Editing Fatimid dynasty (section)

===Establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate===
In the meantime, in Ifriqiya, the {{transliteration|ar|da'i}} Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i had managed to convert the [[Berbers|Berber]] tribe of the [[Kutama]] to the Isma'ili cause. From 902 on, the Kutama had gradually conquered the region from its Abbasid clients, the [[Aghlabids]]. On 25 March 909, Abu Abdallah and his Kutama entered the Aghlabid palace city of [[Raqqada]] in triumph.{{sfn|Halm|2014}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=126–127}} The {{transliteration|ar|da'i}} proclaimed a Shi'a regime, but kept the name of his master secret as yet, only using the title {{transliteration|ar|hujjat Allah}}, 'God's proof'; and soon set out westward, at the head of a large army, to bring his imam to Ifriqiya.{{sfn|Halm|2014}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=127}} The Kutama army destroyed the Kharijite [[Rustamid]] emirate on its way, and arrived at Sijilmasa in August 909. There Abdallah was acclaimed caliph by the troops.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=127–128}} On 4 January 910, Abdallah entered Raqqada, where he publicly proclaimed himself caliph with the [[laqab|regnal title]] of {{transliteration|ar|al-imam al-mahdi bi'llah}}, 'the imam rightly guided by God'.{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=128}}

The first crisis of the new regime occurred quickly. Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i and his brother demanded proof of Abdallah being the {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}}, or resented the limitations on their authority placed by the new ruler. Al-Mahdi Billah was able to eliminate them in 911, but this led to a Kutama revolt, led by a child {{transliteration|ar|mahdi}} as a figurehead. The uprising was defeated, and the Fatimid control over the Kutama consolidated.{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=852}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|p=141}} Nevertheless, Fatimid power remained fragile, as it was based almost exclusively on the—often truculent—Kutama, and later the [[Sanhaja]] tribe as well.{{sfn|Halm|2014}} Conversely, the local Arabs of Ifriqiya were [[Maliki]] Sunnis, while most Berber tribes further west—notably the [[Zenata]] confederation—adhered to various forms of [[Kharijism]], and thus opposed to the Isma'ili regime of the Fatimids.{{sfn|Canard|1965|p=852}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=141–142}}