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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.
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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.
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.
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Abū'l-Najm Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Jamālī al-Mustanṣirī, better known as Badr al-Jamali, was a vizier and prominent statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. His appointment to the vizierate in 1073 restored the fortunes of the Fatimid state, which had faced collapse in the previous decades, but also began a period where the vizierate was dominated by military strongmen who held power through their military strength, rather than through the Caliph's appointment. An Armenian Badr al-Jamali initiated a wave of Armenian migration into Egypt, and was the first of a series of viziers of Armenian origin, who played a major role in the fortunes of the Fatimid Caliphate over the subsequent century.
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Ridwan ibn Walakhshi was the vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate in 1137–1139, under Caliph al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. He was a Sunni military commander, who rose to high offices under caliphs al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah and al-Hafiz. He participated in the coup of Kutayfat, which in 1130–1131 briefly overthrew the Fatimid dynasty, serving as gaoler of the future caliph al-Hafiz. Under al-Hafiz he rose to the powerful position of chamberlain, and emerged as the leader of the Muslim opposition during the vizierate of the Christian Bahram al-Armani in 1135–1137, when he served as governor of Ascalon and the western Nile Delta.
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Sitt al-Qusur was a Fatimid princess, the daughter of Caliph al-Hafiz and the sister of Caliph al-Zafir.
Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas ibn Ahmad ibn al-Mahdi was a member of the Fatimid dynasty who was named heir-apparent by the caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1013. When al-Hakim was murdered in 1021, he was sidelined in favour of al-Hakim's son, Ali al-Zahir, arrested and imprisoned. He died in captivity, officially by his own hands, or assassinated by the real power behind al-Zahir's throne, the princess Sitt al-Mulk.
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.
The Mosque of the Elephant was a small mosque built in 1105 by the vizier, and de facto ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate, al-Afdal Shahanshah, on the southern outskirts of Cairo.
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.
References
- 1 2 Halm 2014, p. 139.
- ↑ Brett 2019, pp. 211–216.
- 1 2 Brett 2017, pp. 251–252.
- ↑ Halm 2014, pp. 140–146.
- ↑ Brett 2017, p. 257.