Al-Afdal Shahanshah

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al-Afdal Shahanshah
al-Musta'li Billah, al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah
Preceded byBadr al-Jamali
Succeeded byal-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi
Personal details
Born1066
Acre, Fatimid Caliphate
Died11 December 1121 (aged 54–55)
Cairo, Fatimid Caliphate
ChildrenSama al-Mulk
Kutayfat
Parent
  • Badr al-Jamali (father)

Al-Afdal Shahanshah (

Latin: Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali, was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamed al-Malik al-Afdal ("the excellent king"),[1]
but this is not supported by contemporary sources.

Ascent to power

He was born in

Hassan-i Sabbah, and his Nizari Isma'ili group known also as the order of Assassins
.

At this time Fatimid power in

Tyre from the Seljuks, and in 1098 he took Jerusalem, expelling its Artuqid governor Ilghazi and installing in his place the Fatimid official Iftikhar al-Dawla
. Al-Afdal restored most of Palestine to Fatimid control, at least temporarily.

Conflict with the Crusaders

Al-Afdal misunderstood the Crusaders as

Seljuk Turks. Fatimid overtures for an alliance with the crusaders were rebuffed, and the crusaders continued southward from Antioch to capture 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 from

Crusader states
.

When al-Musta'li died in December 1101, al-Afdal raised the five-year-old al-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.[3] 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.[3]

Al-Afdal marched out every year to attack the nascent Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1105 attempted to ally with Damascus against them, but was defeated at the Third 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 1109 Tripoli was lost, despite the fleet and supplies sent by al-Afdal, and the city became the centre of the Crusader state of the County 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 nicknamed Jalal al-Islam ("Glory of Islam") and Nasir al-Din ("Protector of the Faith"). Ibn al-Qalanisi describes him as "a firm believer in the doctrines of Sunnah
, 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."

Final years and assassination

Foundational inscription from Sidon, in the name of al-Afdal

In 1115, an assassin tried to kill al-Afdal, but he was saved by his bodyguards.[4] 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, as his deputy (and thus heir-apparent).[5] Following another failed attack by three assassins in 1118, al-Afdal suspected his own sons, and had them deprived of their positions and incomes.[5]

On 13 December 1121, during a procession on the last day of

own 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.[8]

References

Sources

  • Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1951.
  • Stern, S. M. (1951). "The Succession to the Fatimid Imam al-Āmir, the Claims of the Later Fatimids to the Imamate, and the Rise of Ṭayyibī Ismailism". Oriens. 4 (2): 193–255.
    JSTOR 1579511
    .
  • William of Tyre. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea. Edited and translated by E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943.
  • The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades: Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of
    H.A.R. Gibb
    , London, 1932.
  • Walker, Paul E. (2011). "al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online.
    ISSN 1873-9830
    .
Preceded by Vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
1094–1121
Succeeded by