title: Palestinians

text: Palestine's history of rule by many different empires is reflected in Palestinian cuisine, which has benefited from various cultural contributions and exchanges. Generally speaking, modern Syrian-Palestinian dishes have been influenced by the rule of three major Islamic groups: the Arabs, the Persian-influenced Arabs and the Turks. The Arabs who conquered Syria and Palestine had simple culinary traditions primarily based on the use of rice, lamb and yogurt, as well as dates. The already simple cuisine did not advance for centuries due to Islam's strict rules of parsimony and restraint, until the rise of the Abbasids, who established Baghdad as their capital. Baghdad was historically located on Persian soil and henceforth, Persian culture was integrated into Arab culture during the 9th–11th centuries and spread throughout central areas of the empire.


title: Palestinians

text: There are several foods native to Palestine that are well known in the Arab world, such as, "kinafe Nabulsi", Nabulsi cheese (cheese of Nablus), Ackawi cheese (cheese of Acre) and "musakhan". "Kinafe" originated in Nablus, as well as the sweetened "Nabulsi" cheese used to fill it. Another very popular food is Palestinian Kofta or Kufta.


title: Palestinians

text: Mezze describes an assortment of dishes laid out on the table for a meal that takes place over several hours, a characteristic common to Mediterranean cultures. Some common mezze dishes are "hummus", "tabouleh","baba ghanoush", "labaneh", and "zate 'u zaatar", which is the pita bread dipping of olive oil and ground thyme and sesame seeds.


title: Palestinians

text: Entrées that are eaten throughout the Palestinian territories, include "waraq al-'inib" – boiled grape leaves wrapped around cooked rice and ground lamb. "Mahashi" is an assortment of stuffed vegetables such as, zucchinis, potatoes, cabbage and in Gaza, chard.


title: Palestinians

text: Similar to the structure of Palestinian society, the Palestinian field of arts extends over four main geographic centers: the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, the Palestinian diaspora in the Arab world, and the Palestinian diaspora in Europe, the United States and elsewhere.


title: Palestinians

text: Palestinian cinematography, relatively young compared to Arab cinema overall, receives much European and Israeli support. Palestinian films are not exclusively produced in Arabic; some are made in English, French or Hebrew. More than 800 films have been produced about Palestinians, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and other related topics. Examples include "Divine Intervention" and "Paradise Now".


title: Palestinians

text: A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced in the area of Palestine for hundreds of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include embroidery and weaving, pottery-making, soap-making, glass-making, and olive-wood and Mother of Pearl carvings, among others.


title: Palestinians

text: Foreign travelers to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the rich variety of costumes among the area's inhabitants, and particularly among the fellaheen or village women. Until the 1940s, a woman's economic status, whether married or single, and the town or area they were from could be deciphered by most Palestinian women by the type of cloth, colors, cut, and embroidery motifs, or lack thereof, used for the robe-like dress or "thoub" in Arabic.


title: Palestinians

text: New styles began to appear in the 1960s. For example, the "six-branched dress" named after the six wide bands of embroidery running down from the waist. These styles came from the refugee camps, particularly after 1967. Individual village styles were lost and replaced by an identifiable "Palestinian" style. The shawal, a style popular in the West Bank and Jordan before the First Intifada, probably evolved from one of the many welfare embroidery projects in the refugee camps. It was a shorter and narrower fashion, with a western cut.


title: Palestinians

text: Palestinian literature forms part of the wider genre of Arabic literature. Unlike its Arabic counterparts, Palestinian literature is defined by national affiliation rather than territorially. For example, Egyptian literature is the literature produced in Egypt. This too was the case for Palestinian literature up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but following the Palestinian Exodus of 1948 it has become "a literature written by Palestinians" regardless of their residential status.


title: Palestinians

text: Contemporary Palestinian literature is often characterized by its heightened sense of irony and the exploration of existential themes and issues of identity. References to the subjects of resistance to occupation, exile, loss, and love and longing for homeland are also common. Palestinian literature can be intensely political, as underlined by writers like Salma Khadra Jayyusi and novelist Liana Badr, who have mentioned the need to give expression to the Palestinian "collective identity" and the "just case" of their struggle. There is also resistance to this school of thought, whereby Palestinian artists have "rebelled" against the demand that their art be "committed". Poet Mourid Barghouti for example, has often said that "poetry is not a civil servant, it's not a soldier, it's in nobody's employ." Rula Jebreal's novel "Miral" tells the story of Hind al-Husseini's effort to establish an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Deir Yassin massacre, and the establishment of the state of Israel.


title: Palestinians

text: Since 1967, most critics have theorized the existence of three "branches" of Palestinian literature, loosely divided by geographic location: 1) from inside Israel, 2) from the occupied territories, 3) from among the Palestinian diaspora throughout the Middle East.


title: Palestinians

text: Hannah Amit-Kochavi recognizes only two branches: that written by Palestinians from inside the State of Israel as distinct from that written outside (ibid., p. 11). She also posits a temporal distinction between literature produced before 1948 and that produced thereafter. In a 2003 article published in "Studies in the Humanities", Steven Salaita posits a fourth branch made up of English language works, particularly those written by Palestinians in the United States, which he defines as "writing rooted in diasporic countries but focused in theme and content on Palestine."


title: Palestinians

text: Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town. After the 1948 Palestinian exodus and discrimination by neighboring Arab countries, poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism. From among those Palestinians who became Arab citizens of Israel after the passage of the Citizenship Law in 1952, a school of resistance poetry was born that included poets like Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, and Tawfiq Zayyad. The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. The situation changed after Ghassan Kanafani, another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon, published an anthology of their work in 1966. Palestinian poets often write about the common theme of a strong affection and sense of loss and longing for a lost homeland. Among the new generation of Palestinian writers, the work of Nathalie Handal an award-winning poet, playwright, and editor has been widely published in literary journals and magazines and has been translated into twelve languages.


title: Palestinians

text: Palestinian folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of Palestinian culture. There was a folklorist revival among Palestinian intellectuals such as Nimr Sirhan, Musa Allush, Salim Mubayyid, and the Palestinian Folklore Society during the 1970s. This group attempted to establish pre-Islamic (and pre-Hebraic) cultural roots for a re-constructed Palestinian national identity. The two putative roots in this patrimony are Canaanite and Jebusite. Such efforts seem to have borne fruit as evidenced in the organization of celebrations like the Qabatiya Canaanite festival and the annual Music Festival of Yabus by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.


title: Palestinians

text: Traditional storytelling among Palestinians is prefaced with an invitation to the listeners to give blessings to God and the Prophet Mohammed or the Virgin Mary as the case may be, and includes the traditional opening: "There was, or there was not, in the oldness of time..." Formulaic elements of the stories share much in common with the wider Arab world, though the rhyming scheme is distinct. There are a cast of supernatural characters: djinns who can cross the Seven Seas in an instant, giants, and ghouls with eyes of ember and teeth of brass. Stories invariably have a happy ending, and the storyteller will usually finish off with a rhyme like: "The bird has taken flight, God bless you tonight," or "Tutu, tutu, finished is my "haduttu" (story)."


title: Palestinians

text: Palestinian music is well known throughout the Arab world. After 1948, a new wave of performers emerged with distinctively Palestinian themes relating to dreams of statehood and burgeoning nationalist sentiments. In addition to "zajal" and "ataaba", traditional Palestinian songs include: "Bein Al-dawai", "Al-Rozana", "Zarif – Al-Toul", and "Al-Maijana", "Dal'ona", "Sahja/Saamir", "Zaghareet". Over three decades, the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe (El Funoun) and Mohsen Subhi have reinterpreted and rearranged traditional wedding songs such as "Mish'al" (1986), "Marj Ibn 'Amer"(1989) and "Zaghareed" (1997). "Ataaba" is a form of folk singing that consists of four verses, following a specific form and meter. The distinguishing feature of ataaba is that the first three verses end with the same word meaning three different things, and the fourth verse serves as a conclusion. It is usually followed by a "dalouna".


title: Palestinians

text: Reem Kelani is one of the foremost researchers and performers in the present day of music with a specifically Palestinian narrative and heritage. Her 2006 debut solo album "Sprinting Gazelle – Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora" comprised Kelani's research and an arrangement of five traditional Palestinian songs, whilst the other five songs were her own musical settings of popular and resistance poetry by the likes of Mahmoud Darwish, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Rashid Husain and Mahmoud Salim al-Hout. All the songs on the album relate to 'pre-1948 Palestine'.


title: Palestinians

text: Palestinian hip hop reportedly started in 1998 with Tamer Nafar's group DAM. These Palestinian youth forged the new Palestinian musical subgenre, which blends Arabic melodies and hip hop beats. Lyrics are often sung in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and sometimes French. Since then, the new Palestinian musical subgenre has grown to include artists in the Palestinian territories, Israel, Great Britain, the United States and Canada.Borrowing from traditional rap music that first emerged in New York in the 1970s, "young Palestinian musicians have tailored the style to express their own grievances with the social and political climate in which they live and work." Palestinian hip hop works to challenge stereotypes and instigate dialogue about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Palestinian hip-hop artists have been strongly influenced by the messages of American rappers. Tamar Nafar says, "When I heard Tupac sing 'It's a White Man's World' I decided to take hip hop seriously". In addition to the influences from American hip hop, it also includes musical elements from Palestinian and Arabic music including "zajal, mawwal, and saj" which can be likened to Arabic spoken word, as well as including the percussiveness and lyricism of Arabic music.


title: Palestinians

text: Historically, music has served as an integral accompaniment to various social and religious rituals and ceremonies in Palestinian society (Al-Taee 47). Much of the Middle-Eastern and Arabic string instruments utilized in classical Palestinian music are sampled over Hip-hop beats in both Israeli and Palestinian hip-hop as part of a joint process of localization. Just as the percussiveness of the Hebrew language is emphasized in Israeli Hip-hop, Palestinian music has always revolved around the rhythmic specificity and smooth melodic tone of Arabic. "Musically speaking, Palestinian songs are usually pure melody performed monophonically with complex vocal ornamentations and strong percussive rhythm beats". The presence of a hand-drum in classical Palestinian music indicates a cultural esthetic conducive to the vocal, verbal and instrumental percussion which serve as the foundational elements of Hip-hop. This hip hop is joining a "longer tradition of revolutionary, underground, Arabic music and political songs that have supported Palestinian Resistance". This subgenre has served as a way to politicize the Palestinian issue through music.


title: Palestinians

text: The Dabke, a Levantine Arab folk dance style whose local Palestinian versions were appropriated by Palestinian nationalism after 1967, has, according to one scholar, possible roots that may go back to ancient Canaanite fertility rites. It is marked by synchronized jumping, stamping, and movement, similar to tap dancing. One version is performed by men, another by women.


title: Palestinians

text: Although sport facilities did exist before the 1948 Palestinian exodus, many such facilities and institutions were subsequently shut down. Today there remains sport centers such as in Gaza and Ramallah, but the difficulty of mobility and travel restrictions means most Palestinian are not able to compete internationally to their full potential. However, Palestinian sport authorities have indicated that Palestinians in the diaspora will be eligible to compete for Palestine once the diplomatic and security situation improves.


title: Physical fitness

text: Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest along with a formal recovery plan.


title: Physical fitness

text: Before the Industrial Revolution, fitness was defined as the capacity to carry out the day's activities without undue fatigue or lethargy. However, with automation and changes in lifestyles, physical fitness is now considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, improve immune system and to meet emergency situations.


title: Physical fitness

text: Fitness is defined as the quality or state of being fit and healthy. Around 1950, perhaps consistent with the Industrial Revolution and the treatise of World War II, the term "fitness" increased in western vernacular by a factor of ten. The modern definition of fitness describes either a person or machine's ability to perform a specific function or a holistic definition of human adaptability to cope with various situations. This has led to an interrelation of human fitness and physical attractiveness that has mobilized global fitness and fitness equipment industries. Regarding specific function, fitness is attributed to persons who possess significant aerobic or anaerobic ability (i.e., endurance or strength). A well-rounded fitness program improves a person in all aspects of fitness compared to practicing only one, such as only cardio/respiratory or only weight training.


title: Physical fitness

text: A comprehensive fitness program tailored to an individual typically focuses on one or more specific skills, and on age- or health-related needs such as bone health. Many sources also cite mental, social and emotional health as an important part of overall fitness. This is often presented in textbooks as a triangle made up of three points, which represent physical, emotional, and mental fitness. Physical fitness has been shown to have benefits in preventing ill health and assisting recovery from injury or illness. Along with the physical health benefits of fitness, it has also been shown to have a positive impact on mental health as well by assisting in treating anxiety and depression.


title: Physical fitness

text: Physical fitness can also prevent or treat many other chronic health conditions brought on by unhealthy lifestyle or aging as well and has been listed frequently as one of the most popular and advantageous self-care therapies. Working out can also help some people sleep better by building up sleeping pressure and possibly alleviate some mood disorders in certain individuals.


title: Physical fitness

text: Developing research has demonstrated that many of the benefits of exercise are mediated through the role of skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ. That is, contracting muscles release multiple substances known as myokines, which promote the growth of new tissue, tissue repair, and various anti-inflammatory functions, which in turn reduce the risk of developing various inflammatory diseases.


title: Physical fitness

text: The 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide science-based guidance for people ages 3 years and older to improve their health by participating in regular physical activity. These guidelines recommend that all adults should move more and sit less throughout the day to improve health-related quality of life including mental, emotional, and physical health. For substantial health benefits, adults should perform at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both spread throughout the week. The recommendation for physical activity to occur in bouts of at least 10 minutes has been eliminated, as new research suggests that bouts of any length contribute to the health benefits linked to the accumulated volume of physical activity. Additional health benefits may be achieved by engaging in more than 300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities that are of moderate or greater intensity and involve all major muscle groups on two or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.


title: Physical fitness

text: The intensity at which a person exercises is key, and light activity such as strolling and house work is unlikely to have much positive impact on the health of most people. For aerobic exercise to be beneficial, it must raise the heart rate and cause perspiration. A person should do a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. There are more health benefits gained if a person exercises beyond 150 minutes.


title: Physical fitness

text: Sedentary time (time spent not standing, such as when on a chair or in bed) is bad for a person's health, and no amount of exercise can negate the effects of sitting for too long.


title: Physical fitness

text: These guidelines are now much more in line with those used in the U.S., which also includes recommendations for muscle-building and bone-strengthening activities such as lifting weights and yoga.


title: Physical fitness

text: Cardiorespiratory fitness can be measured using VO max, a measure of the amount of oxygen the body can uptake and utilize. Aerobic exercise, which improves cardiorespiratory fitness and increase stamina, involves movement that increases the heart rate to improve the body's oxygen consumption. This form of exercise is an important part of all training regiments, whether for professional athletes or for the everyday person.


title: Physical fitness

text: Anaerobic exercise features high-intensity movements performed in a short period of time. It is a fast, high-intensity exercise that does not require the body to utilize oxygen to produce energy. It helps to promote strength, endurance, speed, and power; and is used by bodybuilders to build workout intensity. Anaerobic exercises are thought to increase the metabolic rate, thereby allowing one to burn additional calories as the body recovers from exercise due to an increase in body temperature and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) after the exercise ended.


title: Physical fitness

text: Specific or task-oriented fitness is a person's ability to perform in a specific activity, such as sports or military service, with a reasonable efficiency. Specific training prepares athletes to perform well in their sport. These include, among others:


title: Physical fitness

text: For physical fitness activity to benefit an individual, the exertion must trigger a sufficient amount of stimuli. Exercise with the correct amount of intensity, duration, and frequency can produce a significant amount of improvement. The person may overall feel better, but the physical effects on the human body take weeks or months to notice—and possibly years for full development. For training purposes, exercise must provide a stress or demand on either a function or tissue. To continue improvements, this demand must eventually increase little over an extended period of time. This sort of exercise training has three basic principles: overload, specificity, and progression. These principles are related to health but also enhancement of physical working capacity.


title: Physical fitness

text: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) consists of repeated, short bursts of exercise, completed at a high level of intensity. These sets of intense activity are followed by a predetermined time of rest or low-intensity activity. Studies have shown that exercising at a higher intensity can have the effect of increasing cardiac benefits for humans when compared with exercising at a low or moderate level. When one's workout consists of a HIIT session, their body has to work harder to replace the oxygen it lost. Research into the benefits of HIIT have shown that it can be very successful for reducing fat, especially around the abdominal region. Furthermore, when compared to continuous moderate exercise, HIIT proves to burn more calories and increase the amount of fat burned post- HIIT session. Lack of time is one of the main reasons stated for not exercising; HIIT is a great alternative for those people because the duration of a HIIT session can be as short as 10 minutes, making it much quicker than conventional workouts.


title: Physical fitness

text: Physical fitness has proven to support the body's blood pressure. Staying active and exercising regularly builds a stronger heart. The heart is the main organ in charge of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Engaging in a physical activity raises blood pressure. Once the subject stops the activity, the blood pressure returns to normal. The more physical activity, the easier this process becomes, resulting in a fitter cardiovascular profile. Through regular physical fitness, it becomes easier to create a rise in blood pressure. This lowers the force on the arteries, and lowers the overall blood pressure.


title: Physical fitness

text: Centers for disease control and prevention provide lifestyle guidelines for maintaining a balanced diet and engaging in physical activity to reduce the risk of disease. The WCRF/ American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) published a list of recommendations that reflect the evidence they have found through consistency in fitness and dietary factors that directly relate to cancer prevention.


title: Physical fitness

text: These recommendations are also widely supported by the American Cancer Society. The guidelines have been evaluated and individuals who have higher guideline adherence scores substantially reduce cancer risk as well as help control a multitude of chronic health problems. Regular physical activity is a factor that helps reduce an individual's blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels, two key components that correlate with heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The American Cancer Society encourages the public to "adopt a physically active lifestyle" by meeting the criteria in a variety of physical activities such as hiking, swimming, circuit training, resistance training, lifting, etc. It is understood that cancer is not a disease that can be cured by physical fitness alone, however, because it is a multifactorial disease, physical fitness is a controllable prevention. The large associations tied with being physically fit and reduced cancer risk are enough to provide a strategy to reduce cancer risk.


title: Physical fitness

text: The American Cancer Society asserts different levels of activity ranging from moderate to vigorous to clarify the recommended time spent on a physical activity. These classifications of physical activity consider intentional exercise and basic activities performed on a daily basis and give the public a greater understanding of what fitness levels suffice as future disease prevention.


title: Physical fitness

text: Studies have shown an association between increased physical activity and reduced inflammation. It produces both a short-term inflammatory response and a long-term anti-inflammatory effect. Physical activity reduces inflammation in conjunction with or independent of changes in body weight. However, the mechanisms linking physical activity to inflammation are unknown.


title: Physical fitness

text: Physical activity boosts the immune system. This is dependent on the concentration of endogenous factors (such as sex hormones, metabolic hormones and growth hormones), body temperature, blood flow, hydration status and body position. Physical activity has been shown to increase the levels of natural killer (NK) cells, NK T cells, macrophages, neutrophils and eosinophils, complements, cytokines, antibodies and T cytotoxic cells. However, the mechanism linking physical activity to immune system is not fully understood.


title: Physical fitness

text: Achieving resilience through physical fitness promotes a vast and complex range of health-related benefits. Individuals who keep up physical fitness levels generally regulate their distribution of body fat and prevent obesity. Studies prove that running uses calories in the body that come from the macronutrients eaten daily. In order for the body to be able to run, it will use those ingested calories, therefore it will burn calories. Abdominal fat, specifically visceral fat, is most directly affected by engaging in aerobic exercise. Strength training has been known to increase the amount of muscle in the body, however, it can also reduce body fat. Sex steroid hormones, insulin, and appropriate immune responses are factors that mediate metabolism in relation to abdominal fat. Therefore, physical fitness provides weight control through regulation of these bodily functions.


title: Physical fitness

text: Menopause is often said to have occurred when a woman has had no vaginal bleeding for over a year since her last menstrual cycle. There are a number of symptoms connected to menopause, most of which can affect the quality of life of a woman involved in this stage of her life. One way to reduce the severity of the symptoms is to exercise and keep a healthy level of fitness. Prior to and during menopause, as the female body changes, there can be physical, physiological or internal changes to the body. These changes can be reduced or even prevented with regular exercise. These changes include:


title: Physical fitness

text: The Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project followed 438 women over an eight-year period providing evidence showing that even though physical activity was not associated with VMS in this cohort at the beginning, Women who reported they were physically active every day at the beginning were 49% less likely to have reported bothersome hot flushes. This is in contrast to women whose level of activity decreased and were more likely to experience bothersome hot flushes.


title: Physical fitness

text: Studies have shown that physical activity can improve mental health and well-being. This improvement is due to an increase in blood flow to the brain, allowing for the release of hormones as well as a decrease stress hormones in the body (e.g., cortisol, adrenaline) while also stimulating the human body's mood boosters and natural painkillers. Not only does exercise release these feel-good hormones, it can also help relieve stress and help build confidence. The same way exercising can help humans to have a healthier life, it also can improve sleep quality. Based on studies, even 10 minutes of exercise per day can help insomnia. These trends improve as physical activity is performed on a consistent basis, which makes exercise effective in relieving symptoms of depression and anxiety, positively impacting mental health and bringing about several other benefits. For example:


title: Physical fitness

text: To achieve some of these benefits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 30–60 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week.


title: Physical fitness

text: In the 1940s, an emigrant M.D. from Austria named Hans Kraus began testing children in the U.S. and Europe for what he termed, "Muscular Fitness." (in other words, muscular functionality) Through his testing, he found children in the U.S. to be far less physically capable than European children. Kraus published some alarming papers in various journals and got the attention of some powerful people, including a senator from Pennsylvania who took the findings to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Eisenhower was "shocked." He set up a series of conferences and committees; then in July 1956, Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness.


title: Physical fitness

text: In Greece, physical fitness was considered to be an essential component of a healthy life and it was the norm for men to frequent a gymnasium. Physical fitness regimes were also considered to be of paramount importance in a nation's ability to train soldiers for an effective military force. Partly for these reasons, organized fitness regimes have been in existence throughout known history and evidence of them can be found in many countries.


title: Physical fitness

text: Gymnasiums which would seem familiar today began to become increasingly common in the 19th century. The industrial revolution had led to a more sedentary lifestyle for many people and there was an increased awareness that this had the potential to be harmful to health. This was a key motivating factor for the forming of a physical culture movement, especially in Europe and the USA. This movement advocated increased levels of physical fitness for men, women, and children and sought to do so through various forms of indoor and outdoor activity, and education. In many ways, it laid the foundations for modern fitness culture.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: Daniella Pineda (born February 20, 1987) is an American actress. She has had major roles in several films and TV series, including "The Originals", Netflix's live-action "Cowboy Bebop", and multiple films in the "Jurassic Park" franchise. She began her career through online comedy and fashion videos, with her first movie role in 2011. She later appeared in the backdoor pilot of "The Originals" and several episodes of the show's first season. Her first role in a movie produced by a major studio was in 2018, with "". As a Mexican American, she has spoken out about the difficulties Mexican actors face.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: Daniella Pineda was born on February 20, 1987 in Oakland, California, the daughter of Eric Klein and Patricia Pineda. Daniella has two siblings, Anneliese and Elliot. She is a third-generation Mexican American on her mother’s side, and both of her adoptive parents are Mexican. She graduated from Mills College with a sociology and radio journalism degree. She acquired a fellowship at KALW, where topics she discussed included racism and poverty in the Bay Area.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: Pineda's first acting role was in a 2010 episode of "Men of a Certain Age", although she created a larger image online; she appeared in several CollegeHumor comedy sketch videos between 2010 and 2011, as well as fashion tutorials on YouTube. Her first appearance in film was the 2011 comedy drama "Newlyweds", directed by Edward Burns. It received mostly positive reviews from critics.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: Pineda later appeared in an espisode of The CW's "The Vampire Diaries", which functioned as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off series "The Originals", which began airing in 2013. In February of 2014, her character, the witch Sophie Deveraux, was killed off in the 13th episode, eliminating Pineda from the cast. Executive producer Julie Plec later revealed that the character's death was not initially planned, but considered suitable for her actions in the series.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: In 2015, Pineda starred in NBC's "American Odyssey" (first announced the previous year as "Odyssey"), which follows a team of American soldiers trying to expose a conspiracy, which ended the same year it began. She played a character named Ruby Simms. The show was cancelled after one season.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: In October 2017, Pineda had a role in "Mr. Roosevelt", a comedy directed by Noël Wells. It was a critical success, receiving a full 100% on Rotten Tomatoes from 34 reviews.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: In July 2018, Pineda played Zia Rodriguez in "", her first time appearing in a movie created by a major studio. Rodriguez, a veterinarian, is part of a mission to rescue dinosaurs from a volcanic eruption. Pineda commented on how realistic the dinosaurs in the movie were, with pulsing veins and dilating eyes. In another interview, she explained how her character was originally going to have a conversation with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), in which the former revealed herself to be lesbian, although this dialogue was cut from the final product. Pineda explained that this decision was made for time reasons.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: In 2019, Pineda starred in the horror film "Mercy Black" as Marina Hess, a woman who was institutionalized for fifteen years after partaking in a ritual to appease the entity "Mercy Black", now finally convinced that the creature was not real, allowing her to go live with her family. The movie was praised by "Los Angeles Times" writer Noel Murray. In May of the same year, Pineda portrayed Cassidy in the Netflix neo-noir series "What/If". The show has one ten-episode season to date.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: By April 2019, Pineda had been cast as Faye Valentine in a live-action version of the "Cowboy Bebop" series. It released in 2021. Pineda described her character, who is ethnically Singaporean-Romani, as "a smart-ass" and "fun". Unlike in the original anime, the series' version of the character is LGBT.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: In 2022, she reprised her role as Zia Rodriguez in "Jurassic World Dominion". Rodriguez appeared in the opening, however travel restrictions and quarantine requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Pineda, who was in New Zealand, from showing up in another planned scene. She was replaced in her second scene with Varada Sethu. Director Colin Trevorrow was satisfied with the change. Later the same year, Pineda was cast as Bess, the proprietress of a saloon in the comedy pilot "Western".


title: Daniella Pineda

text: Pineda was adopted by her aunt and uncle at age 16, and her biological parents are "not really in the picture", according to her.


title: Daniella Pineda

text: She has pushed for greater recognition of Mexican actors, saying that they are "often relegated to obscurity" in scripts and casting, and that Latin America is underrepresented overall. She has also complained about being told by casting directors that she does not look or seem Mexican enough, despite being of Mexican heritage.


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films "Happy Gilmore" and "Billy Madison", two box office successes starring Sandler himself, both produced by Robert Simonds, written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The elderly man depicted in the production logo is Sandler's late father, Stanley (who died in 2003), who voices the accompanying audio, "Terrific".


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: In addition to various Sandler-produced films, the company has also released films produced by others, such as Steven Brill ("Little Nicky", "Mr. Deeds"), Dennis Dugan ("The Benchwarmers", "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", "Grown Ups", "Grown Ups 2"), Frank Coraci ("Click", "Zookeeper", "Blended"), Fred Wolf ("Strange Wilderness", "The House Bunny"), Tom Brady ("The Animal", "The Hot Chick", ""), Peter Segal ("Anger Management", "50 First Dates", "The Longest Yard"), and Nicholaus Goossen ("A Day with the Meatball", "Grandma's Boy", "The Shortcut").


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: The 1998 films "The Waterboy" and "The Wedding Singer" helped jump start Sandler's movie career and production company. He produced "The Waterboy" and co-wrote the script with Tim Herlihy. The film was extremely profitable, earning over $160 million in the United States alone and made Sandler a successful actor with "The Waterboy" becoming his second $100 million film in a year, along with "The Wedding Singer".


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: The company's production offices were formerly located in the Judy Garland Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City but the company left after completion of Sandler's final contracted film for the studio, "Pixels". Happy Madison, Inc. the parent company of Happy Madison Productions is run by Adam Sandler's brother Scott and is located in Manchester, New Hampshire.


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: Its subsidiary Madison 23 Productions, was aimed towards the drama genre. It only produced two films "Reign Over Me" and "Funny People", which both starred Sandler himself. Another subsidiary was Scary Madison Productions, which was aimed towards the horror genre and only produced the film "The Shortcut".


title: Happy Madison Productions

text: Happy Madison's films have, for the most part, received overwhelmingly negative reviews, while some drama films ("Reign Over Me" and "Funny People") received mixed-to-positive from critics, with Sandler's performance garnered critical praise. The production company has put out four films considered to be some of the worst ever made, including two that have received a 0% score from Rotten Tomatoes.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dynasty of Arab origin, trace their ancestry to Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, the first Shi‘a imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different Isma‘ili communities, but also in many other Muslim lands, including Persia and the adjacent regions. Originating during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimids conquered Tunisia and established the city of "al-Mahdiyya" (). The Ismaili dynasty ruled territories across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and ultimately made Egypt the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included – in addition to Egypt – varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and the Hijaz.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Between 902 to 909 the foundation of the Fatimid state was realized by the Kutama Berbers, under the leadership of the "da'i" (missionary) Abu Abdallah, whose conquest of Ifriqiya paved the way for the establishment of the Caliphate. After this conquest, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah was retrieved from Sijilmasa and then accepted as the Imam of the movement, becoming the first Caliph and founder of the ruling dynasty in 909. In 921, the city of al-Mahdiyya was established as the capital. In 948, they shifted their capital to al-Mansuriyya, near Kairouan. In 969, during the reign of al-Mu'izz, they conquered Egypt, and in 973 the caliphate was moved to the new capital of Cairo. Egypt became the political, cultural, and religious centre of their empire, which developed a new and "indigenous Arabic" culture. After its initial conquests, the caliphate often allowed a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Shia sects of Islam, as well as to Jews and Christians. However, its leaders made little headway in persuading the Egyptian population to adopt its religious beliefs.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: After the reigns of al-'Aziz and al-Hakim, the long reign of al-Mustansir entrenched a regime in which the caliph remained aloof from state affairs and viziers took on greater importance. Political and ethnic factionalism within the army led to a civil war in the 1060s which threatened the empire's survival. After a period of revival during the tenure of the vizier Badr al-Jamali (d. 1094), the Fatimid caliphate declined rapidly during the late eleventh and twelfth centuries. In addition to internal difficulties, the caliphate was weakened by the encroachment of the Seljuk Turks into Syria in the 1070s and the arrival of the Crusaders in the Levant after 1098. In 1171, Saladin abolished the dynasty's rule and founded the Ayyubid dynasty, which incorporated Egypt into the nominal sphere of authority of the .


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimid dynasty claimed descent from Fatimah, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The dynasty legitimized its claim through descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter and her husband Ali, the first Shī'a Imām, hence the dynasty's name "fāṭimiyy" (), the Arabic relative adjective for "Fāṭima".


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Emphasizing its Alid descent, the dynasty named itself simply as the 'Alid dynasty' (), but many hostile Sunni sources only refer to them as the 'Ubaydids' (), after the diminutive form Ubayd Allah for the name of the first Fatimid caliph.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimid dynasty came to power as the leaders of Isma'ilism, a revolutionary Shi'a movement "which was at the same time political and religious, philosophical and social", and which originally proclaimed nothing less than the arrival of an Islamic messiah. The origins of that movement, and of the dynasty itself, are obscure prior to the late ninth century.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimids rulers were Arab in origin, starting with its founder the Isma'ili Shia Caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah. Their military were from Kabylia in Algeria, several historians attribute the military creation/establishment and its origin to the Kutama Berbers.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Shi'a opposed the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, whom they considered usurpers. Instead, they believed in the exclusive right of the descendants of Ali through Muhammad's daughter, Fatima, to lead the Muslim community. This manifested itself in a line of imams, descendants of Ali via al-Husayn, whom their followers considered as the true representatives of God on earth. At the same time, there was a widespread messianic tradition in Islam concerning the appearance of a ("the Rightly Guided One") or ("He Who Arises"), who would restore true Islamic government and justice and usher in the end times. This figure was widely expectednot just among the Shi'ato be a descendant of Ali. Among Shi'a, however, this belief became a core tenet of their faith, and was applied to several Shi'a leaders who were killed or died; their followers believed that they had gone into "occultation" () and would return (or be resurrected) at the appointed time.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: These traditions manifested themselves in the succession of the sixth imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. Al-Sadiq had appointed his son Isma'il ibn Ja'far as his successor, but Isma'il died before his father, and when al-Sadiq himself died in 765, the succession was left open. Most of his followers followed al-Sadiq's son Musa al-Kazim down to a twelfth and final imam who supposedly went into occultation in 874 and would one day return as the . This branch is hence known as the "Twelvers". Others followed other sons, or even refused to believe that al-Sadiq had died, and expected his return as the . Another branch believed that Ja'far was followed by a seventh imam, who had gone into occultation and would one day return; hence this party is known as the "Seveners". The exact identity of that seventh imam was disputed, but by the late ninth century had commonly been identified with Muhammad, son of Isma'il and grandson of al-Sadiq. From Muhammad's father, Isma'il, the sect, which gave rise to the Fatimids, receives its name of "Isma'ili". Due to the harsh Abbasid persecution of the Alids, the Ismaili Imams went into hiding and neither Isma'il's nor Muhammad's lives are well known, and after Muhammad's death during the reign of Harun al-Rashid (), the history of the early Isma'ili movement becomes obscure.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: While the awaited Muhammad ibn Isma'il remained hidden, however, he would need to be represented by agents, who would gather the faithful, spread the word (, "invitation, calling"), and prepare his return. The head of this secret network was the living proof of the imam's existence, or "seal" (). It is this role that the ancestors of the Fatimids are first documented. The first known "ḥujja" was a certain Abdallah al-Akbar ("Abdallah the Elder"), a wealthy merchant from Khuzestan, who established himself at the small town of Salamiya on the western edge of the Syrian Desert. Salamiya became the centre of the Isma'ili , with Abdallah al-Akbar being succeeded by his son and grandson as the secret "grand masters" of the movement.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In the last third of the ninth century, the Isma'ili spread widely, profiting from the collapse of Abbasid power in the Anarchy at Samarra and the subsequent Zanj Revolt, as well as from dissatisfaction among Twelver adherents with the political quietism of their leadership and the recent disappearance of the twelfth imam. Missionaries (s) such as Hamdan Qarmat and Ibn Hawshab spread the network of agents to the area round Kufa in the late 870s, and from there to Yemen (882) and thence India (884), Bahrayn (899), Persia, and the Maghreb (893).


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 899, Abdallah al-Akbar's great-grandson, Abdallah, became the new head of the movement, and introduced a radical change in the doctrine: no longer was he and his forebears merely the stewards for Muhammad ibn Isma'il, but they were declared to be the rightful imams, and Abdallah himself was the awaited . Various genealogies were later put forth by the Fatimids to justify this claim by proving their descent from Isma'il ibn Ja'far, but even in pro-Isma'ili sources, the succession and names of imams differ, while Sunni and Twelver sources of course reject any Fatimid descent from the Alids altogether and consider them impostors. Abdallah's claim caused a rift in the Isma'ili movement, as Hamdan Qarmat and other leaders denounced this change and held onto the original doctrine, becoming known as the "Qarmatians", while other communities remained loyal to Salamiya. Shortly after, in 902–903, pro-Fatimid loyalists began a great uprising in Syria. The large-scale Abbasid reaction it precipitated and the attention it brought on him, forced Abdallah to abandon Salamiya for Palestine, Egypt, and finally for the Maghreb, where the Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i had made great headway in converting the Kutama Berbers to the Isma'ili cause. Unable to join his directly, Ubayd Allah instead settled at Sijilmasa sometime between 904 and 905.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Prior to the Fatimid rise to power, a large part of the Maghreb including Ifriqiya was under the control of the Aghlabids, an Arab dynasty who ruled nominally on behalf the Abbasids but were "de facto" independent. In 893 the Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i first settled among the Banu Saktan tribe (part of the larger Kutama tribe) in Ikjan, near the city of Mila (in northwestern Algeria today). However, due to hostility from the local Aghlabid authorities and other Kutuma tribes, he was forced to leave Ikjan and sought the protection of another Kutama tribe, the Banu Ghashman, in Tazrut (two miles southwest of Mila). From there, he began to build support for a new movement. Shortly after, the hostile Kutama tribes and the Arab lords of the nearby cities (Mila, Setif, and Bilizma) allied together to march against him, but he was able to move quickly and muster enough support from friendly Kutama to defeat them one by one before they were able to unite. This first victory brought Abu Abdallah and his Kutama troops valuable loot and attracted more support to the 's cause. Over the next two years Abu Abdallah was able to win over most of the Kutama tribes in the region through either persuasion or coercion. This left much of the countryside under his control, while the major cities remained under Aghlabid control. He established an Isma'ili theocratic state based in Tazrut, operating in a way similar to previous Isma'ili missionary networks in Mesopotamia but adapted to local Kutama tribal structures. He adopted the role of a traditional Islamic ruler at the head of this organization while remaining in frequent contact with Ubayd Allah. He continued to preach to his followers, known as the "Awliya' Allah" ('Friends of God'), and to initiate them into Isma'ili doctrine.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 902, while the Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II was away on campaign in Sicily, Abu Abdallah struck the first significant blow against Aghlabid authority in North Africa by attacking and capturing the city of Mila for the first time. This news triggered a serious response from the Aghlabids, who sent a punitive expedition of 12,000 men from Tunis in October of the same year. Abu Abdallah's forces were unable to resist this counterattack and after two defeats they evacuated Tazrut (which was largely unfortified) and fled to Ikjan, leaving Mila to be retaken. Ikjan became the new center of the Fatimid movement and the reestablished his network of missionaries and spies.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Ibrahim II died in October 902 while in southern Italy and was succeeded by Abdallah II. In early 903 Abdallah II set out on another expedition to destroy Ikjan and the Kutama rebels, but he ended the expedition prematurely due to troubles at home arising from disputes over his succession. On 27 July 903 he was assassinated and his son Ziyadat Allah III took power in Tunis. These internal Aghlabid troubles gave Abu Abdallah the opportunity to recapture Mila and then go on to capture Setif, another fortified city, by October or November 904. In 905 the Aghlabids sent a third expedition to try and subdue the Kutuma. They based themselves in Constantine and in the fall of 905, after receiving further reinforcements, set out to march against Abu Abdallah. However, they were surprised by Kutama forces on the first day of their march, which caused a panic and scattered their army. The Aghlabid general fled and the Kutama captured a large booty. Another Aghlabid military expedition organized the next year (906) failed when the soldiers mutinied. Around the same time or soon after, Abu Abdallah's forces besieged and captured the fortified cities of Tubna and Bilizma. The capture of Tubna was significant as it was the first major commercial center to come under Abu Abdallah's control.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Meanwhile, Ziyadat Allah III moved his court from Tunis to Raqqada, the palace-city near Kairouan, in response to the growing threat. He fortified Raqqada in 907. In early 907 another Aghlabid army marched eastwards again against Abu Abdallah, accompanied by Berber reinforcements from the Aurès Mountains. They were again scattered by Kutama cavalry and retreated to Baghaya, the most fortified town on the old southern Roman road between Ifriqiya and the central Maghreb. The fortress, however, fell to the Kutama without a siege when local notables arranged to have the gates opened to them in May or June 907. This opened a hole in the wider defensive system of Ifriqiya and created panic in Raqqada. Ziyadat Allah III stepped up anti-Fatimid propaganda, recruited volunteers, and took measures to defend the weakly-fortified city of Kairouan. He spent the winter of 907–908 with his army in al-Aribus (Roman-era Laribus, between present-day El Kef and Maktar), expecting an attack from the north. However, Abu Abdallah's forces had been unable to capture the northerly city of Constantine and therefore they instead attacked along the southern road from Baghaya in early 908 and captured Maydara (present-day Haïdra). An indecisive battle subsequently occurred between the Aghalabid and Kutama armies near Dar Madyan (probably a site between Sbeitla and Kasserine), with neither side gaining the upper hand. During the winter of 908–909 Abu Abdallah campaigned in the region around Chott el-Jerid, capturing the towns of Tuzur (Tozeur), Nafta, and Qafsa (Gafsa) and taking control of the region. The Aghlabids responded by besieging Baghaya soon afterward in the same winter, but they were quickly repelled.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: On 25 February 909, Abu Abdallah set out from Ikjan with an army of 200,000 men for a final invasion of Kairouan. The remaining Aghlabid army, led by an Aghlabid prince named Ibrahim Ibn Abi al-Aghlab, met them near al-Aribus on 18 March. The battle lasted until the afternoon, when a contingent of Kutama horsemen managed to outflank the Aghlabid army and finally caused a rout. When news of the defeat reached Raqqada, Ziyadat Allah III packed his valuable treasures and fled towards Egypt. The population of Kairouan looted the abandoned palaces of Raqqada and resisted Ibn Abi al-Aghlab's calls to organise a last-ditch resistance. Upon hearing of the looting, Abu Abdallah sent an advance force of Kutama horsemen who secured Raqqada on 24 March. On 25 March 909 (Saturday, 1 Rajab 296), Abu Abdallah himself entered Raqqada and took up residence here.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Upon assuming power in Raqqada, Abu Abdallah inherited much of the Aghlabid state's apparatus and allowed its former officials to continue working for the new regime. He established a new, Isma'ili Shi'a regime on behalf of his absent, and for the moment unnamed, master. He then led his army west to Sijilmasa, whence he led Abdallah in triumph to Raqqada, which he entered on 15 January 910. There Abdallah publicly proclaimed himself as caliph with the regnal name of , and presented his son and heir, with the regnal name of al-Qa'im. Al-Mahdi quickly fell out with Abu Abdallah: not only was the over-powerful, but he demanded proof that the new caliph was the true . The elimination of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother led to an uprising among the Kutama, led by a child-, which was suppressed. At the same time, al-Mahdi repudiated the millenarian hopes of his followers and curtailed their antinomian tendencies.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The new regime regarded its presence in Ifriqiya as only temporary: the real target was Baghdad, the capital of the Fatimids' Abbasid rivals. The ambition to carry the revolution eastward had to be postponed after the failure of two successive invasions of Egypt, led by al-Qa'im, in 914–915 and 919–921. In addition, the Fatimid regime was as yet unstable. The local population were mostly adherents of Maliki Sunnism and various Kharijite sects such as Ibadism, so that the real power base of Fatimids in Ifriqiya was quite narrow, resting on the Kutama soldiery, later extended by the Sanhaja Berber tribes as well. The historian Heinz Halm describes the early Fatimid state as being, in essence, "a hegemony of the Kutama and Sanhaja Berbers over the eastern and central Maghrib". In 912 al-Mahdi began looking for the site of a new capital along the Mediterranean shore. Construction of the new fortified palace city, al-Mahdiyya, began in 916. The new city was officially inaugurated on 20 February 921, though construction continued after this. The new capital was removed from the Sunni stronghold of Kairouan, allowing for the establishment of a secure base for the Caliph and his Kutama forces without raising further tensions with the local population.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimids also inherited the Aghlabid province of Sicily, which the Aghlabids had gradually conquered from the Byzantine Empire starting in 827. The conquest was generally completed when the last Christian stronghold, Taormina, was conquered by Ibrahim II in 902. However, some Christian or Byzantine resistance continued in some spots in the northeast of Sicily until 967, and the Byzantines still held territories in southern Italy, where the Aghlabids had also campaigned. This ongoing confrontation with the traditional foe of the Islamic world provided the Fatimids with a prime opportunity for propaganda, in a setting where geography gave them the advantage. Sicily itself proved troublesome, and only after a rebellion under Ibn Qurhub was subdued, was Fatimid authority on the island consolidated.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: For a large part of the tenth century the Fatimids also engaged in a rivalry with the Umayyads of Cordoba – who ruled Al-Andalus and were hostile to the Fatimids' pretensions – in an effort to establish domination over the western Maghreb. In 911, Tahert, which had been briefly captured by Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i in 909, had to be retaken by the Fatimid general Masala ibn Habus of the Miknasa tribe. The first Fatimid expeditions to what is now northern Morocco occurred in 917 and 921 and were primarily aimed at the Principality of Nakur, which they subjugated on both occasions. Fez and Sijilmasa were also captured in 921. These two expeditions were led by Masala ibn Habus, who had been made governor of Tahert. Thereafter, the weakened Idrisids and various local Zenata and Sanhaja leaders acted as proxies whose formal allegiances oscillated between the Umayyads or the Fatimids depending on the circumstances. As a result of the political instability in the western Maghreb, effective Fatimid control did not extend much beyond the former territory of the Aghlabids. Masala's successor, Musa ibn Abi'l-Afiya, captured Fez from the Idrisids again, but in 932 defected to the Umayyads, taking the western Maghreb with him. The Umayyads gained the upper hand again in northern Morocco during the 950s, until the Fatimid general Jawhar, on behalf of Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, led another major expedition to Morocco in 958 and spent two years subjugating most of northern Morocco. He was accompanied by Ziri ibn Manad, the leader of the Zirids. Jawhar took Sijilmasa in September or October 958 and then, with the help of Ziri, his forces took Fez in November 959. He was unable, however, to dislodge the Umayyad garrisons in Sala, Sebta (present-day Ceuta) and Tangier, and this marked the only time that the Fatimid army was present at the Strait of Gibraltar. Jawhar and Ziri returned to al-Mansuriyya in 960. The subjugated parts of Morocco, including Fez and Sijilmasa, were left under the control of local vassals while most of the central Maghreb (Algeria), including Tahert, was given to Ziri ibn Manad to govern on the caliph's behalf.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: All this warfare in the Maghreb and Sicily necessitated the maintenance of a strong army, and a capable fleet as well. Nevertheless, by the time of al-Mahdi's death in 934, the Fatimid Caliphate "had become a great power in the Mediterranean". The reign of the second Fatimid imam-caliph, al-Qa'im, was dominated by the Kharijite rebellion of Abu Yazid. Starting in 943/4 among the Zenata Berbers, the uprising spread through Ifriqiya, taking Kairouan and blockading al-Qa'im at al-Mahdiyya, which was besieged in January–September 945. Al-Qa'im died during the siege, but this was kept secret by his son and successor, Isma'il, until he had defeated Abu Yazid; he then announced his father's death and proclaimed himself imam and caliph as al-Mansur. While al-Mansur was campaigning to suppress the last remnants of the revolt, a new palace city was being constructed for him south of Kairouan. Construction began around 946 and it was only fully completed under al-Mansur's son and successor, al-Mu'izz. It was named al-Mansuriyya (also known as Sabra al-Mansuriyya) and became the new seat of the caliphate.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 969 Jawhar launched a carefully-prepared and successful invasion of Egypt, which had been under the control of the Ikhshidids, another regional dynasty whose formal allegiance was to the Abbasids. Al-Mu'izz had given Jawhar specific instructions to carry out after the conquest, and one of his first actions was to found a new capital named "al-Qāhira" (Cairo) in 969. The name "al-Qāhirah" (), meaning "the Vanquisher" or "the Conqueror", referenced the planet Mars, "The Subduer", rising in the sky at the time when the construction of the city started. The city was located several miles northeast of Fusṭāt, the older regional capital founded by the Arab conquerors in the seventh century.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Control of Egypt was secured with relative ease and soon afterward, in 970, Jawhar sent a force to invade Syria and remove the remaining Ikhshidids who had fled there from Egypt. This Fatimid force was led by a Kutama general named Ja'far ibn Falāḥ. This invasion was successful at first and many cities, including Damascus, were occupied that same year. Ja'far's next step was to attack the Byzantines, who had captured Antioch and subjugated Aleppo in 969 (around the same time as Jawhar was arriving in Egypt), but he was forced to call off the advance in order to face a new threat from the east. The Qarmatis of Bahrayn, responding to the appeal of the recently defeated leaders of Damascus, had organized a large coalition of Arab tribesmen to attack him. Ja'far chose to confront them in the desert in August 971, but his army was surrounded and defeated and Ja'far himself was killed. A month later the Qarmati imam Hasan al-A'ṣam led the army, with new reinforcements from Transjordan, into Egypt, seemingly without opposition. The Qarmatis spent time occupying the Nile Delta region, which gave Jawhar time to organize a defense of Fustat and Cairo. The Qarmati advance was halted just north of the city and eventually routed. A Kalbid relief force arriving by sea secured the expulsion of the Qarmatis from Egypt. Ramla, the capital of Palestine, was retaken by the Fatimids in May 972, but otherwise the progress in Syria had been lost.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Once Egypt was sufficiently pacified and the new capital was ready, Jawhar sent for al-Mu'izz in Ifriqiya. The caliph, his court, and his treasury, departed from al-Mansuriyya in fall 972, traveling by land but shadowed by the Fatimid navy sailing along the coast. After making triumphant stops in major cities along the way, the caliph arrived in Cairo on 10 June 973. Like other royal capitals before it, Cairo was constructed as an administrative and palatine city, housing the palaces of the caliph and the official state mosque, Al-Azhar Mosque. In 988 the mosque also became an academic institution that was central in the dissemination of Isma'ili teachings. Until the last years of the Fatimid Caliphate, the economic centre of Egypt remained Fustat, where most of the general population lived and traded.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the centre of an empire that included at its peak parts of North Africa, Sicily, the Levant (including Transjordan), the Red Sea coast of Africa, Tihamah, Hejaz, Yemen, with its most remote territorial reach being Multan (in modern-day Pakistan). Egypt flourished, and the Fatimids developed an extensive trade network both in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean. Their trade and diplomatic ties, extending all the way to China under the Song Dynasty (), eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages. The Fatimid focus on agriculture further increased their riches and allowed the dynasty and the Egyptians to flourish. The use of cash crops and the propagation of the flax trade allowed Fatimids to import other items from various parts of the world. The Fatimids built upon some of the bureaucratic foundations laid by the Ikhshidids and the old Abbasid imperial order. The office of the "wazīr" (vizier), which existed under the Ikhshidids, was soon revived under the Fatimids. The first to be appointed to this position was the Jewish convert Ya'qub ibn Killis, who was elevated to this office in 979 by al-Mu'izz's successor al-'Aziz. The office of the vizier became progressively more important over the years, as the vizier became the intermediary between the caliph and the large bureaucratic state that he ruled.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 975 the Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces retook most of Palestine and Syria, leaving only Tripoli in Fatimid control. He aimed to eventually capture Jerusalem, but he died in 976 on his way back to Constantinople, thus staving off the Byzantine threat to the Fatimids. Meanwhile, the Turkish "ghulām" (plural: "ghilmān", meaning soldiers recruited as slaves) Aftakin, a Buyid refugee who had fled an unsuccessful rebellion in Baghdad with his own contingent of Turkish soldiers, became the protector of Damascus. He allied with the Qarmatis and with Arab Bedouin tribes in Syria and invaded Palestine in the spring of 977. Jawhar, once again called into action, repelled their invasion and besieged Damascus. However he suffered a rout during the winter and was forced to hold out in Ascalon against Aftakin. When his Kutama soldiers mutinied in April 978, Caliph al-'Aziz himself led an army to relieve him. Instead of returning to Damascus, Aftakin and his Turkish "ghilman" joined the Fatimid army and became a useful instrument in the Syrian effort.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: After Ibn Killis became vizier in 979, the Fatimids changed tactics. Ibn Killis was able to subjugate most of Palestine and southern Syria (the former Ikhshidid territories) by paying off the Qarmatis with an annual tribute and making alliances with local tribes and dynasties, such as the Jarrahids and the Banu Kilab. Following another failed attempt by a Kutama general, Salman, to take Damascus, the Turkish "ghulām" Bultakīn finally succeeded in occupying the city for the Fatimids in 983, demonstrating the value of this new force. Another "ghulām", Bajkūr, who appointed governor of Damascus at this time. That same year he tried and failed to take Aleppo, but he was soon able to conquer Raqqa and Rahba in the Euphrates valley (present-day northeast Syria). Cairo eventually judged him to be a little too popular as governor of Damascus and he was forced to move to Raqqa while Munir, a eunuch in the caliph's household (like Jawhar before him), took direct control in Damascus on behalf of the caliph. Further north, Aleppo remained out of reach and under Hamdanid control.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The incorporation of the Turkish troops into the Fatimid army had long-term consequences. On the one hand, they were a necessary addition to the military in order for the Fatimids to compete militarily with other powers in the region. The Fatimids began to recruit "ghilmān" much as the Abbasids had done before them. They were soon joined by recruited Daylamis (footmen from the Buyid homeland in Iran). Black Africans from the Sudan (upper Nile valley) were also recruited afterword. In the short term the Kutama warriors remained the most important troops of the Caliph, but resentment and rivalry eventually grew between the different ethnic components of the army.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 991, Bajkūr, based in Raqqa, made another unsuccessful attempt against Aleppo in 991 which resulted in his capture and execution. That same year, Ibn Killis died and Munir was accused of conducting treasonous correspondence with Baghdad. These difficulties triggered a strong response in Cairo. A major military campaign was prepared to impose Fatimid control over all of Syria. Along the way, Munir was arrested in Damascus and sent back to Cairo. Circumstances were favourable to the Fatimids as the Byzantine emperor Basil II was campaigning far away in the Balkans and the Hamdanid ruler Sa'd al-Dawla died in late 991. Manjūtakīn, the Turkish Fatimid commander, advanced methodically north along the Orontes valley. He took Homs and Hama in 992 and defeated a combined force from Hamdanid Aleppo and Byzantine-held Antioch. In 993 he took Shayzar and in 994 he began the siege of Aleppo. In May 995, however, Basil II unexpectedly arrived in the region after a forced march with his army through Anatolia, forcing Manjūtakīn to lift the siege and return to Damascus. Before another Fatimid expedition could be sent, Basil II negotiated a one-year truce with the caliph, which the Fatimids used to recruit and build new ships for their fleet. In 996 many of the ships were destroyed by a fire at al-Maqs, the port on the Nile near Fustat, further delaying the expedition. Finally, in August 996 al-'Aziz died and the objective of Aleppo became secondary to other concerns.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Before leaving for Egypt, al-Mu'izz had installed Buluggin ibn Ziri, the son of Ziri bn Manad (who died in 971), as his viceroy in the Maghreb. This established a dynasty of viceroys, with the title of "amir", who ruled the region on behalf of the Fatimids. Their authority remained disputed in the western Maghreb, where the rivalry with the Umayyads and with local Zenata leaders continued. After Jawhar's successful western expedition, the Umayyads returned to northern Morocco in 973 to reassert their authority. Buluggin launched one last expedition in 979–980 that reestablished his authority in the region temporarily, until a final decisive Umayyad intervention in 984–985 put an end to further efforts. In 978 the caliph also gave Tripolitania to Buluggin to govern, though Zirid authority there was later replaced by a local dynasty in 1001.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 988 Buluggin's son and successor al-Mansur moved the Zirid dynasty's base from 'Ashir (central Algeria) to the former Fatimid capital al-Mansuriyya, cementing the status of the Zirids as more or less "de facto" independent rulers of Ifriqiya, while still officially maintaining their allegiance to the Fatimid caliphs. Caliph al-'Aziz accepted this situation for pragmatic reasons to maintain his own formal status as universal ruler. Both dynasties exchanged gifts and the succession of new Zirid rulers to the throne was officially sanctioned by the caliph in Cairo.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: After Al-'Aziz's unexpected death, his young son al-Mansur, 11 years old, was installed on the throne as al-Hakim. Hasan ibn 'Ammar, the leader of the Kalbid clan in Egypt, a military veteran, and one of the last remaining members of al-Mu'izz's old guard, initially became regent, but he was soon forced to flee by Barjawan, the eunuch and tutor of the young al-Hakim, who took power in his stead. Barjawan stabilized the internal affairs of the empire but refrained from pursuing al-'Aziz's policy of expansion towards Aleppo. In the year 1000, Barjawan was assassinated by al-Hakim, who now took direct and autocratic control of the state. His reign, which lasted until his mysterious disappearance in 1021, is the most controversial in Fatimid history. Traditional narratives have described him as either eccentric or outright insane, but more recent studies have tried to provide more measured explanations based on the political and social circumstances of the time.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Among other things, al-Hakim was known for executing his officials when unsatisfied with them, seemingly without warning, rather than dismissing them from their posts as had been traditional practice. Many of the executions were members of the financial administration, which may mean that this was al-Hakim's way of trying to impose discipline in an institution rife with corruption. He also opened the "Dar al-'Ilm" ("House of Knowledge"), a library for the study of the sciences, which was in line with al-'Aziz's previous policy of cultivating this knowledge. For the general population, he was noted for being more accessible and willing to receive petitions in person, as well as for riding out in person among the people in the streets of Fustat. On the other hand, he was also known for his capricious decrees aimed at curbing what he saw as public improprieties. He also unsettled the plurality of Egyptian society by imposing new restrictions on Christians and Jews, particularly on the way they dressed or behaved in public. He ordered or sanctioned the destruction of a number of churches and monasteries (mostly Coptic or Melkite), which was unprecedented, and in 1009, for reasons that remain unclear, he ordered the demolition of the Church of the Holy Sephulchre in Jerusalem.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Al-Hakim greatly expanded the recruitment of Black Africans into the army, who subsequently became another powerful faction to balance against the Kutama, Turks, and Daylamis. In 1005, during his early reign, a dangerous uprising led by Abu Rakwa was successfully put down but had come within striking distance of Cairo. In 1012 the leaders of the Arab Tayyi tribe occupied Ramla and proclaimed the sharif of Mecca, al-Ḥasan ibn Ja'far, as the Sunni anti-caliph, but the latter's death in 1013 led to their surrender. Despite his policies against Christians and his demolition of the church in Jerusalem, al-Hakim maintained a ten-year truce with the Byzantines that began in 1001. For most of his reign, Aleppo remained a buffer state that paid tribute to Constantinople. This lasted until 1017, when the Fatimid Armenian general Fatāk finally occupied Aleppo at the invitation of a local commander who had expelled the Hamdanid "ghulām" ruler Mansur ibn Lu'lu'. After a year or two, however, Fatāk made himself effectively independent in Aleppo.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Al-Hakim also alarmed his Isma'ili followers in several ways. In 1013 he announced the designation of two great-great-grandsons of al-Mahdi as two separate heirs: one, 'Abd al-Raḥīm ibn Ilyās, would inherit the title of caliphate as the role of political ruler, and the other, 'Abbās ibn Shu'ayb, would inherit the imamate or religious leadership. This was a serious departure from a central purpose of the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs, which was to combine these two functions in one person. In 1015 he also suddenly halted the Isma'ili doctrinal lectures of the "majālis al-ḥikma" ("sessions of wisdom") which had taken place regularly inside the palace. In 1021, while wandering the desert outside Cairo on one of his nightly excursions, he disappeared. He was purportedly murdered, but his body was never found.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: After al-Hakim's death his two designated heirs were killed, putting an end to his succession scheme, and his sister Sitt al-Mulk arranged to have his 15-year-old son 'Ali installed on the throne as al-Zahir. She served as his regent until her death in 1023, at which point an alliance of courtiers and officials ruled, with al-Jarjarā'ī, a former finance official, at their head. Fatimid control in Syria was threatened during the 1020s. In Aleppo, Fatāk, who had declared his independence, was killed and replaced in 1022, but this opened the way for a coalition of chiefs from the Banu Kilab, Jarrahid, and Kalbid chiefs to take the city in 1024 or 1025. and to begin imposing their control on the rest of Syria. Al-Jarjarā'ī sent Anushtakin al-Dizbari, a Turkish commander, with a force that defeated them in 1029 at the Battle of Uqḥuwāna near Lake Tiberias. In 1030 the new Byzantine emperor Romanos III broke a truce to invade northern Syria and forced Aleppo to recognize his suzerainty. His death in 1034 changed the situation again and in 1036 peace was restored. In 1038 Aleppo was directly annexed by the Fatimids state for the first time.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: After al-Zahir's death in 1036, Al-Mustansir came had the longest reign in Fatimid history, serving as caliph from 1036 to 1094. However, he remained largely uninvolved in politics and left the government in the hands of others. He was 7 years old when he came to the throne and thus al-Jarjarā'ī continued to serve as vizier and his guardian. When al-Jarjarā'ī died in 1045 a series of court figures ran the government until al-Yāzūrī, a jurist of Palestinian origin, took and kept the office of vizier from 1050 to 1058.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In the 1040s (possibly in 1041 or 1044), the Zirids declared their independence from the Fatimids and recognized the Sunni Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad, which led the Fatimids to launch the devastating Banū Hilal invasions of North Africa. Fatimid suzerainty over Sicily also faded as the Muslim polity there fragmented and external attacks increased. By 1060, when the Italo-Norman Roger I began his conquest of the island (completed in 1091), the Kalbid dynasty, along with any Fatimid authority, were already gone.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: There was more success in the east, however. In 1047 the Fatimid 'Ali Muhammad al-Ṣulayḥi in Yemen built a fortress and recruited tribes with which he was able to capture San'a in 1048. In 1060 he began a campaign to conquer all of Yemen, capturing Aden and Zabid. In 1062 he marched on Mecca, where Shukr ibn Abi al-Futuh's death in 1061 provided an excuse. Along the way he forced the Zaydi Imam in Sa'da into submission. Upon arriving in Mecca, he installed Abu Hashim Muhammad ibn Ja'far as the new sharif and custodian of the holy sites under the suzerainty of the Fatimids. He returned to San'a where he established his family as rulers on behalf of the Fatimid caliphs. His brother founded the city of Ta'izz, while the city of Aden became an important hub of trade between Egypt and India, which brought Egypt further wealth.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Events degenerated in Egypt and Syria, however. Starting in 1060, various local leaders began to break away or challenge Fatimid dominion in Syria. While the ethnic-based army was generally successful on the battlefield, it had begun to have negative effects on Fatimid internal politics. Traditionally the Kutama element of the army had the strongest sway over political affairs, but as the Turkish element grew more powerful, it began to challenge this. In 1062, the tentative balance between the different ethnic groups within the Fatimid army collapsed and they quarreled constantly or fought each other in the streets. At the same time, Egypt suffered a 7-year period of drought and famine. Viziers came and went in flurry, the bureaucracy broke down, and the caliph was unable or unwilling to assume responsibilities in their absence. Declining resources accelerated the problems among the different ethnic factions, and outright civil war began, primarily between the Turks under Nasir al-Dawla ibn Hamdan and Black African troops, while the Berbers shifted alliance between the two sides. The Turkish faction under Nasir al-Dawla seized partial control of Cairo but their leader not given any official title. In 1067–1068 they plundered the state treasury and then looted any treasures they could find in the palaces. The Turks turned against Nasir al-Dawla in 1069, but he managed to rally Bedouin tribes to his side, took over most of the Nile Delta region, and blocked supplies and food from reaching the capital from this region. Things degenerated further for the general population, especially in the capital, which relied on the countryside for food. Historical sources of this period report extreme hunger and hardship in the city, even to the point of cannibalism. The depredations in the Nile Delta may have also been a turning point that accelerated the long-term decline of the Coptic community in Egypt.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: By 1072, in a desperate attempt to save Egypt, the Fatimid Caliph Abū Tamīm Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah recalled general Badr al-Jamali, who was at the time the governor of Acre. Badr al-Jamali led his troops into Egypt, entered Cairo in January 1074, and was able to successfully suppress the different groups of the rebelling armies. As a result, Badr al-Jamali was made the vizier of the Fatimid caliph, becoming one of the first military viziers () who would dominate late Fatimid politics. in 1078 al-Mustansir formally abdicated responsibility for all affairs of state to him. His "de facto" rule initiated a temporary and limited revival of the Fatimid state, although it was now faced with serious challenges. Badr reestablished Fatimid authority in the Hejaz (Mecca and Medina) and the Sulayhids were able to hold on in Yemen. Syria, however, saw the advance of the Sunni-aligned Seljuk Turks who had invaded much of the Middle East and had become the guardians of the Abbasid Caliphs as well as independent Turkmen groups. Atsiz ibn Uwaq, a Turkmen of the Nawaki tribe, conquered Jerusalem in 1073 and Damscus in 1076 before attempting to invade even Egypt itself. After defeating him at a battle close to Cairo, al-Jamali was able to start a counter-offensive to secure the coastal cities like Gaza and Ascalon, and later to regain Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos further north in 1089.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Badr al-Jamali made major reforms to the state, updating and simplifying the administration of Egypt. As he was of Armenian background, his term also saw a large influx of Armenian immigrants, both Christian and Muslim, into Egypt. The Armenian church, patronised by Badr, established itself in the country along with a clerical hierarchy. He commanded a large contingent of Armenian troops, many (if not all) of whom were also Christian. Badr also used his relations and influence with the Coptic Church for political advantage. In particular, he enlisted Cyril II (Coptic Pope from 1078 to 1092) to secure the allegiance of the Christian kingdoms of Nubia (specifically Makuria) and Ethiopia (specifically the Zagwe dynasty) as vassals to the Fatimid state.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Al-Juyushi Mosque (), was commissioned by Badr al-Jamali and completed in 1085 AD under the patronage of the caliph. The mosque, identified as a "mashhad", was also a victory monument commemorating vizier Badr's restoration of order for Caliph al-Mustansir. Between 1087 and 1092, the vizier also replaced the mudbrick walls of Cairo with new stone walls and slightly expanded the city. Three of its monumental gates still survive today: Bab Zuweila, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab al-Nasr.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: As the military viziers effectively became heads of state, the Caliph himself was reduced to the role of a figurehead. The reliance on the Iqta system also ate into Fatimid central authority, as more and more the military officers at the further ends of the empire became semi-independent.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Badr al-Jamali died in 1094 (along with Caliph al-Mustansir that same year) and his son Al-Afdal Shahanshah succeeded him in power as vizier. After al-Mustansir, the Caliphate passed on to al-Musta'li, and after his death in 1101 it passed to the 5-year-old al-Amir. Another of al-Mustansir's sons, Nizar, attempted to take the throne after his father's death and organized a rebellion in 1195, but he was defeated and executed that same year. Al-Afdal arranged for his sister to marry al-Musta'li and later for his daughter to marry al-Amir, hoping in this way to merge his family with that of the caliphs. He also attempted to secure the succession of his son to the vizierate as well, but this ultimately failed.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: During al-Afdal's tenure (1094–1121) the Fatimids faced their greatest external threat yet: the First Crusade, which captured Antioch in 1098 and then captured Jerusalem in 1099. The Crusaders overran much of the coastal Levant, with Tripoli, Beirut, and Sidon falling to them between 1109 and 1110. The Fatimids retained Tyre, Ascalon, and Gaza with the help of their fleet. After 1107, a new rising star rose through the ranks of the regime in the form of Muḥammad ʿAlī bin Fatik, better known as Ibn al-Baṭā'iḥī. He managed to carry out various administrative reforms and infrastructural projects during in the later years of al-Afdal's term, including the construction of an astronomical observatory in 1119. Al-Afdal's was assassinated in 1121, an act blamed on the Nizaris or Assassins, though the truth of this is unconfirmed.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Ibn al-Baṭā'iḥī took al-Afdal's place as vizier, but unlike his predecessors he had less support in the army and was ultimately reliant on the caliph for power. In 1124 he lost Tyre to the Crusaders. He was also responsible for constructing a small but notable mosque in Cairo, the Al-Aqmar Mosque, which was completed in 1125 and has largely survived to the present day. That same year, however, Caliph al-Amir had him arrested, probably due to his failure to resist the Crusaders or due to the caliph's resentment of his wealth and power. Three years later he was executed. Al-Amir then ruled the Caliphate personally, briefly interrupting the long period of "de facto" rule by the caliph's viziers. Al-Amir himself was assassinated in 1130, probably by the Nizari Assassins.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Al-Amir apparently had a son born shortly before his death, known as al-Ṭayyib. One of Al-Amir's cousins (a grandson of al-Mustansir), 'Abd al-Majid, had himself appointed regent. Under pressure from the army, one of al-Afdal's sons, Abu 'Ali Ahmad (known as Kutayfāt), was appointed vizier with titles similar to al-Adal and Badr al-Jamali. Kutayfāt attempted to depose the Fatimid dynasty by imprisoning 'Abd al-Majid and by declaring himself to be the representative of Muhammad al-Muntazar, the "hidden" Imam awaited by Twelver Shi'as. The coup did not last long, as Kutayfāt was assassinated in 1131 by al-Amir's followers in the Fatimid establishment. 'Abd al-Majid was released and resumed his role as regent. In 1132, however, he declared himself to be the new Imam-Caliph, taking the title of al-Hafiz, sidelining the infant al-Ṭayyib and breaking with the tradition of the succession passing directly from father to son. Most of the Fatimid lands acknowledged his succession, but the Sulayhids in Yemen did not and broke away from the Caliphate in Cairo, recognizing al-Ṭayyib as the true Imam. This caused another schism between the Hafizi and Tayyibi branches of the Musta'li Isma'ilis.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In 1135 al-Hafiz was pressured by the Fatimid Armenian troops into appointing Bahram, a Christian Armenian, to the office of vizier. Opposition from Muslim troops forced him to leave in 1137, when Ridwan, a Sunni Muslim, was appointed vizier. When Ridwan began to plot the deposition of al-Hafiz, he was expelled from Cairo and later defeated in battle. He accepted a pardon from the caliph and remained at the palace. Al-Hafiz chose not to appoint another vizier, and instead took direct control of the state until his death in 1149. During this time, the fervor of the Isma'ili religious cause in Egypt had significantly faded, and political challenges to the caliph became more common. Sunni Muslims were also increasingly appointed to high posts. The Fatimid dynasty largely continued to survive due to the established common interests that many factions and elites had in maintaining the current system of government.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Al-Hafiz was the last Fatimid caliph to rule directly and the last one to ascend to the throne as an adult. The last three caliphs, al-Zafir (r. 1149–1154), al-Fa'iz (r. 1154–1160), and al-'Adid (r. 1160–1171), were all children when they came to the throne. Under al-Zafir, an elderly Berber named Ibn Masal was initially vizier, per the instructions left by Al-Hafiz. The army, however, supported a Sunni named Ibn Sallar instead, whose supporters managed to defeat and kill Ibn Masal in battle. After negotiating with the women of the palace, Ibn Sallar was installed as vizier in 1150. In January 1153, the Crusader king Baldwin III of Jerusalem besieged Ascalon, the last remaining Fatimid foothold in the Levant. In April, Ibn Sallar was murdered in a plot organized by 'Abbas, his stepson, and 'Abbas's son, Nasr. As no relieving force arrived, Ascalon surrendered in August, on the condition that the inhabitants could leave safely for Egypt. It was on this occasion that the head of Husayn was allegedly brought from Ascalon to Cairo, where it was housed in what is now the al-Hussein Mosque. The next year (1154), Nasr murdered al-Zafir, and 'Abbas, now vizier, declared his 5-year-old son 'Isa (al-Fa'iz) the new caliph. The women of the palace intervened, calling on Ṭalā'i' ibn Ruzzīk, a Muslim Armenian governor in Upper Egypt, to help. Tala'i drove out 'Abbas and Nasr from Cairo and became vizier that same year. Afterwards he also conducted renewed operations against the Crusaders, but he could do little more than harass them by sea. Al-Fa'iz died in 1160 and Tala'i was assassinated in 1161 by Sitt al-Qusur, a sister of al-Zafir. Tala'i's son, Ruzzīk ibn Ṭalā'i', held the office of vizier until 1163, when he was overthrown and killed by Shawar, the governor of Qus.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: As vizier, Shawar came into conflict with his rival, the Arab general Dirgham. The internal disorder of the Caliphate attracted the attention and meddling of the Sunni Zengid ruler Nūr ad-Dīn, who was now in control of Damascus and a large part of Syria, and of the King of Jerusalem, Amalric I. The Crusaders had already forced Tala'i ibn Ruzzik to pay them a tribute in 1161 and had made an attempt to invade Egypt in 1162. When Shawar was driven out of Cairo by Dirgham in 1163, he sought refuge and help with Nur al-Din. Nur al-Din sent his general, Asad al-Din Shirkuh, to seize Egypt and reinstall Shawar as vizier. The accomplished this task in the summer of 1164, when Dirgham was defeated and killed.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Shawar's remaining years continued in chaos as he made shifting alliances with either the King of Jerusalem or with Nur al-Din, depending on circumstances. In 1167 the Crusaders pursued Shirkuh's forces in to Upper Egypt. In 1168 Shawar, worried about the possible Crusader capture of Cairo, infamously set fire to Fustat in an attempt to deny the Crusaders a base from which to besiege the capital. After forcing the Crusaders to leave Egypt again, Shirkuh finally had Shawar murdered in 1169, with the agreement of Caliph al-'Adid. Shirkuh himself was appointed as al-'Adid's vizier, but he died unexpectedly two months later. The position passed to his nephew, Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (known in the West as Saladin). Salah ad-Din was openly pro-Sunni and suppressed the Shi'a call to prayer, ended the Isma'ili doctrinal lectures (the "majālis al-ḥikma"), and installed Sunni judges. He finally and officially deposed al-'Adid, the last Fatimid caliph, in September 1171. This ended the Fatimid dynasty and began the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt and Syria.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: The Fatimid caliphs were buried in a mausoleum known as "Turbat az-Za'faraan" ("the Saffron Tomb"), located at the southern end of the eastern Fatimid palace in Cairo on the site now occupied by the Khan el-Khalili market. The remains of the early Fatimid caliphs in Ifriqiya were also transferred here when al-Mu'izz moved his capital to Cairo. However, the mausoleum was completely demolished by the Mamluk amir Jaharkas al-Khalili in 1385 to make way for the construction of a new merchant building (which gave its name to the present-day market). During the demolition, Jaharkas reportedly desecrated the bones of the Fatimid royal family by having them dumped into the rubbish hills east of the city.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Fatimid society was highly pluralistic. Isma'ili Shi'ism was the religion of the state and the caliph's court, but most of the population followed different religions or denominations. Most of the Muslim population remained Sunni, and a large part of the population remained Christian. Jews were a smaller minority. As in other Islamic societies of the time, non-Muslims were classified as "dhimmi"s, a term which implied both certain restrictions and certain liberties, though the practical circumstances of this status varied from context to context. Scholars generally agree that, on the whole, Fatimid rule was highly tolerant and inclusive towards different religious communities. Unlike western European governments of the era, advancement in Fatimid state offices was more meritocratic than hereditary. Members of other branches of Islam, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites. Tolerance was extended to non-Muslims, such as Christians and Jews, who occupied high levels in government based on ability, and this policy of tolerance ensured the flow of money from non-Muslims in order to finance the Caliphs' large army of Mamluks brought in from Circassia by Genoese merchants.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: There were exceptions to this general attitude of tolerance, however, most notably by Al-Hakim, though this has been highly debated, with Al-Hakim's reputation among medieval Muslim historians conflated with his role in the Druze faith. Christians in general and Copts in particular were persecuted by Al-Hakim; the persecution of the Christians included closing and demolishing churches and forced conversion to Islam. With the succession of Caliph al-Zahir, the Druze faced a mass persecution, which included large massacres against the Druze in Antioch, Aleppo, and other cities.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: It's unclear what number or percentage of the population inside the caliphate were actually Isma'ilis, but they always remained a minority. Historical chronicles report large numbers of enthusiastic converts in Egypt during the reign of al-'Aziz, but this trend dropped significantly around the middle of al-Hakim's reign. The Fatimid state promoted Isma'ili doctrine (the "da'wa") through a hierarchical organization. The Imam-Caliph, as successor to the Prophet Muhammad, was both the political and religious leader. Below the Imam-Caliph, the top of this hierarchy was headed by the "dā'ī l-du'āt" or "supreme missionary". Newcomers to the doctrine were initiated by attending the "majālis al-ḥikma" ("Sessions of Wisdom"), lectures and lessons that were delivered in a special hall inside the palaces of Cairo. The doctrine was kept secret from those who were not initiated. Additionally, Isma'ili doctrines were disseminated through the lectures hosted at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, which became an intellectual center hosting teachers and students. Beyond the borders of the Fatimid Caliphate, recruitment to the "da'wa" continued to be performed in secret as it had been before the caliphate's establishment, though the many missionaries maintained contact with the leadership in Ifriqiya or Egypt. Some of the "da'i"s (missionaries) abroad sometimes came to Cairo and became important figures in the state, as with the example of al-Kirmani during al-Hakim's reign.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: Isma'ili unity was weakened over time by several schisms after the establishment of the caliphate (in addition to the Qarmatian schism before its establishment). The Druze, who believed in the divinity of Caliph al-Hakim, were suppressed in Egypt and elsewhere, but eventually found a home in the region of Mount Lebanon. After the death of Caliph al-Mustansir, a succession crisis resulted in the breakaway of the Nizaris, who supported the claim of his oldest son Nizar, as opposed to the Musta'lis who supported the successful enthronement of al-Musta'li. The Nizaris were also suppressed inside the Caliphate's borders, but continued to be active outside it, mostly in Iran, Iraq, and parts of Syria. After the death of Caliph al-Amir, al-Hafiz, his cousin, successfully claimed the title of Imam-Caliph at the expense of al-Amir's infant son, al-Tayyib. Those who recognized al-Hafiz in Cairo were known as the al-Hafizi branch, but those who opposed this unusual succession and supported the succession of al-Tayyib were known as the al-Tayyibi branch. This particular schism resulted in the loss of Fatimid support in Yemen.


title: Fatimid Caliphate

text: In Ifriqiya, the Sunni Muslims of the cities largely followed the Maliki school or "madhhab". The Maliki school had become predominant here during the eighth century at the expense of the Hanafi school, which had generally been favoured by the Aghlabids. In Egypt, the majority of Muslims were Sunni and remained so throughout the Fatimid period. Cognizant of this, the Fatimid authorities introduced Shi'a changes to religious rituals only gradually after Jawhar's conquest. It was also in this era that the followers of the Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Maliki schools were beginning to think of themselves collectively, to one extent or another, as Sunni, which undermined the universalism that the Shi'a Isma'ilis promoted. Some Shi'as, including some Hasanid and Husaynid families, were also present in Egypt and welcomed the Fatimids as fellow Shi'as or as blood relatives, but without necessarily converting to Isma'ilism. Many non-Isma'ili Muslims also accepted the Fatimid caliphs as having legitimate rights to lead the Muslim community but did not accept the more absolute Shi'a beliefs in the concept of the Imamate.