Al-Hakim’s son ruled after him, then his grandson al-Mustansir.
Caliph al-Mustansir ruled for sixty years in Cairo, starting when he was only an infant. His reign was the longest among Muslim rulers, but he controlled only Egypt, rather than an empire. And during his years, Egypt fell on very hard times. Between 1065 and 1072, the Nile had seven years of low water, creating poverty and famine. Berber rebellions and raids made things worse. Country villages were abandoned as survivors of famine, plague and raiding moved closer to each other.
Caliph Mustansir’s treasury was drained to pay Turkish mercenaries to fight the Berbers. Perhaps Mustansir’s lowest point was when the mercenaries rebelled and looted the palace and libraries in 1069. The Caliph went into hiding and sent a message to the only man he thought could save him: an Armenian Mamluk general named Badr al-Jamali, who was out on the Fatimid front lines in Syria, trying to hold back Abbasid-serving Turks. Badr led Armenian troops into Cairo, retaking the city in 1074. He became the Vizier, ruler in all but title. For twenty years, Egypt became stable.
But in 1094, both Badr and al-Mustansir died. Badr died first, and provided for his son al-Afdal to succeed him as Vizier. When the Caliph died just months later, al-Afdal seized the moment. The Caliph’s younger son was Afdal’s brother-in-law and under his influence. He placed the young man on the throne, proclaiming him Caliph al-Musta’li. He got all of the nobles to swear allegiance.
Nizar, the older son, had been the designated heir. He fled to Alexandria, where some anti-Badr factions lived. Alexandria proclaimed him Caliph and Imam in 1095. (Archeologists have found a single gold dinar minted for the occasion, with his name on it.) The usual story: a few battles later, Nizar was captured then executed in Cairo.
But this proved to be one of those defining moments in history, when millions of believers throughout Egypt, Syria and Persia refused to countenance what had been done through military strength. Hasan Sabah, chief Ismaili da’i in Persia, immediately announced their support of Nizar’s rights as true Imam. Sabah cut diplomatic ties with Cairo and founded a small Nizari Ismaili state based in mountain strongholds.
Fatimid Ismailis had two splinters at this point, the Druze and the Nizaris. The Druze were insular and secretive, while the Nizaris were still evangelical. Both groups survived by building in mountain strongholds. The Nizari state later began sending out suicide terrorists, the famous Assassins. It wasn’t more than a few years until the first assassinations took place.
- A Short History of the Ismailis by Farhad Daftary
- The Assassins by Bernard Lewis