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Al-Mansur Billah
Abu Tahir Isma'il (Arabic: أبو طاهر إسماعيل, romanized: Abū Ṭāhir ʾIsmāʿīl; January 914 – 18 March 953), better known by his regnal name al-Mansur Billah (Arabic: المنصور بالله, romanized: al-Manṣūr biʾllāh, lit. 'The Victor through God'), was the thirteenth Isma'ili imam and third caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya, ruling from 946 until his death. He succeeded his father, al-Qa'im, after the latter's death, in what was likely a bloodless palace coup. At the time of al-Mansur's accession, most of the Fatimid mainland realm in Ifriqiya had been lost to a large-scale anti-Fatimid revolt led by the Kharijite preacher Abu Yazid, who was laying siege to al-Qa'im's fortified coastal palace city of al-Mahdiya. Unlike his father he was an active and publicly visible monarch, but plagued by illness, which led to his early death.
Al-Mansur immediately took up the fight against the revolt with considerable energy, but kept his father's death secret until after the final suppression of the rebellion, governing instead as the ostensible designated successor and "Sword of the Imam". Leaving the trusted eunuch chamberlain Jawdhar to run the government in his stead, al-Mansur took to the field in person, leading the Fatimid army to victory over the rebel army outside Kairouan, and pursuing its remnants into the Hodna Mountains. After a long pursuit, Abu Yazid was finally cornered and captured, before dying of his injuries on 19 August 947. After Abu Yazid's death, al-Mansur publicly proclaimed his caliphate. His victory over Abu Yazid was celebrated as a triumph over a 'False Messiah', and as heralding a new beginning for the dynasty and its divine mission. Al-Mansur spent the remainder of his reign in al-Mansuriya, a new capital city he founded in 948. During his reign, he also secured the allegiance of the Sanhaja Berbers under Ziri ibn Manad, recaptured Tahert from the rebellious Miknasa Berbers, suppressed a revolt in the overseas Fatimid province of Sicily, launched naval raids against Byzantine holdings in southern Italy, and engaged in a mounting antagonism with the rival Umayyad state of Córdoba.
The future al-Mansur was born Isma'il, in early January 914, in the palace city of Raqqada near Kairouan. He was the son of the then heir-apparent and future second Fatimid imam–caliph, Muhammad al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah (r. 934–946), and a local slave concubine, Karima, who had once belonged to the last Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya, Ziyadat Allah III. Isma'il was not the oldest son of al-Qa'im, but the firstborn, al-Qasim, reportedly predeceased his father.
According to the official version of events, on 12 April 946, al-Qa'im publicly proclaimed Isma'il as his heir, with the regnal name of al-Mansur Billah, and when he died on 17 May, al-Mansur became imam and caliph. Modern historians of the Fatimid period, such as Heinz Halm and Michael Brett, suspect that al-Mansur's rise to power was the result of a palace intrigue headed by the influential slave chamberlain Jawdhar, with the participation of other figures from al-Qa'im's harem. His mother, Karima, and his wet nurse, Salaf, are known to have aided him in his power struggle against his half-brothers, and are described as one of few women to have participated in political affairs. Several factors suggest this: given al-Qa'im's debilitating illness, it is unclear whether he was at all capable of proclaiming a successor; the first act of the new caliph was to confine his uncles and brothers to house arrest in the palace, under the supervision of Jawdhar; Jawdhar, in his memoirs, claims that Isma'il had been secretly nominated as father's heir already at the time of al-Qa'im's own accession in 934, with Jawdhar himself being the only one entrusted his secret; and al-Mansur himself was apparently obliged to compose a tract defending his succession, which points to the contested nature of his accession.
At the time of his accession, the Fatimid Caliphate was undergoing one of its most critical moments: a large-scale rebellion under the Kharijite Berber preacher Abu Yazid had overrun Ifriqiya and was threatening the capital al-Mahdiya itself. As a result, in the words of the historian Farhat Dachraoui, "[al-Mansur] had to face up to, immediately, the heaviest responsibilities without having served any apprenticeship as ruler". Al-Mansur would prove up to the task: both Isma'ili (pro-Fatimid) and Sunni (anti-Fatimid) sources agree that al-Mansur was an exemplary ruler, praising both his erudition and eloquence in Classical Arabic as well as his bravery and energetic leadership in battle.
While the revolt of Abu Yazid lasted, al-Mansur and his government kept the death of his father secret. All public business and ceremonies were still conducted in al-Qa'im's name, and Isma'il acted ostensibly only as his designated heir. Indeed, the regnal name of al-Mansur was only publicly assumed after the final suppression of the uprising. Nevertheless, the new ruler quickly showed his ability. Already before his father's death, on 16 May, he sent by sea weapons and supplies to the besieged city of Sousse, and within days launched a coordinated attack to relieve the city: on 26 May, the garrison of Sousse, assisted by Kutama Berber cavalry from the south and troops landed by sea from the north, broke the siege and forced Abu Yazid to withdraw his forces inland, towards Kairouan.
Abu Yazid found Kairouan in rebellion against him and the city gates closed, so that he established a camp two days' march from the city. In the meantime, al-Mansur had met with a delegation of Kairouan notables at Sousse, and issued a full amnesty in return for their renewed loyalty. On 28 May, the caliph's proclamation was read in the city, and on the same day the Fatimid army, headed by the caliph himself, set up camp south of the city. The Fatimid prince was forced to lead by example to convince the unruly Kutama to fortify the camp with a ditch and wall, since the Berbers considered this a sign of cowardice and regarded digging as slaves' work. Only after al-Mansur himself took the spade and began digging were they persuaded to help.
This proved fortunate, as Abu Yazid attacked the camp on the morning of 5 June, and was only thrown back with great difficulty. According to an eyewitness account, al-Mansur played a leading role in repelling the attack, his ceremonial parasol conspicuously displayed and serving as a rallying point, but it is possible that his role has been embellished to further legitimize his position. The two armies remained entrenched around Kairouan for the next two months, engaging in frequent clashes. Abu Yazid tried several times to take the city gates by assault, but al-Mansur had established smaller fortified camps to protect them. Abu Yazid tried to force the Fatimids to withdraw by sending his son to raid the environs of al-Mahdiya, where many of the Kutama had settled their families; but although al-Mansur sent some troops to shield them, he refused to move his main army.
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Al-Mansur Billah
Abu Tahir Isma'il (Arabic: أبو طاهر إسماعيل, romanized: Abū Ṭāhir ʾIsmāʿīl; January 914 – 18 March 953), better known by his regnal name al-Mansur Billah (Arabic: المنصور بالله, romanized: al-Manṣūr biʾllāh, lit. 'The Victor through God'), was the thirteenth Isma'ili imam and third caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya, ruling from 946 until his death. He succeeded his father, al-Qa'im, after the latter's death, in what was likely a bloodless palace coup. At the time of al-Mansur's accession, most of the Fatimid mainland realm in Ifriqiya had been lost to a large-scale anti-Fatimid revolt led by the Kharijite preacher Abu Yazid, who was laying siege to al-Qa'im's fortified coastal palace city of al-Mahdiya. Unlike his father he was an active and publicly visible monarch, but plagued by illness, which led to his early death.
Al-Mansur immediately took up the fight against the revolt with considerable energy, but kept his father's death secret until after the final suppression of the rebellion, governing instead as the ostensible designated successor and "Sword of the Imam". Leaving the trusted eunuch chamberlain Jawdhar to run the government in his stead, al-Mansur took to the field in person, leading the Fatimid army to victory over the rebel army outside Kairouan, and pursuing its remnants into the Hodna Mountains. After a long pursuit, Abu Yazid was finally cornered and captured, before dying of his injuries on 19 August 947. After Abu Yazid's death, al-Mansur publicly proclaimed his caliphate. His victory over Abu Yazid was celebrated as a triumph over a 'False Messiah', and as heralding a new beginning for the dynasty and its divine mission. Al-Mansur spent the remainder of his reign in al-Mansuriya, a new capital city he founded in 948. During his reign, he also secured the allegiance of the Sanhaja Berbers under Ziri ibn Manad, recaptured Tahert from the rebellious Miknasa Berbers, suppressed a revolt in the overseas Fatimid province of Sicily, launched naval raids against Byzantine holdings in southern Italy, and engaged in a mounting antagonism with the rival Umayyad state of Córdoba.
The future al-Mansur was born Isma'il, in early January 914, in the palace city of Raqqada near Kairouan. He was the son of the then heir-apparent and future second Fatimid imam–caliph, Muhammad al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah (r. 934–946), and a local slave concubine, Karima, who had once belonged to the last Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya, Ziyadat Allah III. Isma'il was not the oldest son of al-Qa'im, but the firstborn, al-Qasim, reportedly predeceased his father.
According to the official version of events, on 12 April 946, al-Qa'im publicly proclaimed Isma'il as his heir, with the regnal name of al-Mansur Billah, and when he died on 17 May, al-Mansur became imam and caliph. Modern historians of the Fatimid period, such as Heinz Halm and Michael Brett, suspect that al-Mansur's rise to power was the result of a palace intrigue headed by the influential slave chamberlain Jawdhar, with the participation of other figures from al-Qa'im's harem. His mother, Karima, and his wet nurse, Salaf, are known to have aided him in his power struggle against his half-brothers, and are described as one of few women to have participated in political affairs. Several factors suggest this: given al-Qa'im's debilitating illness, it is unclear whether he was at all capable of proclaiming a successor; the first act of the new caliph was to confine his uncles and brothers to house arrest in the palace, under the supervision of Jawdhar; Jawdhar, in his memoirs, claims that Isma'il had been secretly nominated as father's heir already at the time of al-Qa'im's own accession in 934, with Jawdhar himself being the only one entrusted his secret; and al-Mansur himself was apparently obliged to compose a tract defending his succession, which points to the contested nature of his accession.
At the time of his accession, the Fatimid Caliphate was undergoing one of its most critical moments: a large-scale rebellion under the Kharijite Berber preacher Abu Yazid had overrun Ifriqiya and was threatening the capital al-Mahdiya itself. As a result, in the words of the historian Farhat Dachraoui, "[al-Mansur] had to face up to, immediately, the heaviest responsibilities without having served any apprenticeship as ruler". Al-Mansur would prove up to the task: both Isma'ili (pro-Fatimid) and Sunni (anti-Fatimid) sources agree that al-Mansur was an exemplary ruler, praising both his erudition and eloquence in Classical Arabic as well as his bravery and energetic leadership in battle.
While the revolt of Abu Yazid lasted, al-Mansur and his government kept the death of his father secret. All public business and ceremonies were still conducted in al-Qa'im's name, and Isma'il acted ostensibly only as his designated heir. Indeed, the regnal name of al-Mansur was only publicly assumed after the final suppression of the uprising. Nevertheless, the new ruler quickly showed his ability. Already before his father's death, on 16 May, he sent by sea weapons and supplies to the besieged city of Sousse, and within days launched a coordinated attack to relieve the city: on 26 May, the garrison of Sousse, assisted by Kutama Berber cavalry from the south and troops landed by sea from the north, broke the siege and forced Abu Yazid to withdraw his forces inland, towards Kairouan.
Abu Yazid found Kairouan in rebellion against him and the city gates closed, so that he established a camp two days' march from the city. In the meantime, al-Mansur had met with a delegation of Kairouan notables at Sousse, and issued a full amnesty in return for their renewed loyalty. On 28 May, the caliph's proclamation was read in the city, and on the same day the Fatimid army, headed by the caliph himself, set up camp south of the city. The Fatimid prince was forced to lead by example to convince the unruly Kutama to fortify the camp with a ditch and wall, since the Berbers considered this a sign of cowardice and regarded digging as slaves' work. Only after al-Mansur himself took the spade and began digging were they persuaded to help.
This proved fortunate, as Abu Yazid attacked the camp on the morning of 5 June, and was only thrown back with great difficulty. According to an eyewitness account, al-Mansur played a leading role in repelling the attack, his ceremonial parasol conspicuously displayed and serving as a rallying point, but it is possible that his role has been embellished to further legitimize his position. The two armies remained entrenched around Kairouan for the next two months, engaging in frequent clashes. Abu Yazid tried several times to take the city gates by assault, but al-Mansur had established smaller fortified camps to protect them. Abu Yazid tried to force the Fatimids to withdraw by sending his son to raid the environs of al-Mahdiya, where many of the Kutama had settled their families; but although al-Mansur sent some troops to shield them, he refused to move his main army.
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