Fatimid

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The Fatimids, Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn (Arabic الفاطميون) is the Ismaili Shiite dynasty that ruled much of North Africa from CE 5 January 910 to 1171. The term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the citizens of this caliphate.

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The Fatimid Rise

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 and its followers belonged to the Shīˤite branch of Islam and to a sect called the Ismā'īliyya. The dynasty was founded in 909 by ˤUbaydu l-Lāh 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".

Ubaydu l-Lāh'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 (exceptions to this general attitude of tolerance include the "Mad Caliph" Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah).

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Decay and Fall

In the 1040s, the Zirids (governors of North Africa under the Fatimids) declared their independence from the Fatimids and their conversion to "orthodox" Sunnī Islām, which led to the devastating Banū Hilal invasions. After about 1070, the Fatimid hold on the Levant coast and parts of Syria was challenged by first Turkish invasions, then the Crusades, so that Fatimid territory shrunk until it consisted only of Egypt.

After the decay of the Fatimid political system in the 1160s, the Zengid ruler Nūr ad-Dīn had his general, Saladin, seize Egypt in 1169, forming the Sunni Ayyubid Dynasty.

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