Editing Fatimid Caliphate (section)

==== Losses, successes, and civil war ====
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 li-i'zaz Din Allah|al-Zahir]]. She served as his regent until her death in 1023, at which point an alliance of courtiers and officials ruled, with [[Ali ibn Ahmad al-Jarjara'i|al-Jarjara'i]], a former finance official, at their head.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=157–60}}{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} Fatimid control in Syria was threatened during the 1020s. In Aleppo, Fatak, who had declared his independence, was killed and replaced in 1022, but this opened the way for a coalition of Bedouin chiefs from the Banu Kilab, Jarrahids, and [[Banu Kalb]] led by [[Salih ibn Mirdas]] to take the city in 1024 or 1025 and to begin imposing their control on the rest of Syria. Al-Jarjara'i sent [[Anushtakin al-Dizbari]], a Turkish commander, with a force that defeated them in 1029 at the [[Battle of Uqḥuwāna|Battle of Uqhuwana]] near Lake Tiberias.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=162–63}}{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} In 1030 the new Byzantine emperor [[Romanos III Argyros|Romanos III]] broke a truce to [[Battle of Azaz (1030)|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.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|p=173}}

[[File:Khalili Collection Islamic Art av 272.jpg|thumb|Fatimid [[gold dinar]] minted during the reign of [[al-Mustansir Billah]] (1036–1094)]]
Al-Zahir died in 1036 and was succeeded by his son, [[al-Mustansir Billah|al-Mustansir]], who 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.{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} He was seven years old at his accession and thus al-Jarjara'i continued to serve as vizier and his guardian. When al-Jarjara'i died in 1045 a series of court figures ran the government until [[Abu Muhammad al-Yazuri|al-Yazuri]], a [[Ulama|jurist]] of Palestinian origin, took and kept the office of vizier from 1050 to 1058.{{Sfn|Halm|2014}}

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 [[Banu Hilal]] invasions of North Africa.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|pp=68–69}}<ref name=":0" /> Fatimid suzerainty over Sicily also faded as the Muslim polity there fragmented and external attacks increased. By 1060, when the [[Italo-Norman]] [[Roger I of Sicily|Roger I]] began his conquest of the island (completed in 1091), the Kalbid dynasty, along with any Fatimid authority, were already gone.{{Sfn|Halm|2014}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maQxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0748696482 |location= |pages=33 |language=en |chapter=The Kalbids }}</ref>

There was more success in the east, however. In 1047, the Fatimid ''da'i'' [[Ali al-Sulayhi|Ali Muhammad al-Sulayhi]] in Yemen built a fortress and recruited tribes with which he was able to capture [[Sanaa|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 [[Zaydism|Zaydi]] Imam in [[Saada|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 [[Taiz|Ta'izz]], while the city of Aden became an important hub of trade between Egypt and [[Indian subcontinent|India]], which brought Egypt further wealth.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=183, 197–98}}{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} His rise to power established the [[Sulayhid dynasty]] which continued to rule Yemen as nominal vassals of the Fatimids after this.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maQxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102 |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780748696482 |location= |pages=102 |language=en |chapter=The Sulayhids}}</ref>

Events degenerated in Egypt and Syria, however. Starting in 1060, various local leaders began to break away or challenge Fatimid dominion in Syria.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=198–99}} 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 seven-year period of drought and famine known as the [[Mustansirite Hardship]].{{Sfn|Halm|2014}} Viziers came and went in a flurry, the bureaucracy broke down, and the caliph was unable or unwilling to assume responsibilities in their absence.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|p=199}} 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]], a scion of the Hamdanids of Aleppo, and Black African troops, while the Berbers shifted alliance between the two sides.{{sfn|Sanders|1998|p=155}}{{Sfn|Brett|2017|p=201}} The Turkish faction under Nasir al-Dawla seized partial control of Cairo but their leader was not given any official title. In 1067–1068, they plundered the state treasury and then looted any treasures they could find in the palaces.{{Sfn|Halm|2014}}{{Sfn|Brett|2017|p=202}} 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 [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]].{{Sfn|Brett|2017|pp=202–03}} 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.{{Sfn|Brett|2017|p=220}}