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Al-Afdal Shahanshah, born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali, was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamed al-Malik al-Afdal, but this is not supported by contemporary sources.
Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn al-Mustanṣir, better known by his regnal name al-Mustaʿlī biʾllāh, was the ninth Fatimid caliph and the nineteenth imam of Musta'li Ismailism.
Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li, better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah was the tenth Fatimid caliph, ruling from 1101 to his death in 1130, and the 20th imam of the Musta'li Isma'ili branch of Shia Islam.
Abūʾl-Maymūn ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mustanṣir, better known by his regnal name as al-Ḥāfiẓ li-Dīn Allāh, was the eleventh Fatimid caliph, ruling over Egypt from 1132 to his death in 1149, and the 21st imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism.
Abūʾl-Qāsim al-Ṭayyib ibn al-Āmir was, according to the Tayyibi sect of Isma'ilism, the twenty-first imam. The only son of Caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah, al-Tayyib was an infant when his father was murdered. In the ensuing power struggle, al-Tayyib's fate is unknown: he may have died or been killed by one of the rival strongmen. By 1132, his uncle al-Hafiz declared himself as the caliph and imam in succession to al-Amir. This was not accepted by the Yemeni Isma'ilis, who upheld the rights of al-Tayyib.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and the twenty-fourth imam of the Hafizi Isma'ili branch of Shi'a Islam, reigning from 1160 to 1171.
Abūʾl-Qāsim ʿĪsā ibn al-Ẓāfir, better known by his regnal name al-Fāʾiz bi-Naṣr Allāh, was the thirteenth and penultimate Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1154 to 1160, and the 23rd imam of the Hafizi Ismaili branch of Shi'a Islam. Al-Fa'iz was raised to the throne at the age of five after the murder of his father by the vizier Abbas ibn Abi al-Futuh, and spent his entire life as a puppet of Abbas' successor, Tala'i ibn Ruzzik. Experiencing epileptic seizures, al-Fa'iz died from an episode at the age of eleven, and his nephew, al-Adid, the final Fatimid caliph, succeeded him.
Hafizi Isma'ilism was a branch of Musta'li Isma'ilism that emerged as a result of a split in 1132. The Hafizis accepted the Fatimid caliph Abd al-Majid al-Hafiz li-Din Allah and his successors as imams, while the rival Tayyibi branch rejected them as usurpers, favouring the succession of the imamate along the line of al-Hafiz's nephew, al-Tayyib.
Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh or al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh, was the twelfth Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1149 to 1154, and the 22nd imam of the Hafizi Ismaili sect.
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Fatak, better known as al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi, was a senior official of the Fatimid Caliphate in the early 12th century, during the reign of al-Amir. His origin is obscure, but his father had held high military office, and thus al-Bata'ihi belonged to the Fatimid Egyptian elite. In 1107, at the age of about 21, he was chosen as chief of staff of the all-powerful vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah. In this capacity al-Bata'ihi carried out a number of tax reforms which raised revenue and ensured the payment of the military. Al-Afdal was assassinated in 1121, officially by Nizari agents of the Order of Assassins, although both Caliph al-Amir and al-Bata'ihi are suspected to have been involved by some sources. Al-Amir appointed al-Bata'ihi to the vacant vizierate, establishing a partnership between caliph and vizier that brought the former once again into the public view, while retaining for the latter the de facto governance of the state. As vizier, al-Bata'ihi was noted for his ability, justice, and generosity. He celebrated lavish festivals, where al-Amir had the opportunity to play a central role, and commissioned several buildings, of which the most important and only surviving one is the Aqmar Mosque in Cairo. Al-Bata'ihi also hunted down Nizari agents and sympathizers; the al-Hidaya al-Amiriyya, issued in 1122, rebuffed Nizari claims and affirmed the legitimacy of Musta'li Isma'ilism. During his tenure, the Fatimids became more directly involved in Yemen, often ignoring their Sulayhid ally, Queen Arwa. In the Levant, attempts to take the offensive against the Crusaders failed, with the loss of Tyre and a naval defeat at the hands of the Venetian Crusade. These failures, coupled with al-Bata'ihi's power, led to his dismissal and imprisonment by al-Amir in 1125. He was then kept imprisoned until July 1128, when al-Amir ordered his execution. His son, Musa, wrote a biography that survives in fragments and is a key source for al-Bata'ihi's career.
The vizier was the senior minister of the Fatimid Caliphate for most of the Egyptian period of its existence. Originally it was held by civilian officials who acted as the chief civilian ministers of the caliphs, analogous to the original model established by the Abbasids. When a vizier was not appointed, an "intermediary" was designated instead. The enfeeblement of the caliph's power and the crisis of the Fatimid regime under Caliph al-Mustansir, however, led to the rise of military strongmen, who dominated the post from the 1070s until the caliphate's end. These "viziers of the sword" were also commanders-in-chief of the army who effectively sidelined the caliphs and ruled in their stead, often seizing power from their predecessors. The last vizier, Saladin, abolished the Fatimid Caliphate in 1171.
Abu'-Fatḥ Nāṣiral-Juyūsh Sayf al-Islām Sharaf al-Islām Yānis al-Rūmī al-Armanī al-Ḥāfiẓī, commonly simply known by his given name Yānis, was an Armenian military slave who served as vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate for nine months in 1131–1132.
Abū Shujāʿ Ruzzīk ibn Ṭalāʾiʿ was the son of the Twelver Shi'a Armenian vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate, Tala'i ibn Ruzzik, and succeeded his father when the latter was assassinated in September 1161. He was himself overthrown by the Bedouin military commander Shawar in early 1163 and executed in August 1163.
Sitt al-Qusur was a Fatimid princess, the daughter of Caliph al-Hafiz and the sister of Caliph al-Zafir.
Daoud ibn al-Adid, known by the regnal name of al-Ḥāmid liʾllāh among his followers, was the 25th imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism, and pretender to the Fatimid Caliphate.
Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd, known by the regnal name of Badr al-Dīn among the Isma'ili faithful, was the 26th and last imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism. Like his father, he spent most of his life in captivity at the hands of the Ayyubid government. He died apparently childless, thereby ending the line of Hafizi imams and of the Fatimid dynasty.
Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ was the oldest son of the eleventh Fatimid caliph and imam of Hafizi Isma'ilism, al-Hafiz. Designated as heir-apparent, he served as vizier for two months in 1134, before his death in office.
Sharaf al-Ma'ali Sama' al-Mulk al-Husayn ibn al-Afdal was a son of the Fatimid vizier and quasi-sultan, al-Afdal Shahanshah.
Abu Turab Haydara al-Mu'taman was a brother of the Fatimid vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi (1121–1125). Along with another brother, Ja'far, Haydara served as his brother's chief aide and deputy already during the latter's service as chief of staff to the all-powerful vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah, in 1107–1121. After al-Ma'mun's rise to the vizierate, Haydara was appointed governor of Alexandria. In this capacity he helped defeat an invasion of the Luwata Berbers in 1123, and in the same year fought off the raids of the Venetian fleet that took part in the Venetian Crusade. When al-Ma'mun was abruptly arrested by Caliph al-Amir on 3 October 1125, Haydara was also imprisoned along with several of his brother's associates and relatives. He died in prison before his brother's execution in July 1128.
Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Najib al-Dawla was a scholar who was sent as envoy of the Fatimid Caliphate to Yemen, directly intervening in local affairs of the allied Sulayhid dynasty, from 1119 until his recall in disgrace in 1125.
