Fatimid Conquest of Egypt and Founding of Cairo
- Date
- 969 CE
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Egypt
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
In 969 CE the Ismaili Shia Fatimid Caliphate, based in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia), conquered Egypt under the general Jawhar al-Siqilli, acting on behalf of Caliph al-Muizz li-Din Allah.
Setting out from Raqqada in February 969, Jawhar's army overcame the weakened Ikhshidid dynasty, which had governed Egypt autonomously in the name of the Sunni Abbasid Caliphate, and the conquest was confirmed when the Friday prayer was read in al-Muizz's name at Fustat in July 969. At the site of his army's encampment north of Fustat, Jawhar laid out a new fortified palace city, named al-Qahira ('the Vanquisher'), which became Cairo. Construction of the al-Azhar Mosque began in 970, founding an institution that grew into one of the world's oldest centres of learning. When al-Muizz transferred his court to the new capital in 973, the Fatimids made Cairo the seat of a caliphate that would dominate the eastern Mediterranean and rival Baghdad for two centuries.
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Empires active in 969 CE
- Abbasid Caliphate750 CE – 1258 CE
- Samanid Empire819 CE – 999 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Song Dynasty960 CE – 1279 CE
- Kanem-Bornu Empire700 CE – 1900 CE
- Srivijaya650 CE – 1288 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Battle of Bach Dang ends Chinese rule over VietnamDecember 938 CE
- Battle of Manzikert Opens Anatolia to the Turks26 August 1071
- Battle of Lechfeld ends Magyar raids on the West10–12 August 955 CE
- Alfred the Great's victory at Edington and the Danelaw878 CE
- The An Lushan Rebellion devastates Tang China755–763 CE
- The Norman Conquest of England (Battle of Hastings)14 October 1066
Further reading
The wider story
The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages
Sets Kanem-Bornu within the wider medieval African world.
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