Yacov Lev. State and Society in Fatimid Egypt,
E. J. Brill. Leiden. 1991
CHAPTER FOUR:
THE RULING CIRCLES
a) The Fatimid Royal Family
The Fatimid royal family amassed immense wealth and held
vast properties. Special administrative organs dealt with the
management of the private property of the imam and other
members of the family. These were the diwan al-khass -- the
office of the Private Purse -- and the khizana al-khass -- imam's
Private Treasury. Offices of a similar nature, known under the
names of other members of the royal family, are also mentioned in the sources. Data
on the magnitude as well as the
composition of the properties owned by the Fatimids can be
gleaned from the sources. The best starting-point is the description of the Persian
Fatimid sympathizer, Nasir-i Khusrau,
who visited Egypt between August 1047 and April 1048. He says
that all the shops in Cairo [according to him there were
20,000) belonged to the imam, and the rent per month varied
between two and ten dinars. The caravanserais and the bathhouses in Cairo also
belonged to the imam. Other urban properties owned by him included 8,000 buildings
in both Cairo
and Fustat which were rented on a monthly basis. The concentration of urban
properties in Cairo, the city founded by
the Fatimids for themselves, is not surprising. The first market
in Cairo was built in 365/975-6; the first bathhouses were built
by al-'Aziz, and others by his daughter Sitt al-Mulk. However,
by the time of al-Hakim, the Fatimid imam already had
properties in Fustat as well. This is clearly born out by the text of Azhar's endowment
document preserved by Maqrizi. The composition of the urban properties of the imam
[riba' sultaniyya] diversified with the time. On the occasion of Ramadan 517/October, a
decree was issued: it stated
that from that date onward the tenants on riba' sultaniyya would
enjoy a reduction in their rent during Ramadan. Under the
heading of riba' sultaniyya, various types of business were
mentioned, among them were: houses, bathhouses, shops, oil
presses, mills and wedding halls. The decree reveals details
about urban business not mentioned by other sources. The
existance of oil presses in rural areas is referred to in a
different context, but not attested to otherwise for the capital.
The oil presses in rural areas, in contrast with those in contrast with those in the
capital, were privately owned y iqta'-holders.
According to Nasir-i Khusrau, agricultural properties of the
imam extended along the Cairo Canal, Khalij. The rural
properties of the imams were not limited to Cairo. Muslim
rulers of Egypt, prior to the Fatimid period, owned many properties in the country.
Muhammad ibn Tughj, for example, possessed many estates and these were
undoubtedly seized by the
Fatimids. As a minor example of this largely unrecorded process, one can cite the
history of Kafur's orchard along the
Khalij which became a Fatimid property. The Fatimids owned
two other extensive orchards in the capital which were valuable, financially, as they
yielded large revenues. The most
important rural properties were outside the capital, spread all over Egypt. In 390/1000,
Sitt al-Mulk received many iqta'at or land grants whose annual income was 100,000
dinars. These properties included estates in Upper and Lower Egypt, houses
and orchards. Also income from customs duties (rusum) was
allocated to her as a part of the iqta'. Other women of the
Fatimid royal family also derived high incomes from holding
iqta'at.
Another source of income for the imams, and other
members of the family, was trade. Musabbihi, in the annals of
Rabi' II 415/June-July 1024, reports the sinking of seven ships
which had left Alexandria for Maghreb. These ships were
engaged in trade on the behalf of the imam. Ships of the imam
sailed on trading ventures from other ports as well. Nasir-i
Khusrau, on his way to Egypt, visited two Mediterranean ports:
Tripoli in Lebanon, and Tunis, on the shore of the Sinai
Peninsula. In both ports he saw ships of the imam, those in
Tripoli were engaged in trade with Byzantium, Sicily and North
Africa. Both port towns generated vast incomes for the regime
from customs duties. In Tripoli, for example, these revenues
covered the expenses of the Fatimid garrison in the city. Thus
the importance of those towns was twofold as sources of
revenues levied from merchants, and as a base for the private
commercial enterprises of the imam and other members of the
ruling circles.
I
In general there is little information on women in Arabic
medieval chronicles. Among the various classes of Muslim
medieval women the most referred to in the chronicles are
those of the ruling class. This state of affairs is a direct reflection of the character of our
sources. Most of the historians were
people of the upper classes many of whom had access to the
ruling elite. The above remarks also apply to the Fatimid period. This onesideness of
our sources is offset by the relative fullness of the data.
Two characteristic traist of women of the royal family are discernible: 1) they were
wealthy, some of them immensely rich;
2) some of these women played an important political role in
Fatimid history. The work of the eleventh century cadi, Ibn al-
Zubayr, entitled Book of Gifts and Treasure,s supplies much information on our topic.
Two daughters of al-Mu'izz, Rashida
and 'Abda, who died in 442/1050-1 at the age of ninety, left
fabulous riches. The estate of Rashida reached the tune of
1,700,000 million of dinars, and that of her sister was no less
valuable. These were certainly exceptional cases. UndoubtedIy, more characteristic
was the far more modest, nevertheless
impressive, estate left by Sitt Misr, the daughter of al-Hakim,
who died in 455/1063. The most remarkable piece of information is that describing the
slave girl of the emir 'Abd Allah,
al-Mu'izz's son. Her estate was worth 400,000 dinars. As a member of the royal family,
the funeral prayers were conducted by
the chief Fatimid propagandist, Qasim ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz of the
Nu'man family. The fact that women of the royal family were
wealthy was not a secret. During the crisis of 1024 Abu 'l-Qasim
al-Jarjara'l pointed to al-Hakim's mother and his aunt as potential sources for obtaining
the funds needed for the state. No
one of the administrators dared to take action in that direction.
These data, impressive as they may be, form only part of the
picture. Our source sheds light on how these riches could have
been gained. As members of the royal family women were entitled to tap the wealth of
the country. Both al-Hakim's sister,
Sitt al-Mulk, and his daughter, Sitt Misr, were recipients of
iqta'. Sitt al-Mulk had wide-spread economic interests in Egypt
and in Syria, and maintained a large administrative manpower.
The obituary notices by Musabbihi provide information on people in her service. Her
personnel included both men and women. Abu l-'Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Maghribi, for
example, served as Sitt al-Mulk's agent. He was a man of laudable
character who had already served Sitt al-Mulk's mother in the
same capacity. Sitt al-Mulk also employed a slave girl of her
mother. This slave girl, named Takarrub, was Sitt al-Mulk's
confidante. She served as Sitt al-Mulk's informant, and handled
the petitions submitted to her lady. Takarrub died as a wealthy
Woman .
For women of the Fatimid family of the twelfth century, the
information is less abundant but points in the same direction.
In the 1150's, Sitt al-Qusur was twice involved in conspiracies
against military dictators who endangered the Fatimid dynasty.
She spent 50,000 dinars on these plots. She must have been a
wealthy woman familiar with state affairs no less than Sitt al-
Mulk and Sawida Rasad.
b) Administrators and Viziers.
Next to the army, the administration was the largest state apparatus. The offices
mentioned in the sources can be classified
into three groups: 1) those which operated on a functional
basis and dealt with specific matters such as taxation and correspondence of the state;
2) those which dealt with certain geographical areas; and 3) those which dealt with the
affairs of various social groups, mostly the military. In the administrative
structure there were built-in checks. Some controllers were
attached to the offices and others were sent to the provinces.
If one includes all levels of the administration, then it can be
estimated that at least several thousand people must have been
employed. The bast majority of these would not qualify for the designation of "ruling
circles", although they were a privileged group in terms of income, power -- wielding
authority vis-a-vis the subjects -- and status. But they were not policy makers, and
had no influence over the decisions of the imam.
Among the administrators only a tiny group of people belonged to the so-called "ruling
circles". In this group the most
important were the civilian viziers, and the heads of administrative offices. The imam
and other members of the Fatimid family, and the upper crest of administrative
personnel shared
many common traits. The administrators wielded wide-rangeing
executive powers and, in wealth and life-style, were second only
to the imams themselves. The most notable case was the vizir
Ya'qub ibn Killis. He was virtually the sole person responsible
for state affairs, and his authority extended over the whole
Fatimid territories. His house (later known as dar al dabij) was
a huge complex from which he ran state business. The petitioners, for example,
submitted their cases to the vizier in his]
house. Ibn Killis's house became an official residence -- a seat;
of the government. Ibn Killis's wealth was fabulous, and his
extravagant life-style did not fall behind that of al-'Aziz. Like
the Fatimid imam, Ibn Killis was a sponser of cultural activity
and was a patron of learned men. Ibn Killis, like al-Ma'mun
al-Bata'ihi later, was a recipient of extensive iqta'a-t which
yielded large incomes. These grants of iqta' were in additition to
other incomes that both Ibn Killis and al-Ma'mun received
from the imam for their services. In accordance with a practice widespread in the ruling
circles, Ibn Killis, as a private person, was engaged in trade.
Ibn Killis's successor, Ibn 'Ammar, was a man of a far inferior
position. Although he resided in a palace in Cairo and owned a
house with stables in Fustat, his earnings were modest in
comparison with those of his predecessor. In many ways Ibn Ammar was not a typical
example. Far more typical of the great civilizn viziers was al-Yazuri. He used Ibn
Killis's house as his official residence. In his life-style, and in the patronage he
conferred on learned men and charitable acts, al-Yazuri did not
lag behind Ibn Killis.
Like the imams and other members of the royal family, the
viziers built religious monuments; they were also entrepreneurs, investing in
commercial buildings. Ibn Killis was influential in shaping the particular Isma'ili
character of Azhar
mosque as an institution for the dissemintation of Isma'ili
learning. Among the religious monuments, erected on the
orders of the viziers, the most renowned is the Aqmar mosque
in Cairo built by al-Ma'mun. The mosque has a distinquished
Isma'ili contents. Al-Ma'mun also carried out the restoration
of mausolea. Such activities were in line with the deeds of
other viziers who built mosques in the capital. Building for
commercial purposes was no less extensive. Badr al-Jamali, who
rebuilt and repopulated Cairo, did not miss the commercial
opportunities which occurred in the process of the economic
reinvigoration of the town. In the Barjawan quarter, where he
built his residence, Badr established a new market. Al-
Ma'mun followed his steps; in Cairo, he built a dar al[wakala for
merchants from Syria and Iraq. The viziers, like the imams
and women of the royal family, in their building activities left a permanent imprint on the
physical landscape of the capital.
In contrast with the military dictators of the twelfth century
who wielded the sanction of brute force, the relationships between the civilian viziers
and the imams were unequally
balanced. The extent of the executive powers concentrated in
the hands of the civilian viziers, and their personal aaggrandizement aroused the
suspicious of the imams who did not hesitate to oust and, occasionally, to kill their
civilian viziers. Even
the most impressive record of achievements was no guarantee
for survival.
Powerful and influential as Ibn Killis was, his dependency on
the imam was absolute. Two events of his career exemplify this
point: the sudden arrest and, shortly afterwards, the release of
Ibn Killis by al-'-Aziz, and the confiscation of most of his inheritance. The notion of the
sanctity of personal property is a
modern one. In medieval Islam, despite elaborate rules of
inheritance, people in the service of the state were subject to
confiscation of their properties upon their death or falling out
of favour. Al-'Aziz's deed reflected a concept which maintained
that property accumulated in the service of the state belonged
to the sovereign whose favour had been instrumental in its
attaining. The extreme manifestation of this way of thinking is
reflected by an event related in Musabbihi's chronicle. When
the wife of Jawhar's grandson died, leaving a large inheritance,
an attempt was made to seize a third of it for the government.
The deed was justified on the grounds that Jawhar, the founder
of the family, had been a slave of the Fatimids. One of those
who had taken part in these events, the Treasurer, was later himself a victim of the
concept that servants of the state do not enjoy full legal rights over their property. For
the civilian administrators of the state, it was dim propsect adding to the
general precariousness of their position.
The administrators attempted to combat the precariousness
of their position by creating a network of personal ties through
the administrative apparatus. The wider these ties were spread
the better were the chances of survival. The employment of
members of the family in the administration, such as father and
sons or several brothers, was very common. This practice was to
be found at all levels of the administration. But the creation
of a family network was not sufficient. Among the administrators, as among the military,
the system of patronage was widely
used. Through this system, a person (depending on his social
standing) was able to attach to himself, or attach himself, to
people who were beyond the narrow limits of his immediate
family. The most notable example was the vizier al-Yazuri. He
owed his career to his determination and the ability to find
advocates who pleaded on his behalf before al-Mustansir's
mother. There was no-one in a better position than al-Yazuri
to appreciate the value of patronage and to make use of the system to his best
advantage. It was said of al-Yazuri: "that when he
conferred on somebody patronage he raised him to to what was
beyond one's expectations". Examples of al-Yazuri's use of
patronage are recorded by the historians of the period. In
one instance al-Yazuri seriously misjudged the person on whom
he had conferred patronage. Abu 'l-Farj 'Abd Allah ibn
Muhammad al-Babli, a recipient of al-Yazuri's favours, betrayed
his patron by becoming his successor in the post of vizier. Al-
Ma'mun, one of the great Fatimid civilian viziers, owed the beginning of his career to
another case of a patron-client relationship which went wrong. Al-Ma'mun was fully
aware of the
importance of human relations, and the need of the ruler to be
attentive to the necessities of people in his service. He is
characterized as showing great interest in the affairs of common people and simple
soldiers. However, al-Ma'mun's relationships with the imam went astray which led to
his abrupt downfall and execution. Patronage conferred by the imams
upon administrators was far more restricted than upon the
military. Only a few such cases are recorded.
c) Slaves and Eunuchs.
Slaves of Fatimid imams, among them notably white and black
eunuchs, rose to important positions in the state becomng byi
any definition part of the ruling circles. White eunuchs --
Saqaliba i.e. Slavs -- had already been eminent at the Fatimid
court in Tunisia. Spain was the main source of supply of
Saqaliba eunuchs, and the Fatimid practice of employing them
was in line with Aghlabid heritage. The most important
eunuch, during the North African period of the Fatimid imamate, was Jawdhar who was
entrusted with an extensive range
of authority. Other Saqaliba were commanders of naval and
land forces. Al-Mu'izz's instructor in the art of writing was a
Saqlabi eunuch, and another Saqlabi was his sahib al-sitr (the
bearer of the veil behind which the ruler spoke to the people);
he carried out delicate diplomatic missions to the chiefs of the
Kutama Berbers. In 362/973, with the transfer of the Fatimid
imamate to Egypt, the Saqaliba arrived with al-Mu'izz. In Egypt,
al-Mu'izz's sahib al-mizalla (the bearer of the ceremonial
parasol) was a Saqlabi eunuch.
Al-'Aziz kept a large number (10,000 it is said) of slave girls and eunuchs who always
surrounded him. The power which eunuchs could attain is exemplified by Barjawan. At
the beginning of al-Hakim's reign, Barjawan ruled the state as a vizier of
second rank for almost three years. His ability to assume power
was a result of the solidification of his position during al-'Az1z's
rule. Barjawan had been brought up at the court and fostered
by al-'Aziz who made him responsible for his harem and
palaces. The entrusting of the eunuchs with all sorts of
assignments was a natural consequence of the day-to-day contacts between them and
the ruler. In terms of wealth and
power, Barjawan was typical of the top echelon of the ruling
circles. A quarter in Cairo was named after him; apparently his
residence was situated there. Barjawan had large stables and his
inheritance included a great quantity of textiles, many books
and some 30,000 dinars in cash.
None of the other eunuchs in Fatimid Egypt reached the
pinnacle of power as did Barjawan. Far more typical and
common was the case of the black eunuch Mi'dad. He began
his career in the service of Sitt al-Mulk who employed him as
ustadh of the young al-Zahir. An important turning point in
Mi'dad 's career was Friday, 18 Safar 415/1 May 1024, when al-
Zahir bestowed on him honorific titles and named him Abu 'l-
Fawaris. From another passage of Musabbihi it seems that
Mi'dad received other titles as well. Mi'dad belonged to the
highest-ranking group of eunuchs -- the muhannak -- i.e. that
the turban they wore passed under their chin. According to a
long official decree (sijji), read publicly in the palace, Mi'dad
was entrusted with the management of the affairs of the soldiers (rijal and protecting
the provinces. The event was celebrated in pomp. Among the administrative
responsibilities of
Mi'dad was the headship of the Office of the Kutama. He was
among the small group of administrators and courtiers who took the reins of power into
their hands preventing al-Zahir from running the affairs of the state. In the
circumstances of the year 1024, the execution of the duties entrusted to Mi'dad
was a most demanding task. Because of a severe famine, the
army was unpaid, starving and rioting. These difficulties
brought Mi'dad into clashes with other people at the court --
the commander of the troops in the provinces and the market
supervisor in the capital; they accused him of too lenient conduct towards the troops
engaged in looting. However, when
the riots reached the capital, Mi'dad took steps to protect
Fustat and the civilian population from the soldiers who went
on the rampage.
The administrative assignment of Mi'dad as the head of the
Office of the Kutama was atypical of the posts designated to the
eunuchs such posts usually being of an executive nature.
(Although under al-Hakim, for short periods, some eunuchs
served in administrative posts.) Many of the Fatimid expeditionary forces in Palestine
and Syria were commanded by
eunuchs. Eunuchs were frequently appointed as governors of
towns and provinces. The two most important executive posts
in the capital -- the chief of police and the supervisor of the
markets -- were on many occasions held by eunuchs. These
officials had at their discretion the most sensitive aspects of city
life; suppression of crime and commerce, including the supply
of wheat and bread. Other eunuchs, serving as generals and
governors, also wielded wide powers in spheres of vital
importance for the state. As with other people in ruling circles,
some eunuchs attained great wealth. In Cairo there were quarters and lanes known
under the names of certain eunuchs testifying to the extent of their households and the
size of
houses. The most notable case was of Sayf al-Dawla Nadir al-Saqlabl (who died on 12
Safar 382/14 April 992) after whom
one of the lanes was named. He left 300,000 dinars in cash and
property worth 80,000 dinars, including horses and slaves. Of
Mi'dad's wealth we know less; he owned a large number of horses and sheep. He was
not exceptional in investing in livestock; others -- a qadi, a top-ranking administrator,
and less famous persons among the Kutama -- did the same. Their livestock were kept
in Jiza, the area of Nile west bank opposite the
capital. Eunuchs in accordance with the practice of other
people in the ruling circles sponsered the building of mosques,
even Congregational ones.
Were the eunuchs, as slaves or freedmen, at any disadvantage
in comparison with free-born people who belonged to the ruling circles ? The rationale
behind the institution of slavery and
the advancement of eunuchs to high positions suggests a negative answer. The ruler
turned to his slaves and eunuchs in
expectation of loyalty and exemplary service. The dependency
of the slave on his master, his estrangement from society (the
eunuchs were an extreme example) made them instrumental
in achieving those goals. In order to faciliate the functioning of
slaves and eunuchs in a society of free born people, any manifestations of contempt
toward them, because of their servile status, should have been suppressed. The same
applies in respect to racial prejudice against blacks. These points are nicely
illustrated in al-Zahir's decree announcing the titles bestowed
on Mi'dad and the duties vested to him. The favours conferred
on Mi'dad were explained as rewards for loyal service. The
decree and the pompous ceremony of its reading aimed at
faciliating Mi'dad's entrance into the ruling circles as al-Zahir's
trusted man.
There were two other aspects which also contributed towards
the acceptance of slaves and eunuchs in the corridors of power.
The first was economic: the supply of eunuchs, white and black,
was not abundant, and they were expensive. Their high price
explains why eunuchs were included in gifts exchanged by
rulers of the period. Thus, we should not be misled into
thinking that eunuchs were among the ruling circles in great numbers. The eunuchs
were conspicuous, attracting the attention of the historians, but they neither dominated
the ruling circles nor constituted a majority. In the multi-ethnic composition of the ruling
establishment, eunuchs and blacks, were yet
other social group. The people of the ruling circles themselves
used slaves, and to a lesser extent eunuchs, imitating the
example set by the ruler. People who themselves were of servile
status employed slaves.
The ease in which slaves and eunuchs moved in the court
and the ruling circles should not obscure the basically
inhumane features of slavery and castration. When convenient
the servile status could always be invoked. Following the killing
of Barjawan, al-Hakim addressed the people in the palace who
were in an apprehensive mood by saying: "Barjawan was my
slave and I employed him. He acted in good faith, and I treated
him favourably. Then he misbehaved, so I killed him". The
message conveyed by the speech was obvious: a slave is a slave,
and his killing a trifling affair of no concern for others. While
the punishment of a slave who misbehaved was death, the
reward for a slave who served loyally was manumission. Zaydan,
a Saqlabi eunuch of al-Hakim and the bearer of his parasol,
who had masterminded Barjawan's killing, was emancipated
and the title ustadh was bestowed on him. Typically of the
Muslim patterns of slavery, the emanicipation did not sever the
master from his freedman. Bonds of slavery became bonds of
patronage. Zaydan signed his letters as mawla amir al-
mu'minin -- the client of the Commander of the Believers.
Servile status and castration could be overlooked when convenient: slaves were
nevertheless despised. Mutanabbi's poetry
against Kafur and the remarks of the Fatimid propagandists on
him reflected, and echoed, popular feelings.
Source:
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection
of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
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Paul Halsall, May 2023
