al-Afdal Shahanshah

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al-Afdal Shahanshah ibn Badr al-Jamali ( Arabic الأفضل شاهنشاه بن بدر الجمالي, DMG al-Afḍal Šāhanšāh ibn Badr al-Ǧamālī , * around 1066 in Acre ; † 1121 ) was vizier of the Fatimids from 1094 to 1121.

Regency

As the son of Badr al-Jamali al-Afdal in 1094 took over as vizier the regency for the Caliph of the Fatimids in Egypt . Under his rule the efficiency of the administration was first increased by uniting the military and civil administration. He also reformed the coinage and tax and financial administration. Through all these measures the economic recovery of the empire continued, with which the empire of the Fatimids could be further stabilized.

However, al-Afdal caused a split in the Ismailis when, after the death of al-Mustansir (1036-1094), instead of the heir to the throne Nizar, his younger brother al-Mustali (1094-1101) prevailed as caliph. Nizar was killed in prison after a revolt. Since the Fatimids had a strict birthright with regard to the succession to the throne, the Ismailis split off in Persia and Syria , from which the Nizarites / Assassins sect developed.

Fight against the Seljuks

At that time the Fatimids in Palestine had been pushed back by the Seljuks . Al-Afdal succeeded in re-conquering Ascalon , Acre , Tire and Byblos in 1097 and also Jerusalem from the Seljuks in 1098 , but the restored control over Palestine was only temporary in the face of a new threat: the Crusaders .

Fight against the crusaders

When the army of the First Crusade besieged the Seljuks in Antioch in 1098 , al-Afdal considered them to be ordinary Byzantine mercenaries. From this misjudgment he hoped to be able to win them over as natural allies in the fight against the common enemy, the Seljuks, and sent envoys to them to offer them an alliance. After the Seljuks were driven out of Syria , the crusaders were supposed to get the Fatimids to Palestine. Since it was unthinkable for the crusaders to forego their destination, the city of Jerusalem, they politely declined the offer, to the surprise of the Fatimids. In 1099 they marched south from Antioch to Palestine to attack Jerusalem.

When al-Afdal realized that the Crusaders intended to conquer Palestine, he assembled a large army in Egypt and marched with it from Cairo to Palestine. But he came too late to save Jerusalem - the city fell on July 15, 1099. Al-Afdal's army was significantly larger than that of the Crusaders, so he planned a counterattack on Jerusalem. When he camped with his army at the gates of Askalon on August 12th, he was surprised by the crusader army at dawn and defeated in the following battle of Askalon . Al-Afdal fled to Askalon and from there by ship to Egypt. The strong fortress city of Askalon withstood the crusaders and should serve the Fatimids as a base for further attempts at reconquest against the newly founded Kingdom of Jerusalem .

The attempts at reconquest made by Askalon in 1101, 1102, 1105 (see Battle of Ramla ) were unsuccessful. Al-Afdal's attempts to ally himself with the Seljuk governors of Damascus in 1105 also failed. So he could not prevent the Crusaders from conquering the Fatimid cities of Jaffa (1100), Caesarea , Haifa (1101), Acre (1104), Tripoli (1109), Sidon and Beirut (1110). After all, Tire withstood a siege by the Crusaders in 1112.

Fall

During the festival of sacrifice in 1121, al-Afdal was murdered at the instigation of the caliph al-Amir . The caliph himself took over the government until he was murdered in 1130.

The report shows that the office of vizier was a lucrative business; it took weeks to inventory the treasures and property of al-Afdal.

Al-Afdal's son Abu Ali Ahmad "Kutaifat" converted to the Twelve Shia and took over sole rule in Egypt in 1130, but was assassinated in 1131 like his father.