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Jawdhar
Jawdhar (Arabic: جوذر, before 909 – March 973), surnamed al-Ustadh (Arabic: الأستاذ, lit. 'the Master'), was a eunuch slave who served the Fatimid caliphs al-Qa'im, al-Mansur, and al-Mu'izz as chamberlain and de facto chief minister until his death. He was an extremely powerful figure in the Fatimid court, and was ranked immediately after the caliph and his designated heir. The accession of al-Mansur was probably due to Jawdhar's machinations, and he was placed in charge of keeping the new caliph's relatives under house arrest. He enjoyed close relations with the Kalbid emirs of Sicily, which enabled him to engage in profitable commerce with the island. Jawdhar accompanied al-Mu'izz during the migration of the court from Ifriqiya to Egypt, but died on the way at Barqa. His collected documents and letters were published after his death by his secretary as the Sirat al-Ustadh Jawdhar, and form one of the main historical sources for the governance of the Fatimid state in the period.
Jawdhar was a eunuch slave of Slavic origin (Saqaliba) who entered the service of the Aghlabid dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya. When the Aghlabids were overthrown and the new Fatimid ruler, Caliph al-Mahdi Billah (r. 909–934) entered the Aghlabid capital, Raqqada, in January 910, he had the Slavic palace slaves mustered before him, assigning them to various family members. Saqaliba eunuchs were highly prized at the Aghlabid court: far removed from their homelands—usually the Balkans—and without any family in Ifriqiya, they were entirely dependent on their masters, and correspondingly displayed great loyalty to them. Although still a boy, Jawdhar made an impression on al-Mahdi with his austerity and ability, and the new caliph assigned him to the household of his son and designated successor, al-Qa'im (r. 934–946).
Jawdhar quickly rose to become head of al-Qa'im's palace administration, and accompanied his master in at least one of the unsuccessful invasions of Abbasid-ruled Egypt in 914–915 and 919–921. Later, during al-Qa'im's campaign into the western Maghreb, Jawdhar was left behind at the Fatimid capital of al-Mahdiya as the steward of the heir-apparent's palace. After al-Qa'im's accession in 934, Jawdhar became the supervisor of the state storehouses for clothing, as well as the treasury.
According to the official Fatimid accounts, al-Qa'im died on 17 May 946, at a critical moment for the Fatimid Caliphate, when a large-scale rebellion under the Ibadi Berber preacher Abu Yazid had overrun Ifriqiya and was threatening al-Mahdiya itself. Al-Qa'im was succeeded not by his oldest son, but by the younger Isma'il, who became the new caliph as al-Mansur (r. 946–953). Jawdhar insists in his memoirs that he was the trustee of al-Mansur's undisclosed nomination as his father's heir already at the time of al-Qa'im's own accession in 934, but modern historians of the Fatimid period, such as Heinz Halm and Michael Brett, suspect that al-Mansur's unheralded rise to power was the result of a palace intrigue headed by none other than Jawdhar, with the participation of other figures from al-Qa'im's harem. It is clear that already during al-Qa'im's reign, the future al-Mansur had close relations with Jawdhar, visiting his residence and corresponding with him on various topics.
Jawdhar himself played a prominent role in safeguarding al-Mansur's position: the new caliph ordered the confinement of all his uncles and brothers to the palace under Jawdhar's supervision. When al-Mansur managed to break the siege of al-Mahdiya and pursued the retreating rebels inland, Jawdhar remained behind in charge of the capital and the government. Following a victory over the rebel forces on 13 August 946, it was Jawdhar who read the victory dispatch before the congregation at the Great Mosque of Mahdiya.
When the rebel leader was finally defeated and captured on 15 August 947, al-Mansur, in the dispatch announcing his victory, set Jawdhar free. Apart from robes of honour and other gifts and tokens of esteem, al-Mansur also gave Jawdhar the honorific title mawla amir al-muminin (lit. 'Client of the Commander of the Faithful'), formally placed him in third place in the order of precedence after the caliph and his heir, and even included his name in the official tiraz, the inscribed bands sewn onto government-issued fabrics. Halm qualifies his role as "majordomo". He was involved in all matters concerning the administration of the Fatimid state, from the military and disputes among Fatimid vassals to the affairs of individual notables. For the next quarter-century, writes the historian Michael Brett, Jawdhar would be "the iron man of the administration" as the caliph's right-hand man, a position which earned him considerable antipathy, and few friends.
Apart from the agents appointed from his own entourage, his only political allies among the wider Fatimid elites were the Kalbids. Jawdhar had close relations with the Kalbids, serving as foster parent to two of the sons of Ali ibn Abi'l-Husayn al-Kalbi, Ja'far and al-Hasan, when their father was killed in 938. After al-Hasan distinguished himself in the suppression of the revolt of Abu Yazid, in 948 he became governor of Sicily. He restored control over the island and became the first in a line of Kalbid emirs, who ruled the island under Fatimid suzerainty.
Al-Mansur was plagued by illness, which would result in his death in March 953, at the age of 39. His son and successor, al-Mu'izz (r. 953–975) also relied on Jawdhar for consolidating his regime. As part of this, Jawdhar was allowed to move to the new capital built by al-Mansur, al-Mansuriya—apparently, Jawdhar had remained at al-Mahdiya until then, and state business was conducted via correspondence. Nevertheless, Jawdhar remained responsible for the continued house arrest of the al-Mansur's brothers and uncles in the palace at al-Mahdiya, while the letters preserved in his memoirs shows him continuing to direct the affairs of the mint and textile factories, the arsenal, the prisons, and the treasury at al-Mahdiya. Jawdhar was also active as a commercial agent on behalf of the caliph, amassing a considerable personal fortune in the process. Thanks to his ties with the Kalbids, Jawdhar was particularly active in trade with Sicily, owning his own ships, and being able to borrow money from the Kalbid treasury.
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Jawdhar
Jawdhar (Arabic: جوذر, before 909 – March 973), surnamed al-Ustadh (Arabic: الأستاذ, lit. 'the Master'), was a eunuch slave who served the Fatimid caliphs al-Qa'im, al-Mansur, and al-Mu'izz as chamberlain and de facto chief minister until his death. He was an extremely powerful figure in the Fatimid court, and was ranked immediately after the caliph and his designated heir. The accession of al-Mansur was probably due to Jawdhar's machinations, and he was placed in charge of keeping the new caliph's relatives under house arrest. He enjoyed close relations with the Kalbid emirs of Sicily, which enabled him to engage in profitable commerce with the island. Jawdhar accompanied al-Mu'izz during the migration of the court from Ifriqiya to Egypt, but died on the way at Barqa. His collected documents and letters were published after his death by his secretary as the Sirat al-Ustadh Jawdhar, and form one of the main historical sources for the governance of the Fatimid state in the period.
Jawdhar was a eunuch slave of Slavic origin (Saqaliba) who entered the service of the Aghlabid dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya. When the Aghlabids were overthrown and the new Fatimid ruler, Caliph al-Mahdi Billah (r. 909–934) entered the Aghlabid capital, Raqqada, in January 910, he had the Slavic palace slaves mustered before him, assigning them to various family members. Saqaliba eunuchs were highly prized at the Aghlabid court: far removed from their homelands—usually the Balkans—and without any family in Ifriqiya, they were entirely dependent on their masters, and correspondingly displayed great loyalty to them. Although still a boy, Jawdhar made an impression on al-Mahdi with his austerity and ability, and the new caliph assigned him to the household of his son and designated successor, al-Qa'im (r. 934–946).
Jawdhar quickly rose to become head of al-Qa'im's palace administration, and accompanied his master in at least one of the unsuccessful invasions of Abbasid-ruled Egypt in 914–915 and 919–921. Later, during al-Qa'im's campaign into the western Maghreb, Jawdhar was left behind at the Fatimid capital of al-Mahdiya as the steward of the heir-apparent's palace. After al-Qa'im's accession in 934, Jawdhar became the supervisor of the state storehouses for clothing, as well as the treasury.
According to the official Fatimid accounts, al-Qa'im died on 17 May 946, at a critical moment for the Fatimid Caliphate, when a large-scale rebellion under the Ibadi Berber preacher Abu Yazid had overrun Ifriqiya and was threatening al-Mahdiya itself. Al-Qa'im was succeeded not by his oldest son, but by the younger Isma'il, who became the new caliph as al-Mansur (r. 946–953). Jawdhar insists in his memoirs that he was the trustee of al-Mansur's undisclosed nomination as his father's heir already at the time of al-Qa'im's own accession in 934, but modern historians of the Fatimid period, such as Heinz Halm and Michael Brett, suspect that al-Mansur's unheralded rise to power was the result of a palace intrigue headed by none other than Jawdhar, with the participation of other figures from al-Qa'im's harem. It is clear that already during al-Qa'im's reign, the future al-Mansur had close relations with Jawdhar, visiting his residence and corresponding with him on various topics.
Jawdhar himself played a prominent role in safeguarding al-Mansur's position: the new caliph ordered the confinement of all his uncles and brothers to the palace under Jawdhar's supervision. When al-Mansur managed to break the siege of al-Mahdiya and pursued the retreating rebels inland, Jawdhar remained behind in charge of the capital and the government. Following a victory over the rebel forces on 13 August 946, it was Jawdhar who read the victory dispatch before the congregation at the Great Mosque of Mahdiya.
When the rebel leader was finally defeated and captured on 15 August 947, al-Mansur, in the dispatch announcing his victory, set Jawdhar free. Apart from robes of honour and other gifts and tokens of esteem, al-Mansur also gave Jawdhar the honorific title mawla amir al-muminin (lit. 'Client of the Commander of the Faithful'), formally placed him in third place in the order of precedence after the caliph and his heir, and even included his name in the official tiraz, the inscribed bands sewn onto government-issued fabrics. Halm qualifies his role as "majordomo". He was involved in all matters concerning the administration of the Fatimid state, from the military and disputes among Fatimid vassals to the affairs of individual notables. For the next quarter-century, writes the historian Michael Brett, Jawdhar would be "the iron man of the administration" as the caliph's right-hand man, a position which earned him considerable antipathy, and few friends.
Apart from the agents appointed from his own entourage, his only political allies among the wider Fatimid elites were the Kalbids. Jawdhar had close relations with the Kalbids, serving as foster parent to two of the sons of Ali ibn Abi'l-Husayn al-Kalbi, Ja'far and al-Hasan, when their father was killed in 938. After al-Hasan distinguished himself in the suppression of the revolt of Abu Yazid, in 948 he became governor of Sicily. He restored control over the island and became the first in a line of Kalbid emirs, who ruled the island under Fatimid suzerainty.
Al-Mansur was plagued by illness, which would result in his death in March 953, at the age of 39. His son and successor, al-Mu'izz (r. 953–975) also relied on Jawdhar for consolidating his regime. As part of this, Jawdhar was allowed to move to the new capital built by al-Mansur, al-Mansuriya—apparently, Jawdhar had remained at al-Mahdiya until then, and state business was conducted via correspondence. Nevertheless, Jawdhar remained responsible for the continued house arrest of the al-Mansur's brothers and uncles in the palace at al-Mahdiya, while the letters preserved in his memoirs shows him continuing to direct the affairs of the mint and textile factories, the arsenal, the prisons, and the treasury at al-Mahdiya. Jawdhar was also active as a commercial agent on behalf of the caliph, amassing a considerable personal fortune in the process. Thanks to his ties with the Kalbids, Jawdhar was particularly active in trade with Sicily, owning his own ships, and being able to borrow money from the Kalbid treasury.