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Fatimid Caliphate

Type Object Region North Africa Time 909–1171

The Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) was a Shia Ismaili state that rose in the Maghreb of North Africa, moved its capital to Cairo in 969, and controlled…

Timeline

  1. 909–973Mahdiya–Cairo · EgyptUbayd Allah al-Mahdi founded a Shia caliphate in North Africa in 909; after conquering Egypt he established the capital at Cairo in 969, forming an Ismaili empire spanning from North Africa to the Levant.
  2. c. 1101–1110Egypt–Syria–Red Sea · Fatimid sphere of influenceBetween 1101 and 1110, the Fatimid state contended with the Seljuks and the states of the First Crusade along the Syrian coast, while relying on Red Sea trade routes and Yemen to maintain income from pilgrimage and spice trade, with fiscal and military pressures coexisting.
  3. c. 1102–1109Cairo · EgyptDuring the reign of Mustansir, the vizier and military slave (Mamluk) factions intervened deeply in administration; the caliph's religious authority remained but real power slipped away, laying the institutional groundwork for Saladin's rise in the late twelfth century.

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