previously been

5846-461: The Sulayhid dynasty which continued to rule Yemen as nominal vassals of the Fatimids after this. 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

6004-566: The Zagwe dynasty ) as vassals to the Fatimid state. The Juyushi Mosque ( Arabic : 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,

6162-546: The Zenata 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 . While al-Mansur was campaigning to suppress

6320-472: The al-Aqmar Mosque , which still stands today, at the northwestern edge of the palace. Attached to the southern end of the eastern palace was a mausoleum known as Turbat al-Za'faraan ("The Saffron Tomb"), which served as the burial site of the caliphs. Even the remains of the Fatimid caliphs in Tunisia were transferred here when the caliphate moved to Egypt. The tombs were eventually completely demolished by

6478-504: The end times . This figure was widely expected – not just among the Shi'a – to 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 " ( ghayba ) and would return (or be resurrected) at the appointed time. These traditions manifested themselves in

Fatimid Great Palaces - Misplaced Pages Continue

6636-458: The palaces of the caliph and the official state mosque, Al-Azhar Mosque . 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,

6794-414: The political quietism of their leadership and the recent disappearance of the twelfth imam. Missionaries ( dā'ī s) such as Hamdan Qarmat and Ibn Hawshab spread the network of agents to the area round Kufa in the late 870s, and from there to Yemen (882) and thence India (884), Bahrayn (899), Persia , and the Maghreb (893). In 899, Abdallah al-Akbar's great-grandson, Abdallah , became

6952-653: The 11th century. Constantine traveled through places such as Cairo, India and Ethiopia, and his knowledge of numerous languages helped him interpret many academic texts. His greatest work came when he joined the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino , where he translated over 30 books, including works by Isaac the Jew , one of the most accomplished physicians in the Western Caliphate. He translated Muslim books on medicine from Arabic to Latin, opening Europe up to

7110-480: The 12th century. The palace opened to the rest of the city through nine gates (three to the west, one to the north, three to the east, and two to the south), but it was also separated from the city around it by gardens and open squares. This sprawling but secluded layout in the center of the city kept with a tradition, already established by the Abbasid caliphs , of isolating the caliph from the public sphere. Members of

7268-640: The 950s, until the Fatimid general Jawhar , 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 , the leader of the Zirids . 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

7426-768: The Abbasid palaces in Baghdad and used in the Fatimid viziers' palace. The old Ayyubid minaret at the entrance of the al-Hussein Mosque is built over one of the Fatimid Eastern Palace's former gates (cited as the " Bab al-Akhdar" but perhaps the same as the Bab al-Daylam ) as the shrine of al-Hussein was originally adjoined to the palace. Some artifacts and architectural fragments from the Fatimid Great Palaces are now on display in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art , including wooden panels and beams found in

7584-552: The Aghlabid province of Sicily , which the Aghlabids had gradually conquered from the Byzantine Empire starting in 827. The conquest was generally completed when the last Christian stronghold, Taormina , 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

7742-464: 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 with the regnal name of al-Mahdī , and presented his son and heir, with

7900-413: 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. For a large part of the tenth century

8058-405: The Arab world. In 1400, he parleyed outside Damascus with Timur , who was in awe of his wisdom. He managed to secure safe passage for many of the inhabitants of Damascus but could not save the city or its mosque from being sacked. After this, he went to Cairo and spent the remainder of his years in relative peace and quiet. He died in 1406 and was buried outside Cairo. ( invasion of

SECTION 50

#1732764833870

8216-407: 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

8374-425: The Byzantine province of Africa Proconsularis and extended beyond it, but did not include the Mauretanias . To the south, Ifriqiya was bounded by the semi-arid lands and salt marshes named el- Djerid . The northern boundary fluctuated from as far north as Sicily to the North African coastline, and the western boundary usually reached Béjaïa . Ifriqiya is bordered to the west by the Central Maghreb , with which

8532-433: 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 and the Banu Kilab . Following another failed attempt by

8690-400: The Fatimid caliphs. The city was named al-Mu'izziyya al-Qahira , the "Victorious City of al-Mu'izz ", later simply called "al-Qahira", which gave us the modern name of Cairo . The new city was located northeast of Fustat , the previous capital and main city of Egypt. Jawhar organized the city so that the caliphal palace complex was at its center, in addition to the main mosque, al-Azhar , to

8848-430: The Fatimid rise to power, a large part of the Maghreb including Ifriqiya was under the control of the Aghlabids , an Arab dynasty who ruled nominally on behalf the Abbasids but were de facto independent. In 893 the dā'ī 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

9006-406: The Fatimids also engaged in a rivalry with the Umayyads of Cordoba —who ruled Al-Andalus and were hostile to the Fatimids' pretensions—in an effort to establish domination over the western Maghreb. In 911, Tahert , 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 tribe. The first Fatimid expeditions to what

9164-434: The Fatimids faced a new external threat: the First Crusade . Although initially both sides intended to reach an agreement and an alliance against the Seljuk Turks, these negotiations would eventually break down. First contact seems to have been established by the crusaders who sent in May or June 1097, on suggestion of Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos , an embassy to al-Afdal. In return the Fatimids dispatched an embassy to

9322-490: The Fatimids. The western part of the garden was retained for the Fatimids' pleasure and was initially reserved for the caliph's family. The Eastern and Western Palaces, as well as these gardens to the west, were all connected by large tunnels that allowed the caliphs to get from one to the other by horse. The Western Palace was refurbished in 1064 by Caliph al-Mustansir who had hoped to house the Abbasid caliphs, his Sunni rivals, after having briefly deposed them in Baghdad for

9480-422: The Hafsid empire around its new capital, Tunis . Records of Arabic oral traditions imply that the Muslims first migrated to Africa feeling persecuted in their Arab homeland. However, Muslim military incursions into Africa began around seven years after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in 632. This campaign into Africa was led by the General Amr ibn al-As and Muslim control of Africa rapidly spread after

9638-400: 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 known as

SECTION 60

#1732764833870

9796-412: 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 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

9954-414: The Levant in 1097. In 1171, Saladin abolished the dynasty's rule and founded the Ayyubid dynasty , which incorporated Egypt back into the nominal sphere of authority of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Fatimid dynasty claimed descent from Fatimah , the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The dynasty legitimized its claim through descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter and her husband Ali ,

10112-421: The Muslim community. This manifested itself in a line of imams , descendants of Ali via al-Husayn , 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 mahdī ("the Rightly Guided One") or qāʾim ("He Who Arises"), who would restore true Islamic government and justice and usher in

10270-426: 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

10428-427: 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 relief force arriving by sea secured the expulsion of the Qarmatis from Egypt. Ramla , 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

10586-442: 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 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

10744-449: The Qasaba street, as construction on either side filled up the previously open space. Practically nothing remains of the palaces today, other than the occasional toponym and a few minor physical fragments. Most of the buildings in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area were built on top of the foundations or ruins of the palaces. One of the main courtyards in the maristan (hospital) of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun (built in 1285) incorporates remnants of

10902-429: 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 general Fatāk finally occupied Aleppo at

11060-431: The Umayyad garrisons in Sala , Sebta (present-day Ceuta) and Tangier , 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

11218-445: 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 , 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

11376-477: The Western Fatimid Palace, in particular some carved stucco windows in its eastern iwan , probably part of what was originally a palace courtyard which had four iwans arranged in a cross formation. Likewise, the lobed fountain in the middle of the courtyard of Qalawun's madrasa (in the same complex) also belonged to that palace. The 13th-century Madrasa of al-Salih Ayyub was built in part over

11534-400: 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 296), Abu Abdallah himself entered Raqqada and took up residence here. Upon assuming power in Raqqada, Abu Abdallah inherited much of

11692-658: The advance of the Sunni-aligned Seljuk Turks who had conquered 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 Damascus in 1076 before attempting to invade even Egypt itself. After defeating him at a battle close to Cairo, Badr was able to start

11850-439: The aristocracy of his own Ayyubid dynasty , as well as into madrasas , a khanqah , and a hospital. The Ayyubid sultans al-Kamil and al-Salih built important madrasas in different areas of the site of the former palaces. In the Mamluk period the transformation of the area continued and most of the palaces disappeared and were replaced with various urban structures, and transformed into new city neighbourhoods. Some remnants of

12008-482: 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 ) and the Sulayhids were able to hold on in Yemen. Syria, however, saw

12166-531: 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 , 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 into Syria in the 1070s and the arrival of the Crusaders in

12324-591: The borders are fluid depending on the chroniclers and the eras. The capital was briefly Carthage , then Qayrawan (Kairouan), then Mahdia , then Tunis . The Aghlabids , from their base in Kairouan , initiated the invasion of Southern Italy beginning in 827, and established the Emirate of Sicily , which lasted until it was conquered by the Normans , and the short-lived Emirate of Bari . The province of Ifriqiya

12482-721: The brutal effects of the Black Death in the 14th century when it arrived in Western Africa (Maghreb) through Europe. Maghreb and Ifriqiya were largely under the rule of the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 18th centuries. Around the end of the 19th century, Islam accounted for 1/3rd of the religious population of Africa. Constantine the African was a scholar who was born in Carthage and migrated to Sicily in

12640-519: 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 . Starting in 943/4 among

12798-538: The caliphate often allowed a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Shia sects of Islam, as well as to Jews and Christians. However, its leaders 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 viziers took on greater importance. Political and ethnic factionalism within

12956-587: The collapse of the Umayyads paving the way for the Aghlabids , who acted as agents of the Abbasids in Baghdad. They were then overthrown by the Fatimids in 909, when they lost their capital of Raqqada and the Fatimids went on to control all of Ifriqiya in 969, when they took control of Egypt. The Fatimids slowly lost control over Ifriqiya as their regents, the Zirids , became more and more autonomous until

13114-535: The construction of a new fortified citadel (the current Citadel of Cairo ) further south, outside the walled city, that would house Egypt's rulers and state administration. This ended Cairo's status as an exclusive palace-city and started a process by which the city became an economic center inhabited by ordinary Egyptians and frequented by foreign travelers. The old Fatimid palaces in the city became obsolete as caliphal residences and were opened up to redevelopment. Salah ad-Din initially transformed them into residences for

13272-600: The control of the Ikhshidids , 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 ) in 969. The name al-Qāhirah ( Arabic : القاهرة ), meaning "the Vanquisher" or "the Conqueror", referenced the planet Mars , "The Subduer", rising in

13430-545: 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 from 1078 to 1092 ) to secure the allegiance of the Christian kingdoms of Nubia (specifically Makuria ) and Ethiopia (specifically

13588-579: 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

13746-550: The crusading forces which arrived in February 1098 during their siege of Antioch , witnessing and congratulating the crusaders on their victory against the Seljuk emirs Ridwan of Aleppo and Sökmen of Jerusalem as well as stressing their friendly attitude towards Christians. The Fatimid embassy stayed for a month with the crusading forces before returning via the harbour of Latakia with gifts as well as Frankish ambassadors. It

13904-537: 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 , into Egypt, seemingly without opposition. The Qarmatis spent time occupying

14062-583: The economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages . 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

14220-521: The faithful, spread the word ( daʿwa , "invitation, calling"), and prepare his return. The head of this secret network was the living proof of the imam's existence, or "seal" ( ḥujja ). 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

14378-566: The first Shī'a Imām , hence the dynasty's name, fāṭimiyy ( Arabic : فَاطِمِيّ ), the Arabic relative adjective for "Fāṭima". Emphasizing its Alid descent, the dynasty named itself simply the 'Alid dynasty' ( al-dawla al-alawiyya ), but many hostile Sunni sources only refer to them as the Ubaydids ( Banu Ubayd ), after the diminutive form Ubayd Allah for the name of the first Fatimid caliph. The Fatimid dynasty came to power as

14536-531: The former kitchens of the palace. The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashnakir (built in 1306–1310) and the Madrasa of Amir Qarasunqur (built in 1300) stand on the site of the former residence of the Fatimid viziers, which faced a western gate of the Eastern Palace. The large iron window grille in the exterior facade of the mausoleum of Baybars al-Jashnakir's khanqah was originally an artifact brought from

14694-478: 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

14852-448: The head of al-Husayn, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib who was slain at the Battle of Karbala in 680 and is revered as a martyr by the Shi'a . His head was originally believed to be interred at Ascalon , but the Fatimids brought it to Cairo in 1153 when Ascalon was threatened by the Crusaders . Since the Fatimids claimed descent through al-Husayn's mother, Fatima , the creation of this shrine

15010-471: 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 al-Maʾmūn al-Baṭā'iḥī . He managed to carry out various administrative reforms and infrastructural projects 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

15168-537: The initial seizure of Alexandria. Islam slowly took root in the East African coast due to cross-cultural links established between Muslim traders and the natives of the African coast. The political situation in Islamic Africa was like any other, filled with a chaotic and constant power struggle between movements and dynasties. A key factor in the success of any hopeful party was securing the wealth to fund

15326-527: The intermediary between the caliph and the large bureaucratic state that he ruled. In 975 the Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces retook most of Palestine and Syria, leaving only Tripoli in Fatimid control. He aimed to eventually capture Jerusalem , but he died in 976 on his way back to Constantinople , thus staving off the Byzantine threat to the Fatimids. Meanwhile, the Turkish ghulām (plural: ghilmān , meaning soldiers recruited as slaves) Aftakin ,

15484-476: The invitation of a local commander who had expelled the Hamdanid ghulām ruler Mansur ibn Lu'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

15642-422: 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. In 969 Jawhar launched a carefully-prepared and successful invasion of Egypt , which had been under

15800-402: The leaders of Isma'ilism , 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 . The origins of that movement and of the dynasty itself, are obscure prior to the late ninth century. The Fatimid rulers were Arab in origin, starting with its founder,

15958-526: 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

16116-625: The long-term decline of the Coptic community in Egypt. By 1072, in a desperate attempt to save Egypt, al-Mustansir recalled general Badr al-Jamali , 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 ( Arabic : امير الجيوش , romanized :  amīr al-juyūsh , lit.   'commander of

16274-521: The many different powers that rose and fell in Ifriqiya. In the latter 14th century Ibn Khaldun took refuge with a tribe in Algeria and began his four-year endeavor to write an introduction to history, Muqadimmah . Volume I laid the groundwork for sociology, while the two volumes that followed explored the world of politics, subsequent books explored many different themes such as urban life, economics and

16432-630: The mid-11th century when they fully separated. Religious divisions paved the way for the Almohads to take over western Ifriqiya ( Maghreb ) in 1147 and all of Ifriqiya by 1160. This empire was to last until the early 13th century where it was then replaced by the Hafsids , an influential clan that boasted many of Ifriqiya's governors. The Hafsids in 1229 declared their independence from the Almohads and organized themselves under Abu Zakariya , who built

16590-417: 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 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 . Another of al-Mustansir's sons, Nizar , attempted to take

16748-507: 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

16906-437: 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

17064-459: 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

17222-421: 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 mahdī . 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,

17380-419: 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 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 , the palace-city near Kairouan , in response to

17538-468: 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 and Kasserine ), with neither side gaining

17696-456: The old Abbasid imperial order. The office of the wazīr ( vizier ), which existed under the Ikhshidids, was soon revived under the Fatimids. The first to be appointed to this position was the Jewish convert Ya'qub ibn Killis , who was elevated to this office in 979 by al-Mu'izz's successor al-Aziz . The office of the vizier became progressively more important over the years, as the vizier became

17854-610: The palace remained standing for centuries after the fall of the Fatimids. Nonetheless, the main north–south street of Cairo, the Qasaba ( al-Muizz Street ), remained a fixture and the former area of Bayn al-Qasrayn remained a privileged site for the construction of royal architectural complexes such as the Maristan-Mausoleum-Madrasa complex of Sultan Qalawun . The Bayn al-Qasrayn square itself, however, steadily disappeared and became essentially another stretch of

18012-496: The palace to the northeast was taken up by a great square called Rahbat al-Eid ("Festival Square"), measuring 157 by 105 meters, which was the starting point for the caliph's processions through the city. One of the eastern gates, called Bab al-Zumurrud ("Emerald Gate"), opened off this square and gave access to the part of the palace known as the Emerald Palace, the private residence of the caliph. Another gate opening off

18170-452: The palace, Bab al-Rih ("Gate of the Wind"), was the entrance used by the da'i s. This gate may also have been the last one to disappear in the post-Fatimid period, having survived at least until 1408 and having been seen by Maqrizi. In the 12th century, the vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi (in office from 1122 to 1125) added three more pavilions to the palace. He was also responsible for building

18328-519: 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. After al-Hakim's death his two designated heirs were killed, putting an end to his succession scheme, and his sister Sitt al-Mulk arranged to have his 15-year-old son Ali installed on the throne as al-Zahir . She served as his regent until her death in 1023, at which point an alliance of courtiers and officials ruled, with al-Jarjarā'ī ,

18486-451: The palaces reported marble pavements of different colors, central fountains, gold fixtures and ornamentation, and animals on display to impress guests. The palace's official grand entrance was through its central western gate called Bab al-Dhahab ("The Golden Gate"), which opened off the Bayn al-Qasrayn plaza. (Its location would have been facing the present-day Mausoleum of Qalawun across

18644-612: 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 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

18802-450: The question of ownership over Jerusalem. Following this, the crusaders crossed into Fatimid territory and captured Jerusalem in July 1099 while al-Afdal was leading a relief army trying to reach the city. The two forces finally clashed in the Battle of Ascalon in which al-Afdal was defeated. Nevertheless, the initial negotiations were held against the Fatimids and Ibn al-Athir wrote that it

18960-491: The real power base of Fatimids in Ifriqiya was quite narrow, resting on the Kutama soldiery, later extended by the Sanhaja Berber tribes as well. The historian Heinz Halm 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

19118-418: The real target was Baghdad , 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 Sunnism and various Kharijite sects such as Ibadism , so that

19276-484: 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 of Mecca , al-Ḥasan ibn Ja'far , as

19434-488: 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 to Buluggin to govern, though Zirid authority there was later replaced by the local Banu Khazrun dynasty in 1001. In 988 Buluggin's son and successor al-Mansur moved the Zirid dynasty's base from Ashir (central Algeria) to the former Fatimid capital al-Mansuriyya, cementing

19592-523: The regnal name of al-Qa'im . Al-Mahdi quickly fell out with Abu Abdallah: not only was the dā'ī over-powerful, but he demanded proof that the new caliph was the true mahdī . The elimination of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother led to an uprising among the Kutama, led by a child- mahdī , which was suppressed. At the same time, al-Mahdi repudiated the millenarian hopes of his followers and curtailed their antinomian tendencies. The new regime regarded its presence in Ifriqiya as only temporary:

19750-476: 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

19908-495: 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 dā'ī 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

20066-627: 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 ( r.  786–809 ), the history of the early Isma'ili movement becomes obscure. While the awaited mahdī Muhammad ibn Isma'il remained hidden, however, he would need to be represented by agents, who would gather

20224-406: 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

20382-605: The small town of Salamiya on the western edge of the Syrian Desert . Salamiya became the centre of the Isma'ili daʿwa , 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 daʿwa spread widely, profiting from the collapse of Abbasid power in the Anarchy at Samarra and the subsequent Zanj Revolt , as well as from dissatisfaction among Twelver adherents with

20540-536: 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

20698-459: The south and north sides of the Bayn al-Qasrayn plaza. Less is known overall about this palace, as it was quickly replaced by other structures in the post-Fatimid era. The palace was built on the site of a vast, previously existing garden called al-Bustan al-Kafur (or al-Bustan al-Kafuri ), which was originally established here by the Ikhshidid ruler Abu'l-Misk Kafur , who ruled Egypt before

20856-413: The south of both palaces were a set of stables. The vizier 's palace, the Dar al-Wizara, was located northeast of the Eastern Palace, on the site of the current Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashnakir and the Madrasa of Amir Qarasunqur. It was built by the vizier al-Afdal (son of the famous vizier Badr al-Gamali ) after 1094. Caliph al-Hakim (between 996 and 1021) or al-Amir (in 1116) added next to

21014-560: The southeast. The palace complex consisted of two main parts: the Eastern Palace (or Great Palace), the first to be laid out in 970 by Jawhar for the arrival of the triumphant Caliph al-Mu'izz, and the Western Palace , which was added under his successor, Caliph al-'Aziz ( r.  975–996 ). Together they served as the residences of the caliphs and their family throughout the Fatimid period, and were thus also known as

21172-572: The southern end of the Western Palace an academy known as the Dar al-'ilm (roughly "House of Knowledge/Science"). Another palace known as al-Qasr al-Nafi'i was located to the south of the eastern palace on a site occupied today by the 19th-century Wikala al-Silahdar inside Khan al-Khalili. The Fatimids also built leisure palaces along the shores of the Nile and along the Khalij canal, such as

21330-470: The southern side of the square was called Bab al-Eid . An arsenal hall, called Khizanat al-Bunud (roughly the "Arsenal of Banners/Flags"), lay to the east of the palace, as did a gate known as Bab Qasr al-Sharq ("Eastern Palace Gate"). The southeastern gate, Bab Daylam ("Gate of the Daylamites "), led to the monument that later became the shrine of al-Husayn (see below), while the southwestern gate

21488-484: 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. After al-Aziz's unexpected death, his young son al-Mansur, 11 years old,

21646-475: The street.) It apparently featured gold brought from Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia). Above the gate was a balcony at which the caliph would appear to the public on occasions. This entrance led to the "Golden Hall" ( Qa'at al-Dhahab or Dar al-Dhahab ) via a vaulted passage around 30 meters long. The Golden Hall acted as a throne room where the caliph held his daily audiences and where official receptions and some religious festivals took place. Another important hall

21804-453: The study of knowledge. He spent his later years as a judge of the Maliki fiqh in Egypt where he took his work very seriously, evaluating each case on its merits and constantly trying to eradicate flaws that he discovered in the judicial system. His somewhat strict approach to Islamic laws made some Egyptians uneasy, so he eventually left his position and traveled through the eastern reaches of

21962-467: 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

22120-424: The succession of the sixth imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq . Al-Sadiq had appointed his son Isma'il ibn Ja'far 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 down to a twelfth and final imam who supposedly went into occultation in 874 and would one day return as the mahdī . This branch

22278-432: The throne after his father's death and organized a rebellion in 1095, 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)

22436-413: 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

22594-411: 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

22752-470: 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 al-Futuh , and Bab al-Nasr . 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 system also ate into Fatimid central authority, as more and more

22910-667: The way he forced the Zaydi Imam in Sa'da into submission. Upon arriving in Mecca, he installed Abu Hashim Muhammad ibn Ja'far 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 , while the city of Aden became an important hub of trade between Egypt and India , which brought Egypt further wealth. His rise to power established

23068-432: 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

23226-414: 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 dā'ī '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

23384-537: Was an important symbolic and religious act. The shrine still exists today (albeit rebuilt many times) in the al-Hussein Mosque , which is heavily visited by Muslims. The smaller Western Palace, also known as the Lesser Palace ( Qasr al-Saghir al-Gharbi ), was initially built as a residence for one of Caliph al-Aziz's daughters, Sitt al-Mulk (who was also de facto ruler between 1021 and 1023). It covered about 4.5 hectares and had two wings which wrapped around

23542-432: Was called Bab Turbat al-Za'faraan (or Bab al-Za'faraan ), after the name of the adjacent royal mausoleum (see below). The southwestern part of the palace was occupied by the kitchens, which also provided food for the poor during the fasting month of Ramadan . The southernmost of the western gates, located here, became known as Bab Zuhuma , named after the odors of food emanating from the kitchens. The only northern gate of

23700-523: Was created in 703 CE when the Umayyads seized North Africa from the Byzantine Empire . Although Islam existed throughout the province, there was still considerable religious tension and conflict between the invading Arabs and the native Berbers. The beliefs and perceptions of people also shifted from area to area. This contrast was at its greatest between coastal cities and villages. Muslim ownership of Ifriqiya changed hands numerous times in its history with

23858-412: Was established as the capital. In 948, they shifted their capital to al-Mansuriyya , near Kairouan . In 969, during the reign of al-Mu'izz , they conquered Egypt , and in 973, the caliphate was moved to the newly founded Fatimid capital of Cairo . Egypt became the political, cultural, and religious centre of the empire and it developed a new and "indigenous Arabic culture". After its initial conquests,

24016-459: 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

24174-633: Was known as the Great Iwan, which was crowned by a dome. This was the venue were the Isma'ili clerics and missionaries ( da'i s) would hold sermons for the palace residents, as well as some of the most important religious festivals. In this hall the caliph's seat was hidden behind a screen or grille known as the Shubbak al-Khalifa ("Caliph's Window"). Both the Golden Hall and the Great Iwan were built or completed under al-Aziz. About one quarter of

24332-451: 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 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

24490-477: Was located here. The Eastern Palace, also known as the Great Palace ( al-Qasr al-Kabir ), was the larger of the two, and is believed to have occupied about 9 ha (22 acres), or one-fifth of the total area of Cairo at the time. It was begun under al-Mu'izz and finished under al-Aziz, although work of various kinds continued for decades, even under al-Hakim and under the vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi in

24648-474: Was realized under the leadership of da'i (missionary) Abu Abdallah , whose conquest of Aghlabid Ifriqiya with the help of Kutama forces paved the way for the establishment of the Caliphate. After the 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 dynasty in 909. In 921, the city of al-Mahdiyya

24806-565: Was said that the Fatimids had invited the crusaders to invade Syria. This defeat established the Kingdom of Jerusalem as a new regional rival and although many crusaders returned to Europe, having fulfilled their vows, the remaining forces, often aided by the Italian maritime republics , overran much of the coastal Levant, with Tripoli , Beirut , and Sidon falling to them between 1109 and 1110. The Fatimids retained Tyre, Ascalon, and Gaza with

24964-429: 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 ,

#869130