al-Hākim I.

This article introduces the first of two Abbasid caliphs named al-Hākim. He is not to be confused with the Fatimid caliph al-Hākim bi-amr Allāh .

Abū l-ʿAbbās Ahmad al-Hākim bi-amr Allāh ( Arabic أبو العباس أحمد الحاكم بأمر الله, DMG Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Ḥākim bi-amr Allāh ; † 19th January 1302 ), also briefly al-Haakim I. , was the first Abbasid - Caliph , by the after the fall of his dynasty Mongols officiated. He initially resided in Aleppo and later as the shadow caliph of the Mamluks in Cairo . It is unclear what exact family relationship he had with his relatives residing in Baghdad , apparently he was a descendant of al-Mustarschid .

Al-Hakim survived the Abbasid massacre ordered by the Mongol ruler Hulegü after the conquest of Baghdad in 1258 . In Syria, he joined the entourage of the Mamluk officer Aqqusch al-Burli on which the city of Aleppo had seized in the summer of 1261 and from there to Sultan I. Baybars opposed it. In June 1261 al-Hakim was proclaimed caliph by Aqqush, succeeding the caliphate of Baghdad, which fell in 1258. This was consequently not recognized by Baibars, which is why he had an Abbasid other than al-Mustansir II proclaimed caliph in Cairo .

With Aqqush's military support, al-Hakim was initially able to stay in northern Syria. With an army he could move up to 20 km from Baghdad, but had to forego conquering the city. On his retreat to Aleppo his Bedouin riding was transferred to the army of his rival al-Mustansir, who was operating on the Euphrates around the same time . Al-Mustansir was killed by the Mongols on November 27, 1261 in the battle of al-Anbar, leaving al-Hakim as the only pretender. Meanwhile, Aleppo was conquered by Sultan Baibars and al-Hakim lost his protector, Aqqush al-Burli, who was once again received in honor by the Sultan.

In January 1262 al-Hakim traveled to Cairo to the court of the Sultan Baibars, from whom he hoped to be recognized as a caliph, but was initially locked by him in a dungeon in the citadel of Cairo . On November 17, 1262, however, he was taken out of his dungeon and solemnly proclaimed by Baibars to be the only legitimate caliph. This act was based solely on propagandistic goals of the Sultan, who wanted to consolidate his alliance with the Golden Horde , whose Khan was ready to recognize any caliph he appointed. He was also supposed to give the rule of the former slave Baibars legitimizing dignities. Al-Hakim, however, was denied actual power; Baibars was unwilling to put up with any other potential power factor in Egypt. As a result, al-Hakim continued to be imprisoned by the Sultan like a prisoner in a tower of the citadel, where he was only allowed a family life. His wife was a daughter of the Emir an-Nasir Dawud of Kerak from the Ayyubid dynasty . On July 11, 1263, al-Hakim was initiated into the futuwwa by Baibars , with which the Sultan further underpinned his primacy over the caliph.

As the reigning caliph for 40 years, al-Hakim led a downright shadowy existence, a state that was to be characteristic of the Cairo caliphate. He was only released from custody by Sultan Chalil (1290-1293) in 1291, on the occasion of preparations for a campaign against the Armenians. On September 21, 1292 he was officially admitted to the Sultan's court. He was also assigned a comparatively modest property in Cairo as his place of residence. In 1296 he and his family were allowed to carry out the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca ( Hajj ) by Sultan Ladschin (1296-1299) . This sultan also again included the formal approval of the caliph for the installation of subsequent sultans in the protocol, thus restoring a minimum of ceremonial dignity to the caliph's office. Contemporary reports characterized the caliph's family as vulgar and brutal, a consequence of a lack of access to education that was always withheld from them by the sultans.

Caliph al-Hakim I died on January 19, 1302 between the ages of 70 and 80. He was buried in Cairo in the mausoleum of Sayyida Nafisa, a daughter of the Shiite Imam Husain ( southern city of the dead ). The grave is no longer preserved. His son al-Mustakfi I followed him; from 1341, his grandson officiated as al-Hakim II.

literature

• Stefan Heidemann: The Aleppine Caliphate (AD 1261). From the end of the Caliphate in Baghdad via Aleppo to the restorations in Cairo . Brill, Leiden et al. 1994, ISBN 90-04-10031-8 ( Islamic history and civilization 6), (Simultaneously: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 1993: Al-Hākim bi-Amrillāh and Āqqūš al-Burlī the Aleppine caliphate 659 H. 1261 AD ).

predecessor	Office	successor
al-Mustansir II.	Caliph in Cairo 1261 / 1262-1302	al-Mustakfi I.