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al-Afdal Shahanshah | |
|---|---|
| Vizier of theFatimid Caliphate | |
| In office 1094–1121 | |
| Monarchs | al-Mustansir Billah,al-Musta'li Billah,al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah |
| Preceded by | Badr al-Jamali |
| Succeeded by | al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1066 Acre, Fatimid Caliphate |
| Died | 11 December 1121 (aged 54–55) Cairo, Fatimid Caliphate |
| Children | Sama' al-Mulk Kutayfat |
| Parent |
|
Al-Afdal Shahanshah (Arabic:الأفضل شاهنشاه,romanized: al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh;Latin:Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), bornAbu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali, was avizier of theFatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamedal-Malik al-Afdal ("the excellent king"),[1] but this is not supported by contemporary sources.
He was born inAcre, the son ofBadr al-Jamali, anArmenian mamluk who became Muslim.[2] Badr was vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his death in 1094, when al-Afdal succeeded him. CaliphAl-Mustansir Billah died soon afterwards, and al-Afdal appointed as caliphal-Musta'li, a child, instead of al-Mustali's much older brotherNizar ibn al-Mustansir. Nizar revolted and was defeated in 1095; which led to tension between Al-Afdal and Nizar’s supporters, mainlyHassan-i Sabbah, and hisNizari Isma'ili group known also as theorder of Assassins.
At this time Fatimid power inPalestine had been reduced by the arrival of theSeljuk Turks. In 1097 he capturedTyre from the Seljuks, and in 1098 he took Jerusalem, expelling itsArtuqid governorIlghazi and installing in his place the Fatimid officialIftikhar al-Dawla. Al-Afdal restored most of Palestine to Fatimid control, at least temporarily.
Under al-Afdal, the caliphs were confined in their palace, away from public view, and even bereft of their ceremonial functions, which al-Afdal arrogated to himself.[3] The vizier even moved the setting for most public ceremonies and the celebration of festivals away from the caliphal palace to his own palace, theDar al-Mulk, which he built in 1106–1108 outside the city walls of Cairo. Built on the shore of the Nile outside the city walls of Cairo, the large vizieral palace ofDar-al-Mulk has since disappeared without a trace.[4]
Al-Afdal misunderstood the Crusaders asByzantine mercenaries; this misperception caused al-Afdal to conclude that theCrusaders would make for natural allies, as each were enemies of theSeljuk Turks. Fatimid overtures for an alliance with the crusaders were rebuffed, and the crusaders continued southward fromAntioch tocapture Jerusalem from Fatimid control in 1099.
When it became apparent that the Crusaders would not rest until they had control of the city, al-Afdal marched out fromCairo, but was too late to rescue Jerusalem, which fell on 15 July 1099. On 12 August 1099, the Crusaders underGodfrey of Bouillon surprised al-Afdal at theBattle of Ascalon and completely defeated him. Al-Afdal would later reassert Fatimid control of Ascalon, as the Crusaders did not attempt to retain it, and utilize it as a staging ground for later attacks on theCrusader states.
When al-Musta'li died in December 1101, al-Afdal raised the five-year-oldal-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah to the throne as imam and caliph. To further strengthen the familial ties with the young caliph, he married him to his own daughter.[5] As the vizier, father-in-law, and uncle of the young ruler, al-Afdal placed the caliph before him on his own horse during al-Amir's inaugural procession. A decree, dictated by al-Afdal, renewed his appointment as vizier with plenipotentiary powers and ensured his ascendancy over the child-caliph.[5]
Al-Afdal marched out every year to attack the nascentKingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1105 attempted to ally with Damascus against them, but was defeated at theThird Battle of Ramla. Al-Afdal and his army enjoyed success only so long as no European fleet interfered, but they gradually lost control of their coastal strongholds; in 1109Tripoli was lost, despite the fleet and supplies sent by al-Afdal, and the city became the centre of the Crusader state of theCounty of Tripoli. In 1110 the governor of Ascalon, Shams al-Khilafa, rebelled against al-Afdal with the intent of handing over the city to Jerusalem (for a large price). Al-Khilafa was assassinated by his Berber troops, sending his head to al-Afdal.
Al-Afdal also introduced tax (iqta') reform in Egypt, which remained in place until Saladin took over Egypt. Al-Afdal was nicknamedJalal al-Islam ("Glory of Islam") andNasir al-Din ("Protector of the Faith").Ibn al-Qalanisi describes him as "a firm believer in the doctrines ofSunnah, upright in conduct, a lover of justice towards both troops and civil population, judicious in counsel and plan, ambitious and resolute, of penetrating knowledge and exquisite tact, of generous nature, accurate in his intuitions, and possessing a sense of justice which preserved him from wrongdoing and led him to shun all tyrannical methods."
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In 1115, an assassin tried to kill al-Afdal, but he was saved by his bodyguards.[6] While he was not harmed, his health deteriorated from that time, leading to assigning his brother Ja'far the task of adding the official, calligraphic signature to documents, while in 1115, he designated his son,Sama' al-Mulk Husayn, as his deputy (and thus heir-apparent).[7] Following another failed attack by three assassins in 1118, al-Afdal suspected his own sons, and had them deprived of their positions and incomes.[7]
On 13 December 1121, during a procession on the last day ofRamadan, al-Afdal was assassinated. The deed was commonly attributed to (and claimed by) the NizariOrder of Assassins. However, the contemporary Syrian chroniclerIbn al-Qalanisi states that the murder was the work of the Caliph al-Amir, and of al-Afdal's chief of staff,al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi, who would succeed him as vizier.[8] Modern scholars commonly accept the Assassins' responsibility for the deed, apparently as revenge for Nizar's death,[9][8] but whatever his true role in his master's death, al-Bata'ihi moved quickly to take control of the situation. He took his master's body to the vizieral palace and delayed the announcement of his death until al-Amir could be notified. On the morning of the next day,Eid al-Fitr, al-Amir appointed al-Bata'ihi as vizier and publicly reasserted his position as head of the state by presiding at the day's ceremony. Al-Afdal's adult sons were imprisoned, but the other members of al-Afdal's family, to whom after all the caliph himself was related, were allowed to partake in the ceremony, and al-Afdal received a funeral and burial appropriate to his station.[8] At the same time, al-Amir moved quickly to confiscate al-Afdal's enormous wealth, houses, and estates, and brought the moveable items to hisown palace. So great was the treasure amassed by al-Afdal that chroniclers describe it as larger than that of any previous king, and it took forty days to move it to the caliph's palace.[10]
Little survives today of the buildings commissioned by al-Afdal during his long regency.[11] The only known mosque commissioned by al-Afdal was theMosque of the Elephant, builtc. 1105 south ofFustat (Old Cairo), on a hill above the Lake of the Abyssinians (Birkat al-Habash).[12] It was the site of the first, failed attempt to build a new observatory in 1119, before it was realised that the site was unsuitable.[13] Some reports indicate that al-Afdal also rebuilt the mosque atGizeh, which had been destroyed by the Nile floods, but this cannot be corroborated.[11] Al-Afdal did also erect newminarets, including at theMosque of Amr, but these do not survive.[11] The large vizieral palace (Dar-al-Mulk) that was built on the shore of the Nile, outside the city walls of Cairo, has also disappeared without a trace.[4] The only surviving piece of work is themihrab of theMosque of Ibn Tulun, commissioned during the first months of his rule.[14]
| Preceded by | Vizier of theFatimid Caliphate 1094–1121 | Succeeded by |
