10 - The Fatimid revolution (861–973) and its aftermath in North Africa

Summary

THE END OF THE NINTH CENTURY AD

In AD 861 the ‘Abbasid Caliph Mutawakkil was murdered by the Turkish guard in the imperial capital of Samarra on the Tigris at the instigation of the heir to the throne, his son Muntasir. As heir to the throne, Muntasir had held the province of Egypt under the system in force since the accession of Mu‘tasim in 834. Under this system, the wālī or governor had been appointed not by the caliph, but by some high officer or prince at court to whom the province was assigned. In 836 Muntasir had appointed one Yazīd b. ‘Abd Allah from the Turks who were the corps d'élite of the army in Iraq, the first Turk to hold the position in Egypt Yazīd remained in office for about ten years, but his power was limited by the separation of Alexandria and Barce (Barca) in Cyrenaica from the government at the Egyptian capital of Fustāt as well as by the independent appointment of the ‘āmi, the financial superintendent, who was responsible for the collection of revenue and the remittance of an annual māl, literally ‘wealth’, to the treasury at Samarra. Thus divided, the government of Egypt was comparatively weak, and the far south had been abandoned to Arab tribes around Aswan. Revenue accruing to the state seems also to have fallen. Much of the land was in the possession of men like Muntasir, aristocrats who may not even have lived in the country.