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Politics909 · 969

The Fatimid Caliphate and the Founding of Cairo

Also called: Fatimid dynasty, al-Azhar

The Ismailis, a branch of the Shia, founded the Fatimid dynasty in North Africa and claimed the caliphate; in 969 they conquered Egypt and built a new capital, Cairo.

Courtyard of the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, founded by the Fatimids around 970
Courtyard of the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, founded by the Fatimids around 970

Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0 · Source

The Fatimid state was founded by the Ismaili branch of the Shia, which claimed descent from Fatima, Muhammad’s daughter and Ali’s wife — hence the name. In 909 Ubayd Allah (al-Mahdi) proclaimed himself caliph in Ifriqiya (today’s Tunisia), directly challenging the authority of the Sunni Abbasid caliph.

In 969 the general Jawhar conquered Egypt and founded a new city on the Nile, al-Qahira (“the Victorious” — Cairo), to which Caliph al-Mu’izz moved in 973. The al-Azhar Mosque, built around 970, became a centre of learning and lives on as al-Azhar University. Prospering on trade linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the Fatimids drew the centre of Indian Ocean commerce away from the Persian Gulf towards the Red Sea. They were overthrown by Saladin in 1171.

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The map in AD 909

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States at the time
Fatimid Caliphate · founded
Abbasid Caliphate
Places
Cairo

People

  • al-Mu'izz li-Din AllahAD 932 – AD 975

    monarch · Fourth Fatimid caliph (953–975), whose general Jawhar conquered Egypt in 969; he moved to the new city of Cairo in 973

Before and after

Earlier
AD 527 Reign of Justinian
Later
1217 Fifth Crusade

Themes that include this event

  • The Rise of the Islamic WorldAD 570 – 1055

    From the revelation to Muhammad to the Seljuk entry into Baghdad — 450 years in which a new faith from Arabia built a civilisation stretching from Iberia to Central Asia and reached as far as Silla by sea