Remarks on the Blacks in the Fatimid Army, Tenth–Twelfth Century CE

Abstract

In this article, I revisit some aspects of the organization of the Fatimid army, and more specifically to the role played by its black contingents, who are still often considered the most faithful supporters of the dynasty. Wherever they came from and regardless of their social and legal status, black soldiers, whose Egyptian-ness was indisputable, were major players in the history of the Fatimid Caliphate. Medieval authors, who sometimes conveyed negative representations linked with racial bias, and who are not necessarily accurate in dealing with other races, even acknowledged this role.

Red Sea Entanglement: Initial Latin European Intellectual Development Regarding Nubia and Ethiopia during the Twelfth Century

“…Nubians, especially, played a major role regarding the size and capabilities of the Muslim armies, until Nubian cohorts were increasingly replaced by Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn in the 1170s (Lev 1999, 141-57). African soldiers were particularly integral to the Fāṭimid armies, much more than they had been in previous dynasties (Bacharach 1981;Zouache 2019). African military diasporas would have been present throughout the wider Red Sea region and the Holy Land, both those individuals in active service and those who had retired to live a post-military life.…”