Fatimid Dynasty

Posted at Nov 27/2006 01:28PM:
Joey: A Tunisian bunch in origin, this was the Dynasty that came to control the Maghrib, Egypt, parts of Syria and the Levant, the Hejaz, as well as the Red Sea coast of Africa. Upon conquering Egypt (in 970) they established a new capital a little ways across the Nile from Fustat, Cairo. (Over time, due to the need for mutual protection and just for efficiency's sake, these cities grew towards one another.)
The Fatimids were a strong naval power, and with their ships they prevented anyone from impeding on their monopoly of the Southern-Red Sea route to the East, including crafty italians.
The Fatimids were contemporary with the late Abbasids to the northeast and contested their rule. Furthermore, the Fatimid state was the one encroached upon by the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries. Gradually the Fatimids' empire shrank with European and Seljuk Turk invasions, and they were eventually replaced by Salah-al-Din (Saladin) who began the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt in 1169.

Ian's Comments:

Did it matter that the Fatimids were a Shi'a dynasty of the Islmaili sect? In what ways does their building of the new city of Cairo follow a particular pattern of Islamic urbanism?

Recall, also the multi-ethnic nature of their ruling coalition in that they were largely supported by berber groups but distinctly Arab in thier elite ranks.

Posted at Dec 13/2006 02:50AM:
Bobby "Fresh": From wikipedia: The Fatimids had their origins in what is modern Tunisia ("Ifriqiya") but after the conquest of Egypt about 970 CE, they relocated to a new capital, Cairo.

Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz. Under the Fatimids, Egypt flourished and developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages.

The dynasty was founded in 909 by ˤAbdullāh al-Mahdī Billa, who legitimised his claim through descent from the Prophet by way of the Prophet's daughter Fātima as-Zahra and her husband ˤAlī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the first Shīˤa Imām, hence the name al-Fātimiyyūn "Fatimid".

Abdullāh al-Mahdi's control soon extended over all of central Maghreb, an area consisting of the modern countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which he ruled from Mahdia, his newly-built capital in Tunisia.

The Fatimids entered Egypt in 972, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and founding a new capital at al-Qāhirat "The Subduer" (modern Cairo)- a reference to the appearance of the planet Mars. They continued to conquer the surrounding areas until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria and even crossed over into Sicily and southern Italy.

Unlike other governments in the area, Fatimid advancement in state offices was based more on merit than on heredity. Members of other branches of Islām, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites. Tolerance was extended even to non-Muslims such as Christians and Jews, who occupied high levels in government based solely on ability