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 bi-’llāh, lit. 'Victorious in God'), was the third Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya, ruling from 946 until his death. He presided over a period of crisis, having to confront the large-scale Kharijite rebellion of Abu Yazid. He succeeded in suppressing the revolt and restoring the stability of the Fatimid regime.

al-Mansur Billah المنصور بالله
Caliph of the Fatimid Dynasty
Reign	17 May 946 – 18 March 953
Predecessor	al-Qa'im Bi-Amr Allah
Successor	al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah
Born	January 914 Raqqada
Died	18 March 953 (aged 39)
Issue	al-Mu'izz Li-Dinillah
Full name Kunya: Abu Tahir Given name: Isma'il Laqab: al-Mansur Billah
Dynasty	Fatimid
Father	al-Qa'im Bi-Amr Allah
Mother	Karima
Religion	Isma'ili Shia Islam

Early life and accession

The future al-Mansur Billah 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.[1] Isma'il was not the oldest son of al-Qa'im; but the firstborn, al-Qasim, reportedly predeceased his father.[2]

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.[1][2] 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.[3][4] 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 imself was apparently obliged to compose a tract defending his succession, which points to the contested nature of his accession.[3][5]

Reign

Suppression of the rebellion of Abu Yazid

At the time of his accession, the Fatimid Caliphate was undergoing on of its most critical moments: a large-scale rebellion under the Berber preacher Abu Yazid had overrun Ifriqiya and was threatening the capital al-Mahdiya itself.[6] As a result, in the words of the historian Farhat Dachraoui, "he had to face up to, immediately, the heaviest responsibilities without having served any apprenticeship as ruler".[1] Al-Mansur would prove up to the task: both Isma'ili (pro-Fatimid) and Sunni (anti-Fatimid) sources agree that al-Mansur proved an exemplary ruler, praising both his erudition and eloquence in Classical Arabic as well as his bravery and energetic leadership in battle.[1][7]

While the revolt of Abu Yazid lasted, al-Mansur and his government hid the death of his father, a task made easier by the reclusive life al-Qa'im had led, rarely venturing out of his palace during his reign. All public business and ceremonies were still conducted in al-Qa'im's name, and Isma'il acted ostensibly only as his heir-designate.[1][8] Indeed, the regnal name of al-Mansur ("the Victorious") was only publicly assumed after the final suppression of the uprising.[7] Nevertheless, the new ruler quickly gave proof of his ability. Already before his father's death, on 16 May, he sent by sea weapons and supplies to 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 of the city and forced Abu Yazid to withdraw his forces inland towards Kairouan.[1][7]

Battle for 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.[7] 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.[7]

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 for legitimization purposes.[9] 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.[10]

While al-Mansur was slowly building up his numerically inferior forces with contingents from the remote provinces of the Fatimid empire, Abu Yazid's support began to dwindle as his followers abandoned his camp; only the Hawwara and Banu Kamlan Berbers remained steadfastly loyal to him. With increasing confidence, al-Mansur marched his army out to provoke a pitched battle, but Abu Yazid refused. Finally, on 13 August the Fatimids stormed the rebel camp, and Abu Yazid with his troops broke and fled.[11] The victory proved doubly fortuitous for al-Mansur: seeking support against the Fatimids, Abu Yazid had made contact with the Spanish Umayyads and recognized their suzerainty. An Umayyad fleet had been dispatched to assist him, but when its commander heard news of the Fatimid victory at Kairouan, he turned back.[12]

Even in his victory dispatch to the capital, read out by the chamberlain Jawdhar, al-Mansur upheld the fiction of the still living al-Qa'im, describing himself merely as the "Sword of the Imam".[12] The Fatimid ruler now set about achieving a reconciliation with the citizens of Kairouan: he abstained from appointing an Isma'ili qadi over the city as before, instead choosing the old and respected Malikite faqih Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Manzur; he did not appoint a Kutama as governor, but a military officer of Slavic origin, Qudam al-Fata; remitted all taxes for two years; and offered much of the captured booty as alms to the city poor.[13] At the same time, al-Mansur ordered that the site of his camp south of the city be made into a new palace city, known officially as al-Mansuriya and locally as Sabra. Moving his residene back in the vicinity of Kairouan, the old capital of Ifriqiya, was another sign of caliphal favour to the Kairouanese.[14] While at Kairouan, on 18 October al-Mansur received an envoy of the Byzantine Empire. Both Byzantines and al-Mansur probably renewed a truce that was in effect between the two powers in southern Italy.[14]

Pursuit of Abu Yazid

Later reign

Al-Manṣur concerned himself with the reorganisation of the Fatimid state until the end of his reign. He resumed the struggle with the Umayyads of Córdoba in Morocco, and reoccupied Sicily, from whence raids into Italy were recommenced. Rule in Sicily was reinforced through the installation of the Kalbids as Emirs.

Al-Mansur died after a severe illness on 18 March 953,[15] and left his realm to his son al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (r. 953–975).

See also

• Family tree of Muhammad#Family tree linking prophets to Imams
• List of Ismaili imams
• Ali ibn Muhammad al-Iyadi

References

1. Dachraoui 1991, p. 434.
2. Halm 1991, p. 277.
3. Halm 1991, pp. 276–277.
4. Brett 2017, pp. 59, 229.
5. Brett 2017, p. 59.
6. Halm 1991, pp. 267–276.
7. Halm 1991, p. 278.
8. Halm 1991, pp. 277–278.
9. Halm 1991, pp. 278–279.
10. Halm 1991, p. 279.
11. Halm 1991, pp. 279–280.
12. Halm 1991, p. 280.
13. Halm 1991, pp. 280–281.
14. Halm 1991, p. 281.
15. Dachraoui 1991, p. 435.

Sources

• Brett, Michael (2001). The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE. The Medieval Mediterranean. 30. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-11741-9.
• Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4076-8.
• Dachraoui, F. (1991). "al-Manṣūr Bi'llāh". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 434–435. ISBN 90-04-08112-7.
• Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismāʿı̄lı̄s: Their History and Doctrines (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-61636-2.
• Halm, Heinz (1991). Das Reich des Mahdi: Der Aufstieg der Fatimiden [The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids] (in German). Munich: C. H. Beck. ISBN 3-406-35497-1.

Al-Mansur Billah Fatimid dynasty Born: January 914 Died: 19 March 953
Regnal titles
Preceded by al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah	Fatimid Caliph 17 May 946 – 18 March 953	Succeeded by al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah
Shia Islam titles
Preceded by al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah	13th Isma'ili Imam 17 May 946 – 18 March 953	Succeeded by al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah