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History of Egypt

Classical antiquity

Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt

332–30 BC

Roman and Byzantine Egypt

30 BC–641 AD

Sasanian Egypt

619–629

Middle Ages

Arab Egypt

641–969

Fatimid Egypt

969–1171

Ayyubid Egypt

1171–1250

Mamluk Egypt

1250–1517

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Historical Arab states and dynasties

Arab Caliphate[show]

Rashidun 632–661

Umayyads 661–750

Abbasids 750–1258

Fatimids 909–1171

Mashriq dynasties[show]

Tulunids 868–905

Hamdanids 890–1004

Ikhshidids 935–969

Uqaylids 990–1096

Zengids 1127–1250

Ayyubids 1171–1246

Bahri Mamluks 1250–1382

Burji Mamluks 1382–1517

During the initial Islamic invasion in 639 AD, Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Righteous Caliphs, and then the Ummayad Caliphs in Damascus but, in 747, the Ummayads were overthrown. In 1174, Egypt came under the rule of Ayyubids that lasted until 1252.

The Ayyubids were overthrown by their bodyguards, known as the Mamluks, who ruled under the suzerainty of Abbasid Caliphs until 1517, when Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Early Islamic period[edit]

Islamic conquest of Egypt[edit]

Main article: Islamic conquest of Egypt

The Age of the Caliphs Prophet Mohammad, 622-632 Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661 Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750

In 639 an army of some 4,000 men were sent against Egypt by the second caliph, Umar, under the command of Amr ibn al-As. This army was joined by another 5,000 men in 640 and defeated a Byzantine army at the battle of Heliopolis. Amr next proceeded in the direction of Alexandria, which was surrendered to him by a treaty signed on November 8, 641. Alexandria was regained for the Byzantine Empire in 645 but was retaken by Amr in 646. In 654 an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. From that time no serious effort was made by the Byzantines to regain possession of the country.

Administration of early Islamic Egypt[edit]

Following the first surrender of Alexandria, Amr chose a new site to settle his men, near the location of the Byzantine fortress of Babylon. The new settlement received the name of Fustat, after Amr's tent, which had been pitched there when the Arabs besieged the fortress.[1] Fustat quickly became the focal point of Islamic Egypt, and, with the exception of the brief relocation to Hulwan during a plague in 689, and the period of 750–763, when the seat of the governor moved to Askar, the capital and residence of the administration.[2] After the conquest, the country was initially divided in two provinces, Upper Egypt (al-sa'id) and Lower Egypt with the Nile Delta (asfal al-ard). In 643/4, however, Caliph Uthman appointed a single governor (wāli) with jurisdiction over all of Egypt, resident at Fustat, the city founded by the Arabs soon after the conquest. The governor would in turn nominate deputies for Upper and Lower Egypt.[3] Alexandria remained a distinct district, reflecting both its role as the country's shield against Byzantine attacks, and as the major naval base. It was considered a frontier fortress (ribat) under a military governor and was heavily garrisoned, with a quarter of the province's garrison serving there in semi-annual rotation.[4] Next to the wāli, there was also the commander of the police (ṣāḥib al-shurṭa), responsible for internal security and for commanding the jund.[5]

The main pillar of the early Muslim rule and control in the country was the military force, or jund, provided by the Arab settlers. These were initially the men who had followed Amr and participated in the conquest.[6] The followers of Amr were mostly drawn from the Yamani tribes of southern Arabia, rather than the northern Arab (Qays) tribes,

who were scarcely represented in the province; it was they that dominated the affairs of the country for the first two centuries of Muslim rule.[1] Initially they numbered 15,500, but their numbers grew threw emigration in the subsequent decades. By the time of Mu'awiya I, the number of men registered in the army list (diwān al-jund) and entitled an annual pay (ʿaṭāʾ) reached 40,000. Jealous of their privileges and status, which entitled them to a share of the local revenue, the members of the jund then virtually closed off the register to new entries.[7][6] It was only after the losses of the Second Fitna that the registers were updated, and occasionally, governors would add soldiers en masse to the lists thereafter as a means to garner political support.[8]

In return for a tribute of money and food for the troops of occupation, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were excused military service and left free in the observance of their religion and the administration of their affairs.

Conversions of Copts to Islam were at first rare, and the old system of taxation was maintained for the greater part of the first Islamic century. The old division of the country into districts (nomoi) was maintained, and to the inhabitants of these districts demands were directly addressed by the governor of Egypt, while the head of the community—ordinarily a Copt but in some cases a Muslim Egyptian—was responsible for compliance with the demand.

Umayyad period[edit]

During the First Fitna, Ali appointed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as governor of Egypt, but Amr ibn al-As led an invasion in summer 658 that defeated Ibn Abi Bakr and secured the country for the Umayyads. Amr ibn al-As then served as governor until his death in 664. From 667/8 until 682, the province was governed by another fervent pro-Umayyad partisan, Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari.[9] During the Second Fitna, Ibn al-Zubayr gained the support of the Kharijites in Egypt and sent a governor of his own, Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri, to the province. The Kharijite-supported Zubayrid regime was very unpopular with the local Arabs, who called upon the Umayyad Caliph Marwan I for aid. In December 684, Marwan invaded Egypt and reconquered it with relative ease.[10] Marwan installed his son Abd al-Aziz as governor. Relying on his close ties with the jund, Abd al-Aziz ruled the country for 20 years, enjoying wide autonomy and governing as a de facto viceroy.[11] Abd al-Aziz also supervised the completion of the Muslim conquest of North Africa; it was he who appointed Musa ibn Nusayr in his post as governor of Ifriqiya.[12] Abd al-Aziz hoped to be succeeded by his son, but when he died, Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan sent his own son, Abdallah, as governor in a move to reassert control and prevent the country from becoming a hereditary domain.[13]

Abd al-Malik ibn Rifa'a al-Fahmi in 715 and his successor Ayyub ibn Sharhabil in 717 were the first governors chosen from the jund, rather than members of the Umayyad family or court. Both are reported to have increased pressure on the Copts, and initiated measures of Islamization.[14] The resentment of the Copts against taxation led to a revolt in 725. In 727, to strengthen Arab representation, a colony of 3,000 Arabs was set up near Bilbeis. Meanwhile, the employment of the Arabic language had been steadily gaining ground, and in 706 it was made the official language of the government. Egyptian Arabic, the modern Arabic Accent of Egypt, began to form. Other revolts of the Copts are recorded for the years 739 and 750, the last year of Umayyad domination. The outbreaks in all cases are attributed to increased taxation.

Abbasid period[edit]

The Abbasid period was marked by new taxations, and the Copts revolted again in the fourth year of Abbasid rule. At the beginning of the 9th century the practice of ruling Egypt through a governor was resumed under Abdallah ibn Tahir, who decided to reside at Baghdad, sending a deputy to Egypt to govern for him. In 828 another Egyptian revolt broke out, and in 831 the Copts joined with native Muslims against the government.

A major change came in 834, when Caliph al-Mu'tasim discontinued the practice of paying the jund as they nominally still formed the province's garrison—the ʿaṭāʾ from the local revenue. Al-Mu'tasim discontinued the

practice, removing the Arab families from the army registers diwān and ordering that the revenues of Egypt be sent to the central government, which would then pay the ʿaṭāʾ only to the Turkish troops stationed in the province. This was a move towards centralizing power in the hands of the central caliphal administration, but also signalled the decline of the old elites, and the passing of power to the officials sent to the province by the Abbasid court, most notably the Turkish soldiers favoured by al-Mu'tasim.[15] At about the same time, for the first time the Muslim population began surpassing the Coptic Christians in numbers, and throughout the 9th century the rural districts were increasingly subject to both Arabization and Islamization.[16] The rapidity of this process, and the influx of settlers after the discovery of gold and emerald mines at Aswan, meant that Upper Egypt in particular was only superficially controlled by the local governor.[17][18] Furthermore, the persistence of internecine strife and turmoil at the heart of the Abbasid state—the so-called "Anarchy at Samarra"—led to the appearance of millennialist revolutionary movements in the province under a series of Alid pretenders in the 870s.[19][20] In part, these movements were an expression of dissatisfaction with and alienation from imperial rule by Baghdad; these sentiments would manifest themselves in the support of several Egyptians for the Fatimids in the 10th century.[21]

Tulunids, second Abbasid period, and Ikhsidids[edit]

Spiral Minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo

In 868, Caliph al-Mu'tazz (r. 866–869) gave charge of Egypt to the Turkish general Bakbak. Bakbak in turn sent his stepson Ahmad ibn Tulun as his lieutenant and resident governor.[22] This appointment ushered in a new era in Egypt's history: hitherto a passive province of an empire, under Ibn Tulun it would re-emerge as an independent political centre for the first time since the Pharaohs. Ibn Tulun would use the country's wealth to extend his rule into the Levant, in a pattern followed by later Egypt-based regimes, from the Ikhshidids to the Mamluk Sultanate. [23][24][25]

The first years of Ibn Tulun's governorship were dominated by his power struggle with the powerful head of the fiscal administration, the Ibn al-Mudabbir. The latter had been appointed as fiscal agent (ʿāmil) already since ca. 861, and had rapidly become the most hated man in the country as he doubled the taxes and imposed new ones on Muslims and non-Muslims alike.[26] By 872 Ibn Tulun had achieved Ibn al-Mudabirbir's dismissal and taken over the management of the fisc himself, and had managed to assemble an army of his own, thereby becoming de facto independent of Baghdad.[27] As a sign of his power, he established a new palace city to the northeast of Fustat, called al-Qata'i, in 870. The project was a conscious emulation of, and rival to, the Abbasid capital Samarra, with quarters assigned to the regiments of his army, a hippodrome, hospital, and palaces. The new city's centrepiece was the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.[28][29] Ibn Tulun continued to emulate the familiar Samarra model in the establishment of his administration as well, creating new departments and entrusting them to Samarra-trained officials.[30] His regime was in many ways typical of the "ghulām system" that became one of the two main paradigms of Islamic polities in the 9th and 10th centuries, as the Abbasid Caliphate fragmented and new dynasties emerged. These regimes were based on the power of a regular army composed of slave soldiers or ghilmān, but in turn, according to Hugh N. Kennedy, "the paying of the troops was the major preoccupation of government".[31][32] It is therefore in the context of the increased financial requirements that in 879, the supervision of the finances passed to Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Madhara'i, the founder of the al-Madhara'i bureaucratic dynasty that dominated the fiscal apparatus of Egypt for the next 70 years.[30][32] The peace and security provided by the Tulunid regime, the establishment of an efficient administration, and repairs and expansions to the irrigation system, coupled with a consistently high level

of Nile floods, resulted in a major increase in revenue. By the end of his reign, Ibn Tulun had accumulated a reserve of en million dinars.[33]

Ibn Tulun's rise was facilitated by the feebleness of the Abbasid government, threatened by the rise of the Saffarids in the east and by the Zanj Rebellion in Iraq itself, and divided due to the rivalry between Caliph al-Mu'tamid (r. 870–892) and his increasingly powerful brother and de facto regent, al-Muwaffaq.[34] Open conflict between Ibn Tulun and al-Muwaffaq broke out in 875/6. The latter tried to oust Ibn Tulun from Egypt, but the expedition sent against him barely reached Syria. In retaliation, with the support of the Caliph, in 877/8 Ibn Tulun received responsibility for the entirety of Syria and the frontier districts of Cilicia (the Thughūr). Ibn Tulun occupied Syria but failed to seize Tarsus in Cilicia, and was forced to return to Egypt due to the abortive revolt of his eldest son, Abbas. Ibn Tulun has Abbas imprisoned, and named his second son, Khumarawayh, as his heir.[35] In 882, Ibn Tulun came close to having Egypt become the new centre of the Caliphate, when al-Mu'tamid tried to flee to his domains. In the event, however, the Caliph was overtaken and brought him back to Samarra (February 883) and under his brother's control. This opened anew the rift between the two rulers: Ibn Tulun organized an assembly of religious jurists at Damascus which denounced al-Muwaffaq a usurper, condemned his maltreatment of the Caliph, declared his place in the succession as void, and called for a jihād against him. Al-Muwaffaq was duly denounced in sermons in the mosques across the Tulunid domains, while the Abbasid regent responded in kind with a ritual denunciation of Ibn Tulun.[36] Ibn Tulun then tried once more, again without success, to impose his rule over Tarsus. He fell ill on his return journey to Egypt, and died at Fustat on 10 May 884.[37]

At Ibn Tulun's death, Khumarawayh, with the backing of the Tulunid elites, succeeded without opposition.[38] Ibn Tulun bequeathed his heir "with a seasoned military, a stable economy, and a coterie of experienced commanders and bureaucrats". Khumarawayh was able to preserve his authority against the Abbasid attempt to overthrow him at the Battle of Tawahin and even made additional territorial gains, recognized in a treaty with al-Muwaffaq in 886 that gave the Tulunids the hereditary governorship over Egypt and Syria for 30 years.[39] The accession of al-Muwaffaq's son al-Mu'tadid as Caliph in 892 marked a new rapprochement, culminating in the marriage of Khumarawayh's daughter to the new Caliph, but also the return of the provinces of Diyar Rabi'a and Diyar Mudar to caliphal control.[40] Domestically, Khumarawayh's reign was one of "luxury and decay" (Hugh N. Kennedy), but also a time of relative tranquility in Egypt as well as in Syria, a rather unusual occurrence for the period. Nevertheless, Khumarawayh's extravagant spending exhausted the fisc, and by the time of his assassination in 896, the Tulunid treasury was empty.[41] Following Khumarawayh's death, internal strife sapped Tulunid power. Khumarawayh's son Jaysh was a drunkard who executed his uncle, Mudar ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun; he was deposed after only a few months and replaced by his brother Harun ibn Khumarawayh. Harun too was a weak ruler, and although a revolt by his uncle Rabi'ah in Alexandria was suppressed, the Tulunids were unable to confront the attacks of the Qarmatians who began at the same time. In addition, many commanders defected to the Abbasids, whose power revived under the capable leadership of al-Muwaffaq's son, Caliph al-Mu'tadid (r. 892–902). Finally, in December 904, two other sons of Ibn Tulun, Ali and Shayban, murdered their nephew and assumed control of the Tulunid state. Far from halting the decline, this event alienated key commanders in Syria and led to the rapid and relatively unopposed reconquest of Syria and Egypt by the Abbasids under Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib, who entered Fustat in January 905. With the exception of the great Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the victorious Abbasid troops pillaged al-Qata'i and razed it to the ground.[42][43]

In 969 the Fatimid general Jawhar as-Siqilli was placed at the head of an army said to number 100,000 men and attempted to seize Egypt. He had little difficulty defeating the Egyptian army. And on July 6, 969, he entered Fustat at the head of his forces. Egypt was transferred from the Eastern to the Western caliphate.

Fatimid period[edit]

Main article: Fatimid Caliphate

The near East in 1025 AD, showing the Fatimid Caliphate and neighbors.

Jawhar as-Siqilli immediately began the building of a new city, Cairo, to furnish quarters for the army which he had brought. A palace for the Caliph and a mosque for the army were immediately constructed, which for many centuries remained the centre of Muslim learning. However, the Carmathians of Damascus under Hasan al-Asam advanced through Palestine to Egypt, and in the autumn of 971 Jauhar found himself besieged in his new city. By a timely sortie, preceded by the administration of bribes to various officers in the Carmathian host, Jauhar succeeded in inflicting a severe defeat on the besiegers, who were compelled to evacuate Egypt and part of Syria.

Meanwhile, the caliph in 2 al-Muizz had been summoned to enter the palace that had been prepared for him, and after leaving a viceroy to take charge of his western possessions he arrived in Alexandria on May 31 973, and proceeded to instruct his new subjects in the particular form of religion (Shiism) which his family represented. As this was in origin identical with that professed by the Carmathians, he hoped to gain the submission of their leader by argument; but this plan was unsuccessful, and there was a fresh invasion from that quarter in the year after his arrival, and the caliph found himself besieged in his capital.

The Carmathians were gradually forced to retreat from Egypt and then from Syria by some successful engagements, and by the judicious use of bribes, whereby dissension was sown among their leaders. Al-Muizz also found time to take some active measures against the Byzantines, with whom his generals fought in Syria with varying fortune. Before his death he was acknowledged as Caliph in Mecca and Medina, as well as Syria, Egypt and North Africa as far as Tangier.

Under the vizier al-Aziz, there was a large amount of toleration conceded to the other sects of Islam, and to other communities, but the belief that the Christians of Egypt were in league with the Byzantine emperor, and even burned a fleet which was being built for the Byzantine war, led to some persecution. Al-Aziz attempted without success to enter into friendly relations with the Buwayhid ruler of Baghdad, and tried to gain possession of Aleppo, as the key to Iraq, but this was prevented by the intervention of the Byzantines. His North African possessions were maintained and extended, but the recognition of the Fatimid caliph in this region was little more than nominal.

The Al-Azhar Mosque, of medieval Fatimid Cairo.

His successor al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah came to the throne at the age of eleven, being the son of Aziz by a Christian mother. His conduct of affairs was vigorous and successful, and he concluded a peace with the Byzantine emperor. He is perhaps best remembered by his destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (1009), a measure which helped to provoke the Crusades, but was only part of a general scheme for converting all Christians and Jews in his dominions to his own opinions by force.

A more reputable expedient with the same end in view was the construction of a great library in Cairo, with ample provision for students; this was modelled on a similar institution at Baghdad. His system of persecution was not abandoned till in the last year of his reign (1020) he thought fit to claim divinity,[citation needed] a doctrine which is perpetuated by the Druze, called after one Darazi, who preached the divinity of al-Hakim at the time. For unknown reasons al-Hakim disappeared in 1021.

In 1049 the Zirid dynasty in the Maghrib returned to the Sunni faith and became subjects of the Caliphate in Baghdad, but at the same time Yemen recognized the Fatimid caliphate. Meanwhile, Baghdad was taken by the Turks, falling to the Seljuk Tughrul Beg in 1059. The Turks also plundered Cairo in 1068, but they were driven out by 1074. During this time, however, Syria was overrun by an invader in league with the Seljuk Malik Shah, and Damascus was permanently lost to the Fatimids. This period is otherwise memorable for the rise of the Hashshashin, or Assassins.

During the Crusades, al-Mustafa maintained himself in Alexandria, and helped the Crusaders by rescuing Jerusalem from the Ortokids, thereby facilitating its conquest by the Crusaders in 1099. He endeavoured to retrieve his error by himself advancing into Palestine, but he was defeated at the battle of Ascalon, and compelled to retire to Egypt. Many of the Palestinian possessions of the Fatimids then successively fell into the hands of the Crusaders.

In 1118 Egypt was invaded by Baldwin I of Jerusalem, who burned the gates and the mosques of Farama, and advanced to Tinnis, when illness compelled him to retreat. In August 1121 al-Afdal Shahanshah was assassinated in a street of Cairo, it is said, with the connivance of the Caliph, who immediately began the plunder of his house, where fabulous treasures were said to be amassed. The vizier's offices were given to al-Mamn. His external policy was not more fortunate than that of his predecessor, as he lost Tyre to the Crusaders, and a fleet equipped by him was defeated by the Venetians.

In 1153 Ascalon was lost, the last place in Syria which the Fatimids held; its loss was attributed to dissensions between the parties of which the garrison consisted. In April 1154 the Caliph al-Zafir was murdered by his vizier

Abbas, according to Usamah, because the Caliph had suggested to his favorite, the vizier's son, to murder his father; and this was followed by a massacre of the brothers of Zafir, followed by the raising of his infant son Abul-Qasim Isa to the throne.

In December of 1162, the vizier Shawar took control of Cairo. However, after only nine months he was compelled to flee to Damascus, where he was favorably received by the prince Nureddin, who sent with him to Cairo a force of Kurds under Asad al-din Shirkuh. At the same time Egypt was invaded by the Franks, who raided and did much damage on the coast. Shawar recaptured Cairo but a dispute then arose with his Syrian allies for the possession of Egypt. Shawar, being unable to cope with the Syrians, demanded help of the Frankish king of Jerusalem Amalric I, who hastened to his aid with a large force, which united with Shawar's and besieged Shirkuh in Bilbeis for three months; at the end of this time, owing to the successes of Nureddin in Syria, the Franks granted Shirkuh a free passage with his troops back to Syria, on condition of Egypt being evacuated (October 1164).[44]

Two years later Shirkuh, a Kurdish general known as "the Lion", persuaded Nureddin to put him at the head of another expedition to Egypt, which left Syria in January 1167; a Frankish army hastened to Shawar's aid. At the battle of Babain (April 11, 1167) the allies were defeated by the forces commanded by Shirkuh and his nephew Saladin, who was made prefect of Alexandria, which surrendered to Shirkuh without a struggle. In 1168 Amalric invaded again, but Shirkuh's return caused the Crusaders to withdraw.

Shirkuh was appointed vizier but died of indigestion (March 23, 1169), and the Caliph appointed Saladin as successor to Shirkuh; the new vizier professed to hold office as a deputy of Nureddin, whose name was mentioned in public worship after that of the Caliph. Nureddin loyally aided his deputy in dealing with Crusader invasions of Egypt, and he ordered Saladin to substitute the name of the Abbasid caliph for the Fatimid in public worship. The last Fatimid caliph died soon after in September, 1171.

Ayyubid period[edit]

Main article: Ayyubid dynasty

The Ayyubid Empire at its greatest extent

Saladin, a general known as "the Lion", was confirmed as Nureddin's deputy in Egypt, and on the death of Nureddin on April 12, 1174 he took the title sultan. During his reign Damascus, rather than Cairo, was the major city of the empire. Nevertheless, he fortified Cairo, which became the political centre of Egypt. It was in 1183 that Saladin's rule over Egypt and North Syria was consolidated. Much of Saladin's time was spent in Syria, where he fought the Crusader States, and Egypt was largely governed by his deputy Karaksh.

Saladin's son Othman succeeded him in Egypt in 1193. He allied with his uncle (Saladin's brother) Al-Adil I against Saladin's other sons, and after the wars that followed, Al-Adil took power in 1200. He died in 1218 during the siege of Damietta in the Fifth Crusade, and was succeeded by Al-Kamil, who lost Damietta to the Crusaders in 1219. However, he defeated their advance to Cairo by flooding the Nile, and they were forced to evacuate Egypt in 1221.

Al-Kamil was later forced to give up various cities in Palestina and Syria to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor during the Sixth Crusade, in order to gain his help against Damascus.

Najm al-Din became sultan in 1240. His reign saw the recapture of Jerusalem in 1244, and the introduction of a larger force of Mameluks into the army. Much of his time was spent in campaigns in Syria, where he allied with the Khwarezmians against the Crusaders and Ayyubids. In 1249 he faced an invasion by Louis IX of France (the Seventh Crusade), and Damietta was lost again. Najm al-Din died soon after this, but his son Turanshah defeated Louis and expelled the Crusaders from Egypt. Turanshah was soon overthrown by the Mameluks, who had become the "kingmakers" since their arrival and now wanted full power for themselves.

Mamluk Egypt[edit]

Main article: Mamluk Egypt

Bahri dynasty[edit]

Main article: Bahri dynasty

Bahri Mamluks at its greatest extent. Blue indicates the Ilkhanates.

The Mameluk sultans were drawn from the enfranchised slaves who formed the court and officered the army. The sultans were unable to effectively form a new dynasty, usually leaving behind infants who were then overthrown. The first of these was Aybak, who married Shajar al-Durr (the widow of al-Salih Ayyub) and quickly began a war with Syria. He was assassinated in 1257 and was succeeded by Qutuz, who faced a growing danger from the Mongols.

Qutuz defeated the army of Hulagu Khan at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, allowing him to regain all of Syria except Crusader strongholds. On the way back to Egypt after the battle, Qutuz died and was succeeded by another commander, Baybars, who assumed the Sultanate and ruled from 1260 to 1277. In 1291 al-Ashraf Khalil captured Acre, the last of the crusader cities.

The Bahris greatly enhanced the power and prestige of Egypt, building Cairo from a small town into one of the foremost cities in the world. Due to the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols, Cairo became the central city of the Islamic world. The Mamluks built much of the earliest remaining architecture of Cairo, including many mosques built out of stone using long, imposing lines.

Since 1347 the Egyptian population, economy, and political system experienced significant destruction as a result of the Black Death pandemic whose waves continued to destroy Egypt up to the early 16th century.

In 1377 a revolt in Syria spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Berekeh and Barkuk. Barkuk was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389, but recaptured Cairo in 1390, setting up the Burji dynasty.

Burji dynasty[edit]

Main article: Burji dynasty

The Burji dynasty (1382–1517) proved especially turbulent, with political power-plays designating short-lived sultans. During the Burji dynasty, the Mamluks fought Timur Lenk and conquered Cyprus.

The plague epidemics continued to destroy Egypt during this period; they attacked this country in 1388–1389, 1397–1398, 1403–1407, 1410–1411, 1415–1419, 1429–1430, 1438–1439, 1444–1449, 1455, 1459–1460, 1468–1469, 1476–1477, 1492, 1498, 1504–1505 and 1513–1514.[45]

Constant bickering contributed to the inability to resist the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Sultan Selim I defeated the Mamluks and captured Cairo on January 20, 1517, transferring the center of power to Istanbul. However, the Ottoman Empire retained the Mamluks as the Egyptian ruling class. The Mamluks and the Burji family regained much of their influence, but technically remained vassals of the Ottomans.

Prehistory (up to 3100 BC)

Archaeological evidence suggests that over 250,000 years ago roaming hunter-gatherers inhabited Egypt, which at the time

was rolling grassland. During the Palaeolithic period, around 25,000 BC, climatic changes turned Egypt into a desert. During

this period a shift to primitive forms of cultivation occurred as communities began to settle in Middle Egypt and the Nile

Delta. Soon these farmers were growing wheat, flax and weaving linen fabrics, as well as tending flocks. Gradually the

primitive settlements became small tribal kingdoms, which eventually evolved into two loosely aligned kingdoms - one in the

Nile valley (worshiping the god Horus) and the other in the Nile Delta (worshiping the god Seth). The two kingdoms vied for

control over all the lands of Egypt, and in 3100 BC unification of Egypt, under the command of Menes, marked the beginning

of the dynastic period of the Pharaohs.

Early Dynastic Period (3100 - 2700 BC)

This period of Egyptian history is mostly shrouded in mythology and little is known of Menes and his descendants other than

their divine ancestry and that they developed a highly stratified social system, patronized the arts and built many temples and

public buildings. Menes established his new capital at Memphis, the world's first imperial city, which lies just 24 km south of

Cairo.

During the First Dynasty (3100 - 2890 BC) Egyptian culture became increasingly refined, examples of which can still be

glimpsed today at the royal burial grounds of Saqqara and Abydos.

The Second Dynasty (2980 - 2686 BC) was marked by a breakdown of Pharaonic authority and a series of regional disputes -

probably the result of religious rivalry between the two deities Horus in the south, and Seth in the Delta. These rivalries seem

to have been resolved by Khasekhem, the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty.

Old Kingdom (2700 - 2181 BC)

The Old Kingdom was the period in which most of Egypt's pyramids were built. Built during the Third Dynasty (2686 – 2613

BC) by Zoser’s chief architect Imhotep, the impressive Step Pyramid at Saqqara is believed by many to be the first true

pyramid in Egypt, and seems to have been the inspiration for the many pyramids that followed. Also during Zoser’s rein, the

Sun God Ra rose in importance above all other Egyptian deities.

The Fourth Dynasty (2613 – 2494 BC) is where pyramid building reached its pinnacle. King Sneferu constructed the Bent and

Red Pyramids at Dahshur near Saqqara and the Pyramid of Meidum in Al-Fayoum, and his descendants, Cheops (Khufu),

Chephren (Khafre) and Mycerinus (Menkaure), built the Great Pyramids of Giza. During Sneferu’s reign trading along the

Nile flourished and military expeditions into Libya and Nubia were undertaken. By the end of the reign of Mycerinus trade

had expanded into the Near East and Egypt had developed the world’s first truly organised form of government.

The Fifth Dynasty (2490 – 2330 BC) brought a relative decline in Pharaonic power and wealth, which can be seen in the

smaller pyramids built at Abu Sir during this period. This was the result of a gradual shift away from the absolute power

enjoyed by earlier Pharaohs to power sharing with the aristocracy and high officials. Worship of the sun god Ra also increased

during this period.

The erosion of Pharaonic authority continued during Sixth Dynasty (2330 – 2170 BC) as small provincial principalities

emerged to challenge Pharaonic power. The Pharaohs became more warlike and during the reign of Pepi I the Egyptian army

was organized and a warrior caste developed. The Old Kingdom came to an end with the death of Pepi II and following his

death, the central government collapsed. This brought about a period of turmoil known as the First Intermediate Period.

First Intermediate Period (2181 - 2040 BC)

During the chaotic Seventh Dynasty (2181 - 2173BC) and Eighth Dynasty (2173 – 2160 BC), civil disorders multiplied, and

drought and famine struck Egypt leading to even more social upheaval and anarchy. As a result of the turmoil small local

principalities rose up to challenge the rule of the kings and, at the beginning of the Ninth Dynasty (2160 - 2130BC), a second

capital was established by Achthoes at Heracleopolis, near present-day Beni Suef. The kings of Heracleopolis ruled northern

Egypt throughout the Tenth Dynasty (2130 – 2040 BC). However, rebellion in the south and subsequent civil war marked the

start of the Eleventh Dynasty (2133 – 1991 BC), and eventually saw the reunification of Egypt by Nebhepetre Mentuhope II,

from his base in Thebes. This marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt.

Middle Kingdom (2040 - 1650 BC)

Mentuhope II reign over Egypt lasted for fifty years and during this period he re-established political and social order. This in

turn helped to regenerate the economic and artistic development that so characterized the glory of the past Pharaohs. Trading

was resumed and mines were reopened. Campaigns were undertaken against Libya and Nubia, and local and foreign trade

flourished.

Mentuhope III and Mentuhope IV continued to rule from Thebes, building and expanding their kingdom until Amenemhat,

assumed the throne and founded the Twelfth Dynasty (1991 – 1790 BC). Amenemhat moved his capital back to Memphis and

pushed the boundaries of Egyptian rule deep into Nubia to the south and the land of Sham, as far as Syria and Palestine, to the

north. Pyramid building was re-established and every Pharaoh was buried in their own pyramid. It was Amenemhat II and

Senusert III who built the last pyramids in Lahun, Lisht and Hawara.

There appears to have been a smooth transition to the Thirteenth Dynasty (1790 – 1700 BC), but the Middle Kingdom

eventually came to a close, as over time the central authority weakened, leading to civil disorder and instability and a

prolonged period of upheaval. The close of the Middle Kingdom is a little sketchy, but is believed to be due to the arrival in

the Eastern Nile Delta, and subsequent rise to power, of Asiatic settlers from the Near East, known as the Hyksos. The

Fourteenth Dynasty took control of the western Delta and the Hyksos led Fifteenth Dynasty took control of the eastern Delta.

Second Intermediate Period (1650 - 1550 BC)

By 1600 BC the Hyksos had made their way down the Nile and captured Memphis. Their influence on Egypt’s dying culture

was marked by the introduction of new animals and plants, the potter’s wheel and the vertical loom, and various new musical

instruments. They also brought with them new instruments of war like the composite bow, chariot and scale armour. The

advance of the Hyksos was finally halted at Thebes, thus establishing the Seventeenth Dynasty and, by 1550 Kamose, the

Theban king, had cornered the Hyksos in Avaris. When his successor Ahmosis drove the last of the Hyksos from Egypt, the

New Kingdom was born.

New Kingdom (1550 - 1070 BC)

Ahmosis founded the Eighteenth Dynasty (1567 - 1320BC), and started a period of great stability and prosperity during which

Pharaonic culture flowered and Egypt once again became a world power. Nubia, to the south, was conquered and its vast

wealth of gold, ivory and gemstones flowed into Egypt. To the north, the Near East, Syria and Palestine also fell to the

Pharaohs and a vast assimilation of cultural and knowledge took place through the immigration of slaves and workers from

these newly established colonies. The temple of Karnak at Thebes grew with the expansion of the empire, and Tuthmosis I

constructed the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. His daughter Hatshepsut, one of Egypt’s few female rulers, reigned as

pharaoh and built the temple of Deir Al-Bahri. Tuthmosis III continued to expand the empire beyond Nubia and across the

Euphrates to the land of the Hittites. Imperial expansion continued under Amenophis II and Tuthmosis IV, and the reign of

Amenophis III was the pinnacle of Egyptian Pharaonic power. During the reign of Amenophis III the kingdom was secure

enough for the Pharaoh to build many of Egypt’s finest Pharaonic structures, including the Temple of Luxor.

His son Amenophis IV was more wayward and, after breaking away from the priesthood of the god Amun, changed his name

to Akhenaten in honour of the new sun god Aten. He also broke with Thebes and, with his wife Nefertiti, moved north to

establish a new capital called Akhetaten. Some historians believe his single devotion to one god is the first example of an

organized monotheistic religion. The scant remains of Akhetaten can still be seen today at Tell al-Amarna, near the town of

Minya. Upon Akhenaten death the old priesthood at Thebes destroyed all signs of his rule and religion and the throne was

passed on to his son-in-law, the boy king Tutankhamun. Best remembered today for the fabulous and pristine treasures

uncovered when his tomb was discovered in 1922, he ruled for only nine years until just before reaching manhood, when he

mysteriously died.

The Nineteenth Dynasty (1320 - 1200BC) saw the rise to power of a line of warrior kings. Ramses and his descendants,

Ramses II and III and Seti I and II, set about recapturing territories lost under Akhenaten. They also built colossal structures

like the majestic temple at Abydos, the Ramesseum in Thebes, and the sun temples of Abu Simbel.

The Twentieth Dynasty (1200 - 1085BC) was to be the last of the New Kingdom and was first established by Sethnakhte.

However by the reign of his successor Ramses III, the kingdom was beset with provincial unrest and foreign invaders.

Ramses’ III successors, all of whom were named Ramses, presided over the decline of their empire until during the reign of

Ramses XI the New Kingdom drew to a close with the outbreak of civil war.

Late Period (1070 - 332 BC)

During the start of this period external threats from Libyan invaders and others were eroding Egypt's power to defend itself.

Eventually Libyan warriors established their own Dynasty in the Nile delta from their capital at Tanis, until later replaced by

the princes of Sais. Upper Egypt held out longer against Nubian invaders but eventually the armies of their ruler Piankhi

overran Thebes. In 671 BC Assyrian armies captured Memphis and attacked Thebes, driving the Nubian pharaoh Tanutamun

back to Nubia. By 525 BC the Assyrians were in turn swept aside by the armies of the Persian Empire. The rule of the Persian

lasted for almost 200 years, during which time they built a canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea and also constructed

temples and a new city on the site of what is now called Old Cairo. Eventually Persian rule gave way to Greek rule in 332 BC,

under the leadership of perhaps the world’s greatest conqueror Alexander the Great.

Greek Period (332 - 30 BC)

In 332 BC, Egypt became a part of the new Macedonian Empire after Alexander the Great’s destruction of the Persians.

Alexander was greeted as something of a liberator from Persian rule due to his respect of the local deities, and was

immediately accepted as a Pharaoh. After founding the new capital of Alexandria, one of many cities named after him, he

soon left Egypt to resume his campaign against the Persians. In 323 BC, Alexander died suddenly and one of his generals

Ptolemy I became the satrap of Egypt.

By 305 BC Ptolemy I had become the king and founder of a dynasty that would rule over Egypt for the next 300 years. Under

his rule Greek became the official language of Egypt and Hellenistic culture and ideas were introduced and assimilated into

traditional Egyptian theology, art, architecture and technology. The legacy of Ptolemaic rule can still be seen today at the

temples of Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae. The city of Alexandria also became a great capital, housing one of history's greatest

libraries.

By the early first century BC internal control had slackened and gradually Ptolemaic rule was eroded. The Romans were

largely responsible, supporting various rulers and factions until attaining total control over the country when Julius Caesar's

armies attacked Alexandria. Queen Cleopatra VII was the last of the Ptolemaic rulers to reign, albeit under the protection of

the Caesar. After his assassination, Cleopatra VII found a new protector in Mark Anthony, a strong contender for the vacated

role of emperor of Rome, who helped her retain Egypt’s independence for a further 10 years. Eventually the fleets of Octavian

Caesar destroyed the Egyptian navy in the battle of Actium, causing Anthony and Cleopatra to commit suicide and Egypt to

become a province of the Roman Empire.

Roman Period (30 BC - 638 AD)

Octavian became the first Roman ruler of Egypt, reigning as the Emperor Augustus but did little to develop the country, which

served ostensibly as a granary for the Roman Empire. He did, however, establish a number of trading posts along the Red Sea

coast and across the Western Desert extending into Cyrenaica (modern day Lybia) The Romans, like their Greek predecessors,

incorporated many of their own beliefs into Egyptian culture, but Hellenism remained a dominant cultural force and

Alexandria continued to be a centre of Greek learning.

Christianity appeared in Egypt around 40 AD with the arrival of Saint Mark who began preaching the gospel and established

the Patriarchate of Alexandria in 61 AD. The Egyptian Coptic Church expanded over the next 300 years despite the Roman

persecution of Christian converts throughout the empire. In AD284, the persecution of Coptic Christians reached a low point

under the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, with a series of bloody massacres, from which the church has dated its calendar.

However, such was the universal appeal of Christianity that in 323 AD it was legalized and adopted as the official religion of

the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine.

Soon after the Roman Empire fell into decline as a result of internal strife, famine and war, finally splitting into eastern and

western empires. The eastern empire was based in Constantinople and became known as the Byzantine Empire and the

western empire remained centred in Rome. The legalization of Christianity did not stop the Roman persecution of Coptic

Christians, because the Byzantine church deemed the Copt’s monophysitic doctrine (the belief that Christ is divine, rather than

both human and divine) as heretical, and expelled them from the Orthodox Church in 451 AD. This schism between the

Byzantine and Coptic churches was never closed.

The fifth century saw the emergence of monasticism in Egypt, and the construction of the Coptic monasteries of Saint

Catherine, Saint Paul and Saint Anthony. The continued oppression by their Roman overlords eventually came to an end in

Egypt with the arrival of Islam in 639 AD.

Arabic Period (640 - 1250)

Abu Bakr, the successor to the prophet Mohammad, led the invasion of Egypt and defeated the Byzantine army in 636.

Establishing a capital called Fustat, just north of the Roman fortress Babylon, Egypt was ruled as a province and used primary

as a granary for the larger Arab empire.

In 658 the Umayyads of Damascus seized control of Egypt and ruled for around 100 years before losing out to the Abbassids

of Baghdad who ruled for another 200 years.

In 969 the North African Fatamid dynasty spread east to envelope Egypt and continued on into Syria and Arabia. The

Fatamids were deeply unpopular and held themselves separate and above the indigenous population. They were also Shi’a

Muslims, a branch of Islam at odds with the orthodox Sunnism of the locals. It was also during the Fatamid reign that the first

Christian crusaders started their campaign to regain the holy sites of the Bible, and in particular Jerusalem (which they

captured in 1099).

By 1167 the crusaders had reached Cairo, but were soon driven back by the Seljuks of Damascus who had responded to a call

for help from the beleaguered Fatamids. After the expulsion of the crusaders the Seljuk leader Salah ad-Din (known as

Saladin in the west) replaced the Fatamids as ruler in Egypt and established the new Ayyubid dynasty in 1171; however by

1250 the Ayyubids had been replaced by their former mercenaries, the Mamlukes.

Mamluke Period (1250 - 1517)

The Mamlukes were a Turkish slave-soldier class used by Salah ad-Din and rewarded for service with gifts of land.

Renowned for military prowess and savagery the Mamlukes rise to power in Egypt was bloody, and they soon expanded into

Syria and Palestine.

During their three centuries of rule they also left a great architectural legacy in Cairo and transformed the city into the

intellectual and cultural centre of the Arab world. The Mamlukes’ power and riches came from trade and in particular the

canal connecting the Red Sea with the Nile. This vital commercial link between Europe and Asia was ruthlessly exploited, in

partnership with the Venetians, and yielded fantastic riches to its Mamluke overlords. However, by the end of the 15th century

the discovery of a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope, by Vasco da Gama, brought an end to Egypt’s fabulous wealth.

At around the same time the Ottoman Turks were emerging as the main power in the region and were seeking to unify the

Muslim world under one mighty empire. Forced to face the Turks in battle in 1516, near Aleppo in northern Syria, the

Mamluke army was completely defeated and the following year the Turkish sultan Selim I entered Cairo.

Turkish Period (1517 - 1798)

After the Turkish conquest, Egypt once again became just another far-flung province in a larger empire. Trading revenues and

taxes went back to Constantinople and local administration was left to the Mamlukes, who retained considerable power in the

form of local lords known as beys. In time the Turkish hold over Egypt weakened and by 1796 the Ottomans had been push

back out of Egypt by the Mamlukes, only to be replaced two years later by a new world power, Napoleon and the French

army.

French Period (1798 - 1802)

In an attempt to disrupt commerce and weaken British control over India, the French decided to land its fleet at Alexandria in

1798. Napoleon’s musket-armed forces quickly defeated the Mamlukes and took control of Cairo, proclaiming the liberation

of Egypt and setting up a French style government. Less than a month later the British, under Admiral Nelson destroyed the

exposed French fleet at the bay of Abu Qir and soon after the Ottomans sent an army to recapture Egypt, and with the aid of

Britain forced the French to surrender in 1801. Under the Capitulation Agreement all the treasures gathered by the French

were surrendered to the British, including the Rosetta stone (that depicted inscriptions in both Greek and Egyptian

hieroglyphics), which now resides in the British Museum.

Mohammed Ali and his heirs (1805 - 1882)

After the expulsion of the French, Mohammed Ali, an Ottoman army officer, forced his way to control over Egypt, and in

1805 was confirmed as Pasha by the Ottoman Empire. He promptly set about smashing the remaining Mamlukes power

structure starting with the bloody massacre of nearly 500 beys after a feast at his citadel in Cairo. Although often barbaric in

his actions, Mohammed Ali is widely credited with modernising Egypt. He introduced a public education system, large-scale

cotton production, and built factories, railways and canals.

After his death in 1849 his successors continued with grand projects of social and industrial reform, the grandest of which was

the construction of the Suez Canal, which opened to great international acclaim in 1869. To fund these ever more ambitious

projects, Khedive Ismail (1863 - 1879) relied upon larger and larger loans from the British bankers. They advanced sums of

money, and at such extortionately high interest rates, that Egypt could never hope to repay them, and this provided Britain

with a convenient excuse in 1882 to announce that, until Egypt could repay its debts, it was taking control of the country.

British Period (1882 - 1952)

The British allowed the heirs of Mohammed Ali to remain on the throne but to all intents and purposes power was in the hands

of the British. Under the illusion of putting things in order and then leaving, the British soon tightened its control over Egypt

and by 1917 had declared it a British protectorate. This action was precipitated by the outbreak of the First World War and

Turkey, who still considered Egypt as a province of the Ottoman Empire, deciding to side with the Germans.

Following the war anti-British feeling increased, leading to riots in 1922 and, under King Farouk, the move to independence

gathered pace. However, the outbreak of the Second World War halted Egypt’s move to complete independence.

During World War II the deserts of Egypt played an important strategic role for the British against Rommel and his Afrika

Korps, who almost reached Alexandria before being repulsed by the Eighth Army, under General Montgomery, at the battle of

El-Alamein in October 1942. Throughout the war the Egyptians had seen the Germans as potential liberators from the British,

and collaborators included future presidents Nasser and Sadat.

After the war anti-British riots resumed and the formation of Israel in 1948, with the resulting military defeat of the Arab

forces, eventually led to revolution in 1952, in which a group of army officers, led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, seized

power, forcing King Farouk to abdicate.

Modern Egypt (1952 - present day)

In 1953 Egypt was declared a republic, and elections in 1956 confirmed Nasser as the countries first president. Almost

immediately he forced the British once and for all to give ups its attempts to control the Suez Canal - and subsequently

nationalised the canal. He also secured finance for construction of the Aswan High Dam and to rearm the Egyptian army.

Other communist style reforms were introduced, like the nationalisation of land and other private assets, and Nasser forged

new and closer links with the Soviet Union.

Increasing anti-Israeli rhetoric and support for the Palestinians culminated in 1967 by Egypt moving troops into the UN

controlled Sinai Peninsular; this triggered a pre-emptive strike by Israel, which wiped out the entire Egyptian air force in a

surprise attack. The following Six Day War saw a humiliating defeat. Elsewhere in Egypt radical progress in education and

health care and increases in land cultivation and power production from the Aswan Dam had to be tempered by an intolerant,

heavily bureaucratic soviet style political system. Nasser’s sudden death from a heart attack in 1970 came as a profound shock

throughout the entire Arab world and his funeral procession in Cairo was the largest the country had ever seen.

Vice president Anwar Sadat succeeded Nasser and was confirmed as president of Egypt in October 1970. His main objective

was social reform and economic decentralisation, but this was soon overshadowed again by military developments. Allied

with Jordan and Syria, Egypt launched an attack on the Israeli controlled Sinai Peninsular in October (the Yom Kippur War)

1973. Although defeated again, the Egyptians regained a strip of land east of the Suez Canal, and extensive post war changes

were undertaken by the Sadat government. Political prisoners were released, press censorship lifted, and some political

parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, were allowed.

Sadat’s economic policies also helped to encourage foreign investment and reduce the states role in the countries economy.

These reforms and a general opening to the west, and in particular the US, culminated in the 1978 Camp David Agreement.

Egypt recognised Israel’s right to exist and in return the Israelis agreed to withdraw from the Sinai. This treaty did nothing to

resolve the Palestinian issue and caused outrage in the Arab community, to such and extent that the Arab League Council

withdrew its ambassadors from Egypt. At home the Islamic Brotherhood protested against growing economic problems and

the Camp David Agreement and the subsequent clamp down by Sadat led, unsurprisingly, to his assassination by Islamic

militants in October 1981.

Sadat’s successor Hosni Mubarak, a former air force general and vice-president, carried out an obvious crackdown on

suspected Islamic extremist, and managed to successfully balance home and foreign policies whilst still honouring the Israeli

treaty. In 1990 the Arab League returned its headquarters to Cairo and for over a decade it seemed as if Mubarak had

managed to keep the extremists under control.

However, this all changed in the early 1990s after a number of bomb and gun attacks against tourists. Another crackdown by

the government succeeded in pushing the extremists back to their religious heartland of middle Egypt, but the 1997 Luxor

massacre, in which 58 tourists were gunned down at the temple of Hatshepsut, provoked international condemnation and

plummeting tourists figures. A partial recovery in tourist numbers was setback again in 2001 by the September 11th terrorist

attacks but today, 2004, tourist numbers are well on the way to complete recovery.

The social and economic situation in Egypt is still far from ideal and continuing bribery scandals, rising inflation, and

widespread poverty will provide ample challenges for any future governments. However, the country's immensely rich history

and numerous monuments continue to bring huge numbers of tourists and foreign currency into the country, and new projects

such as the Toshka Project which aims to irrigate and bring into development a huge area to the west of the Nile in southern

Egypt, give a positive look to the future.

Islamic Egypt Time-line After Bosworth 1980 The Orthodox or Rightly-Guided Caliphs AD 632-661 (AH 11-40) death of the Prophet Mohamed in Medina AH 11 (AD 632) succeeded by four of his Companions, related by blood or marriage to the Prophet, each taking the title Caliph, in Arabic Khalifa meaning 'he who follows behind, successor': •Abu Bakr 11/632 •Umar bin al-Khattab 13/634 •Uthman bin Affan 23/644 •Ali bin Abi Talib 35-40 Under the second Caliph, the Arab armies were organised to attack the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires; under his rule, the Arab general Amr overwhelmed the Byzantine forces in Egypt. The Umayyad Caliphs AD 661-750 (AH 41-132) centre of rule: Damascus 41/661 Muawiya I bin Abi Sufyan 60/680 Yazid I 64/683 Muawiya II 64/684 Marwan I bin al-Hakam 65/685 Abd al-Malik 86/705 al-Walid I

96/715 Sulaiman 99/717 Umar bin Abd al-Aziz 101/720 Yazid II 105/724 Hisham 125/743 al-Walid II 126/744 Yazid III 126/744 Ibrahim 127-132/744-750 Marwan II al-Himar The Abbasid Caliphs centre of rule: Baghdad The Abbasid Caliphs ruled the Islamic world at first in full force, and then as increasingly nominal religious leaders, until finally the Ottoman Turks assumed leadership of the Islamic world on their conquest of Egypt (AD 1517) and Syria. From 868 onwards, the power of the caliphs over Egypt was interrupted by the following dynasties: •Tulunids 868-905 • Ikhshidids 935-969 •Fatimids 969-1171, adherents of the Shiite branch of Islam •Ayyubids 1169-1252, the dynasty of Saladin •Mamluks, Bahri line 1250-1389 •Mamluks, Burgi line 1382-1517 In 1517 the line of the Mamluks and their Abbasid Caliphs ended with the

Ottoman Turkish conquest of Egypt. List of the Abbasid Caliphs 132/749 as-Saffah 136/754 al-Mansur 158/775 al-Mahdi 170/786 Harun ar-Rashid 193/809 al-Amin 198/813 al-Mamun 201-3/817-9 Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi in Baghdad 218/833 al-Mutasim 227/842 al-Wathiq 232/847 al-Mutawakkil 247/861 al-Muntasir 248/862 al-Mustain 252/866 al-Mutazz 255/869 al-Muhtadi 256/870 al-Mutamid 279/892 al-Mutadid 289/902 al-Muktafi 295/908 al-Muqtadir 320/932 al-Qahir 322/934 ar-Radi 329/940 al-Muttaqi 333/944 al-Mustakfi 334/946 al-Muti

363/974 at-Tai 381/991 al-Qadir 422/1031 al-Qaim 467/1075 al-Muqtadi 487/1094 al-Mustazhir 512/1118 al-Mustarshid 529/1135 ar-Rashid 530/1136 al-Muqtafi 555/1160 al-Mustanjid 566/1170 al-Mustadi 575/1180 an-Nasir 622/1225 az-Zahir 632/1226 al-Mustansir 640-56/1242-1258 al-Mustasim In 656/1258 the Mongols sacked Baghdad, and Hulegu murdered al-Mustasim. Shortly afterwards, the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in Cairo installed an Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, legitimating the new Mamluk rule over Egypt and Syria. The line of Abbasid Caliphs continued at Cairo under Mamluk rule (659-923/1261-1517). 659/1261 al-Mustansir 660/1261 al-Hakim I 701/1302 al-Mustakfi I 740/1340 al-Wathiq I 741/1341 al-Hakim I

753/1352 al-Mutadid I 763/1362 al-Mutawakkil I first time 779/1377 al-Mutasim first time 779/1377 al-Mutawakkil I second time 785/1383 al-Wathiq II 788/1386 al-Mutasim second time 791/1389 al-Mutawakkil I third time 808/1406 al-Mustain 816/1414 al-Mutadid II 845/1441 al-Mustakfi II 855/1451 al-Qaim 859/1455 al-Mustanjid 884/1479 al-Mutawakkil II 903/1497 al-Mustamsik first time 914/1508 al-Mutawakkil III first time 922/1516 al-Mustamsik second time 923/1517 al-Mutawakkil III second time The Tulunids 254/868 Ahmad bin Tulun 270/884 Khumarawayh 282/896 Jaysh

283/896 Harun 292/905 Shauban The Tulunids were the first separate dynasty to rule over Egypt, which they controlled together with Syria. The reign of the first in the dynasty, Ibn Tulun, marks a high point in Egyptian history. Of Turkish origin, he rose to power from his position as deputy governor. The dynasty ruled from Fustat, on the south side of the later city of Cairo. In 905 Tulunid independence was ended with the conquest by the general Muhammad bin Sulayman fighting for the Abbasid Caliph. The Ikhshidids 323/935 Muhammad bin Tughj al-Ikhshid 344/946 Unujur 349/961 Ali 355/966 Kafur, originally regent for Ali 357-8/968-9 Ahmad The first Ikhshidid ruler, Muhammad bin Tughj, was of Turkish military origins, and rose to power from his position as governor of Egypt in 323/935, for which the Abbasid Caliph ar-Radi gave him the title Ikhshid (an Iranian title signifying 'prince' or 'ruler'). After his death the effective ruler of Egypt was the Nubian slave Kafur.

In 969 Ikhshidid rule was extinguished after the death of Kafur by the Fatimid conquest in 969. The Fatimids The power of this dynasty originated in central North Africa, moving to take over Egypt and Syria after 969. The following list gives all rulers of the dynasty. map showing the size of the Fatimid caliphate. UC 40775 woodwork for decoration of the Fatimid palace in Cairo (click on the image for a larger picture) 297/909 Ubaydallah al-Mahdi 322/934 al-Qaim 334/946 al-Mansur 365/975 al-Muizz 386/996 al-Hakim 411/ 427/ 487/ 495/ 524/1130 interregnum - rule by al-Hafiz as regent before he took the title Caliph 525/1131 al-Hafiz 544/1149 az-Zafir

549/1154 al-Faiz 555-567/1160-1171 al-Adid The Fatimid rulers were adherents of the Shiite branch of Islam, in opposition to the Sunni branch expounded by the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad, and the Fatimids proclaimed themselves rival Caliphs. They founded the city of Cairo, and ruled from there. During their time, the First Crusade established Western Christian kingdoms in the Levant. Despite this, the age of Fatimid rule was one of great prosperity, and the new city of Cairo came to outshine the older centres of the Islamic world, Damascus and Baghdad. Fatimid rule was ended by Saladin, who restored Sunni Islam at the highest level. The Ayyubids crusader coin (click on the image for a larger picture) 564/935 al-Malik an-Nasir I Salah ad-Din (Saladin) 589/1193 al-Malik al-Aziz Imad-ad-Din 595/1198 al-Malik al-Mansur Nasir ad-Din 596/1200 al-Malik al-Adil I Sayf-ad-Din 615/1218 al-Malik al-Kamil I Nasir ad-Din

635/1238 al-Malik al-Adil II Sayf-ad-Din 637/1240 al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyub 647/1249 al-Malik al-Muazzam Tarun-Shah 648-650/1250-1252 al-Malik al-Ashraf II Muzaffar ad-Din The first Ayyubid ruler was Saladin, of Kurdish origin, famous for reconquering Jerusalem from the Crusaders (victory at Hattin 583/1187), and for his humane treatment of all his subjects. The Ayyubids eventually lost power to their Mamluk slave troops in Egypt and elsewhere. The Bahri Mamluks UC 25409 (click on the image for a larger picture) 648/1250 Shajar ad-Durr 648/1250 al-Muizz Izz-ad-Din Aybak 655/1257 al-Mansur Nur ad-Din Ali 657/1259 al-Muzaffar Sayf ad-Din Qutuz 658/1260 az-Zahir Rukn-ad-Din Baybars I al-Bunduqdari

676/1277 as-Said Nasir-ad-Din Baraka Khan 678/1280 al-Adil Badr-ad-Din Salamish 678/1280 al-Mansur Sayf-ad-Din Qalaun al-Alfi 689/1290 al-Ashraf Salah-ad-Din Khalil 693/1294 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad first reign 694/1295 al-Adil Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha 696/1297 al-Mansur Husam-ad-Din Lahin 698/1299 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad second reign 708/1309 al-Muzaffar Rukn-ad-Din Baybars II al-Jashankir 709/1309 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad third reign 741/1340 al-Mansur Sayf-ad-Din Abu-Bakr 742/1341 al-Ashraf Alah-ad-Din Kujuk 743/1342 an-Nasir Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad 743/1342 as-Salih Imad-ad-Din Ismail 746/1345 al-Kamil Sayf ad-Din Shaban I 747/1346 al-Muzaffar Sayf-ad-Din Hajji I 748/1347 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan first reign

752/1351 as-Salih Salah-ad-Din Salih 755/1354 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan second reign 762/1361 al-Mansur Salah-ad-Din Muhammad 764/1363 al-Ashraf Nasir-ad-Din Shaban II 778/1376 al-Mansur Alah-ad-Din Ali 783/1382 as-Salih Salah-ad-Din Hajji I first reign 784/1382 az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq (Burgi) 791/1289 Hajji II second reign (with honorific title al-Muzaffar or al-Mansur) The Burgi Mamluks 784/1382 az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq first reign 791/1289 Hajji II second reign (Bahri) 792/1390 az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq second reign 801/1399 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Faraj first reign 808/1405 al-Mansur Izz-ad-Din Abd-al-Aziz 808/1405 an-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Faraj second reign 815/1412 al-Adil al-Mustain (Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, proclaimed Sultan)

815/1412 al-Muayyad Sayf-ad-Din Tatar 824/1421 al-Muzaffar Ahmad 824/1421 az-Zahir Sayf-ad-Din Tatar 824/1421 as-Salih Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad 825/1422 al-Ashraf Sayf-ad-Din Barsbay 841/1437 al-Aziz Jamal-ad-Din Yusuf 842/1438 az-Zahir Sayf-ad-Din Jaqmaq 857/1453 al-Mansur Fakhr-ad-Din Uthman 857/1453 al-Ashraf Sayf-ad-Din Inal 865/1461 al-Muayyad Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad 865/1461 az-Zahir Sayf-ad-Din Khushqadam 872/1467 az-Zahir Sayf-ad-Din Bilbay 872/1467 az-Zahir Timurbugha 872/1468 al-Ashraf Sayf-ad-Din Qait Bay 901/1496 an-Nasir Muhammad 903/1498 az-Zahir Qansuh 905/1500 al-Ashraf Janbalat 906/1501 al-Adil Sayf-ad-Din Tuman Bay

906/1501 al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri 922/1516 al-Ashraf Tuman Bay The Mamluks were originally troops of slave status enlisted to sustain Ayyubid power. After they took control of Egypt, they achieved the reconquest of the last of the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant, and defeated the Mongols at the critical battle of Ayn Jalut (658/1260). The Mamluks are divided into an earlier group called the Bahri Mamluks, and a later group, the Burgi Mamluks; the Bahri Mamluks were originally soldiers based on Roda Island by Cairo, on the Nile (Bahr), while the Burgi Mamluks were associated with the Citadel (al-Burj). The Bahri Mamluks derived largely from Qipchaq tribesmen in what is now southern Russia, with Mongols and Kurds; the Burgi Mamluks were mainly Circassians, from the Caucasus mountains. There was a tendency for sons of the family, after two or three generations, to move into professions other than the military; the military stock was continually replaced with new troops of slave status from those areas. Mamluk rule ended with the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Ottoman rulers of Egypt astrolabe

(click on the image for a larger picture and more information) In 1517 Selim I conquered Egypt. Until the relative autonomy of the Muhammad Ali dynasty in the nineteenth century, Egypt remained a part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Until the proclamation of the kingdom in 1914, Egypt was still nominally under Ottoman rule. The following list gives the Ottoman rulers on the throne between 1517 and 1914. The capital of the Ottoman Empire was Istanbul, the new name for Byzantium/Constantinople, conquered by the Ottomans in 1453. 918/1512 Selim I Yuvaz ('the Grim') 926/1520 Sulayman II Qanuni ('the Law-Giver', in European history known as 'the Magnificent') 974/1566 Selim II 982/1574 Murad III 1003/1595 Muhammad III 1012/1603 Ahmad I 1026/1617 Mustafa I first reign 1027/1618 Uthman II 1031/1622 Mustafa I second reign

1032/1623 Murad IV 1049/1640 Ibrahim 1058/1648 Muhammad IV 1099/1687 Sulayman III 1102/1691 Ahmad II 1106/1695 Mustafa II 1115/1703 Ahmad III 1143/1730 Mahmud I 1168/1754 Uthman III 1171/1757 Mustafa III 1187/1774 Abd al-Hamid I 1203/1789 Selim III 1222/1807 Mustafa IV 1223/1808 Mahmud II 1255/1839 Abd-al-Majid I 1277/1861 Abd-al-Aziz 1293/1876 Murad V 1293/1876 Abd-al-Hamid II 1327/1909 Mohammad V Rashad The line of Muhammad Ali (Khedival Period) 1220/1805 Muhammad Ali Pasha 1264/1848 Ibrahim Pasha 1264/1848 Abbas I Pasha 1270/1854 Said Pasha

1280/1863 Ismail (Khedive from 1284/1867) 1296/1879 Tawfiq 1309/1892 Abbas II Hilmi 1333/1914 Husayn Kamil (Sultan) 1335/1917 Ahmad Fuad I (king from 1340/1922) 1355/1936 Faruq 1371-1372/1952-1953 Fuad II Muhamad Ali was of Turkish Albanian origin, and came to Egypt as part of the Ottoman forces sent to expel the French Revolutionary expedition of 1798-1801. He rose to power, removing the Mamluk ruling class, and obtained the title Pasha as governor of Egypt. He led the modernisation of Egyptian agriculture, medicine and technology. His son Ismail was given the title Khedive (of Iranian origin). As a kingdom, Egypt became independent of the Ottoman Empire. However, from 1882 there was an occupying British military force in the country, and British Protectorate status only ended in 1922. Full independence was secured by the revolution of 1952, forcing the abdication of king Faruq, with the abolition of the monarchy a year later. Since 1953 Egypt has been an independent republic.

Islamic history of Egypt - Tulunids, Ekhshidits, Fatimids Caliph & Ayyubids

History of islamic Egypt, during The Tulunids, The Ekhshidits, The Fatimids Caliph & The Ayyubids, beside Salah el Din

rule and Mamluks state.

Prehistory

After the period of pharaohs the Persians replaced the country about 340 years before Christ. But the Persians were

themselves overthrown by Alexander the great, who conquered Egypt about 332 B.C. The Ptolemy's ruled the country from

this time till 27 B.C. when Augustus replaced Egypt after defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antonio in Acteum, finally the mighty

Romans. But with the crumbling of the Roman empire, the Byzantine arose which ruled until the Arab Islamic wave spread

over the region. The Arab leader Amr Ibn Al Aas conquered Egypt in 641 A.D., and end the Byzantine ruling of Egypt. From

that date Egypt became an Islamic province ruled by deputy of Caliph. He build the 1st Mosque, established new city and

gave it the named of Al Fustat (tent).

The Tulunids dynasty ( 868 - 905 A.D. )

The founder of this dynasty Ahmed Ibn Tulun has Turkish origin. He became a leader in Abbasids army, then came to Egypt

and was appointed as a deputy of Al Mostaaen Abbasid Caliph. He also established a new city ( Al Qataii ) and built one more

Mosque. He made Egypt independent from Abbasid Caliph.

The Ekhshidits dynasty( 935 - 969 A.D. )

The founder of this dynasty is Mohamed Ibn Taghg Al Ekhshidi, he also made Egypt independent from the Abbasid Caliph.

Egypt under the rule of his son and successor became very powerful and wealthy. The main event at this time was the

legendary wedding party of his daughter Qater El Nada and Caliph's son.

The Fatimids Caliph dynasty ( 969 - 1171 A.D. )

The Fatimids are a Shi'a dynasty originating from North Africa that ruled Egypt from 969 till 1171 A.D. Faithful followers of

Caliph Ali, the fourth "Rightly Guided Caliph" in Islam, Fatimids rivaled the Abbasid dynasty to rule the Islamic world, by

claiming their rightful legacy to the Caliphate based on their direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad. The Fatimids first

action was to lay the foundation of a new fortified royal city al-Qahira (Cairo ). The last Fatimidian Caliph was only eighteen

when the Seljuks captured Cairo. The Seljuks who came originally form Central Asia had already conquered Syria and

Palestine and established their Capital in Damascus. By 1168, Egypt had become a battle ground between the Seljuks and the

Crusaders, with the Fatimids having virtually little or no control, although they sided mostly with the Crusaders.

Ayyubids dynasty (1171 - 1250 A.D.)

It was in 1168 when the victorious Shirkoh entered Cairo and was named governor of Egypt by the Sultan of Damascus,

Noor-el-Din. When he died a year later, his nephew was immediately appointed as the next governor. He was young - in his

early thirties - and full of will. Quickly he became one of the most famous figures in Medieval history. His name was Salah-

el-Din the Ayyubid, better known in Western history as Saladin. The young general is one of the few commanders in history

who are tremendously respected by their friends and enemies alike. When he took control over Cairo, the Fatimids remained

isolated in their palaces. Saladin did not seek revenge, but rather waited until their Caliph died. Then he expelled the Fatimids

out of their palaces and sent them to exile.

Salah el Din and his rule

Unlike his successors, the young general did not seize the Fatimid's wealth, nor did he occupy their palaces. Like a caring

ruler, he opened the gates of Cairo and allowed Egyptian citizens to live within the city walls in areas which had been

exclusively occupied by Fatimid royalty. Because of his sincerity and kindness, he became popular among Egyptian citizens -

Moslems and Christians alike - and even had a Jewish personal doctor And when he later fought Richard the Lion-heart,

legend goes that Saladin ordered his horsemen to carry ice down the mountain to comfort the British King when he was sick.

In Cairo Saladin not only built mosques and palaces (in fact he did not build a palace for himself), but also colleges, hospitals

and a fortress, the Citadel, which still remains one of Cairo's landmarks to this day. Unfortunately, it is to be taken against him

and his successors that they used some of the Pyramids stones to meet the excessive need for building materials in the

growing city. The Citadel was built on a elevated spot near the the Muqattam Hills, and occupies a strategic spot from which

you can, to this day, have a panoramic view of Cairo. New city walls were also erected outside the Fatimid walls to defend

Cairo from enemy raids. n 1182, Saladin marched to Palestine and Syria and never returned to Cairo. For the next 10 years, he

fought the Crusaders and managed to end their presence in the region, at least temporarily. When he died in Damascus in

1193, he had almost no personal possessions, but he earned himself a remarkable place in history. He was succeeded in Egypt

by his brother Al-Adel who had to deal with an infamous famine and plague. Al-Adel was in turn succeeded by his son, Al-

Kamel who befriend Frederick II, and was even knighted in 1192 by Richard the Lionheart. The Ayyubids (Saladin's house)

rule came to an end when Al-Kamel's nephew, Al-Saleh, died in 1250. The short rule of his wife, Shagaret-el-Dorr, marked

the beginning of a new era, when the slaves known as the Mamelouks ruled Egypt. The Ayyubids were succeeded by the two

consecutive Mamluk reigns.

Mamluks state (1250 -1517 A.D. )

A succession of strong Mamluk sultans, originally Mamluk slaves based on barracks in Rhoda Island and hence named Bahri

(Arabic for river), who took over control of Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1382 A.D. Their reign was characterized by relative

stability and prosperity on the internal arena and powerful military control on the external level defeating enemy threats. The

turbulent Circassian Mamluk regime that took over the Bahri Mamluks from 1382 to 1517 A.D. was also known as Burgi

Mamluk since they were based in the towers (Burg) of the Citadel. The reign was characterized by epidemic outbreaks, heavy

taxation to make up for the decline in revenues that followed the discovery of a new trade route to India.