From Slaves to Supporters The role of the Slavs in the Fatimid Mediterranean Empire in the Fourth AH /Tenth CE century
The founding of the Fatimid state in North Africa in 297 AH / 910 CE led to the establishment of a Shi‘i Ismaili caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean. From 297-361 AH / 910-972 CE, the Fatimid state was centred in the North African province of Ifriqiya (present day Tunisia and Algeria), its borders extending from the shores of the Atlantic in the west to Libya and Sicily in the East. The move to Egypt in 361 AH / 972 CE marked the transformation of the Fatimid state from a regional polity to a Mediterranean Empire that came to include Syria and parts of Arabia. It was from Egypt and their newly founded capital of al-Qahira al-Mu‘izziya (Cairo) that the empire reached its zenith over the following century, eventually meeting its demise in 567 AH / 1171 CE.
Author
Dr Shainool Jiwa
Head of Constituency Studies Research Unit and Associate Professor
Dr Shainool Jiwa is a specialist in Fatimid studies, and an Associate Professor at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Dr Jiwa’s latest publication, The Fatimids 2: The Rule from Egypt (2023), is a World of Islam series title, for which she also serves as the series General Editor. She is the author of The Fatimids: The Rise of a Muslim Empire (2018), and co-editor of The Shi‘i World: Pathways in Tradition and Modernity (2015), and The Fatimid Caliphate: Diversity of Traditions (2017).