al-Muʿizz ibn Bādīs az-Zīrī

Al-Muʿizz ibn Bādīs az-Zīrī ( Arabic المعز بن باديس الزيري, DMG al-Muʿizz b. Bādīs az-Zīrī ; * 1008 ; † 1062 ), with the surname Abū Tamīm Sharaf ad-Daula  /أبو تميم شرف الدولة / Abū Tamīm Šaraf ad-Daula  / 'Abū Tamīm, Dignity of the Dynasty' was the fourth ruler of the Zirids in Ifrīqiya and ruled from 1016 to 1062.

After the death of his father Badis ibn Mansur az-Ziri († 1016), al-Muʿizz was brought to the throne as a minor. He was therefore under the rule of an aunt. In 1016 there was initially a bloody uprising in Ifriqiya. The Fatimid residence in al-Mansuriya near Kairouan was completely destroyed and 20,000 Shiites were massacred. Due to the unrest, an armistice had to be concluded with the Hammudids in Algeria and their independence finally recognized in 1018.

Al-Muʿizz took over the government of the empire in 1022. Relations with the Fatimids were tense; when they supported a Zanata - Berber uprising in Tripolitania in 1027 , through which the Zirids finally lost control of this part of the empire.

Despite the political turbulence, economic prosperity initially made extensive construction possible. However, starting in the forties of the 11th century, the empire fell into an economic crisis, which was reflected in devaluations, epidemics and famine. The reason for this may have been the high annual tributes that the Zirids had to pay to the Fatimids (one million gold dinars a year).

When al-Muʿizz, under the influence of Sunni legal scholars in Kairouan, recognized the Abbasids in Baghdad as legitimate caliphs in 1045 , there was a final break with the Fatimids.

These deported the Bedouins of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym from Egypt to Ifriqiya. The invasion of the Bedouins in 1051 and 1052 led to severe devastation after the defeat at Jabal Haydaran, which hit agriculture in Ifriqiya particularly hard. After the Bedouin conquest of Kairouan in 1057, the anarchy expanded . The Zirids lost control of the hinterland and could only hold their own in the coastal areas. Al-Muʿizz fled to the city of al-Mahdiya, founded by the Fatimids, and gave up Kairouan. With the formation of Bedouin emirates and the ongoing insecurity in the countryside, the economy of Ifriqiya was increasingly oriented towards the Mediterranean , so that the coastal cities became considerably more important due to sea trade and piracy.

Successor to al-Muʿizz ibn Badis az-Ziri was Tamim ibn al-Muʿizz az-Ziri († 1108).

literature

• Ulrich Haarmann : History of the Arab World . Ed .: Heinz Halm . 4th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47486-1 .
• Hady Roger Idris: La Berbérie orientale sous les Zirides, X-XII siècles . Adrien-Maisonneuve, Paris 1962 ( Publications de l'Institut d'études orientales - Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines d'Alger 22, ZDB -ID 1120610-x ).
• Stephan Ronart, Nandy Ronart: Lexicon of the Arab World. A historical-political reference work . Artemis, Zurich et al. 1972, ISBN 3-7608-0138-2 .