The Realm of the Imām the Faṭīmids in the tenth century

Abstract

Despite their period from the tenth to the twelfth century, at the height of the Middle Ages; despite their position in Egypt, at the centre of the civilization of the Near and Middle East; and despite their prominence as the third Caliphate of Islam, the Fāṭimids lack a satisfactory modern history of their dynasty. This is partly because of the length of their life, which covers the histories of so many hundreds of years; partly because of the span of their empire from North Africa to Egypt and Syria, stretching across the histories of so many regions; and finally because, at the level of Islam itself, their empire was divided between their dawla or state and their daՙwa or doctrine. The doctrine, which focused on the Fāṭimid Imām as the quṭb or pole of faith, gave the dynasty its peculiar strength and endurance. The failure of that doctrine to supersede the Islam of the schools, however, left the Fāṭimids increasingly isolated and ultimately vulnerable. Standing outside the mainstream of Islamic tradition, the dynasty's own version of its history was disregarded. Instead, its components passed out of their original context to be incorporated into the regional or universal histories of subsequent authors. Maqrīzī was alone in compiling his Ittiՙāẓ al-ḥunafā' as a history of the dynasty in Egypt, introduced by a miscellany of information on its origins and previous career.

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“…St. Binon,[306][307][308][309][310]Acta et diplomata,5,ed. Miklosich and Müller,78;Kalligas,Monemvasia: The Sources,[223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232][233][234][235][236][237]265 (#13 45,ed. Heisenberg and Wirth,[72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83] For specific cities (Verroia, Ioannina, Monemvasia and Thessalonike), see Actes de Vatopédi, no.…”

“…63 Tekin, Türk Tarihinde Ahlat, 213,[226][227]. Subsequent to the compilation of the two tax registers, two mosques (İskender Paşa Cami and Kadı Mahmud Cami) were built inside the new Ottoman citadel.…”