Fatimid History: Chronology

Ubayd Allah 'al-Mahdi'	297 AH / 909 AD
capital is constructed at Mahdiyya in Tunisia
Al-Qa’im	322 / 934
Al-Mansur	334 / 946
builds new capital at Sabra-Mansuriyya
Al-Mu^cizz	341 / 953
969 Conquest of Egypt by Jawhar
972 Construction of al-Azhar mosque
973 Al-Qahira [‘the Victorious’] (= Cairo) becomes their new capital
Al-^cAziz	365 / 975
989 Construction of mosque of al-Anwar begun
Al-Hakim	386 / 996
1002 Al-Anwar mosque completed; also called al-Hakim
1004 al-Hakim issues ‘golden curses’ against the Prophet and Rashidun; inscriptions are erected at mosques, tombstones, houses, bazaars, etc and are a potent attack against the Sunnis; but in 1007 there is a rapprochement between al-Hakim and the Sunnis
Al-Zahir	411 / 1021
famine and unrest in al-Qahira; leads to faction-fighting among Sudanese & Turkish troops in army; Fustat is burnt and looted twice
Al-Mustansir	427 / 1036
1061-9 Dispersal of the Caliphal Treasury
1073-1094 vizierate of Badr al-Jamali
Al-Musta^cli	487 / 1094
schism with Nizari Isma’ilis
Al-Amir	495 / 1101
succeeds at age 5, controlled by his vizier al-Afdal until the latter’s death in 1121; thereafter vizier al-Ma’mun till assassination in 1125
1125 Construction of mosque of al-Aqmar
Al-Hafiz	525 / 1131
schism with Tayyibi Isma’ilis; the number of Isma’ilis is by now drastically reduced
Al-Zafir	544 / 1149
Al-Fa’iz	549 / 1154
Dominated by his vizier, Salih al-Tala’i’ (till 1160), who built his own mosque (known as al-Salih Tala’i’) from 1154-1159
in 1154 the head of the martyr Husayn is brought from Ascalon (Palestine) to save it from the Crusaders and a shrine was built for it in the Eastern Palace, along with other Imams’ tombs
Al-^cAdid	555-67 / 1160-1171
dominated by Salahaddin who basically keeps the Caliph prisoner, then in 1171 he recognises the ‘Abbasid Caliphate in the khutbas; after death of the Isma’ili Caliph, Salahaddin establishes Ayyubid rule in Cairo