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Text | Historic Exploration
Edit | Historic Exploration
Soon after the establishment of the Fatimid dynasty, the first monarch Obaidullah, who proclaimed himself caliphate, began the first round of expansion under his leadership, launching attacks on Egypt in the east, Morocco in the west, and Sicily in the north.
The three subsequent caliphs of Qa'im, al-Mansur, and al-Muyiz continued this expansionist policy.
By 969 AD, on the eve of the conquest of Egypt, the Fatimids had become one of the most powerful empires in the Mediterranean, stretching from Cyrenaica in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, Sicily in the north and the Sahara in the south.
1. The Eastern Crusade to Egypt
The fertile and fertile region of Egypt is unique in the Middle East, attracting numerous external powers to develop in this region from ancient times to the present.
Four generations of monarchs, from 'Obaidullah to Muyiz, waged four wars of conquest in 912, 919, 936, and 969 AD to control Egypt, becoming a prime example of the early Fatimid expansion.
The first and third crusades of the Maghreb were large-scale and had a certain influence on the development of the dynasty.
After quelling the rebellion of Abu Abdullah and some of the leaders of the Kitama tribe, 'Ubaidullah decided to send an army to conquer the rich region of Egypt.
In 912, 'Ubaidullah appointed his eldest son, Qayim, as commander-in-chief of the army, and the Berber chieftains Zazvia and Hubasa as the de facto commanders of the army.
In 913, the army marched from Ifrikiye and captured the city of Barka, an important town in Cyrenaica near present-day Benghazi, in early 914.
In August of the same year, the army marched under the city of Alexandria by land and sea, and conquered the city immediately.
In the ensuing attack on the Egyptian capital of Fustat, they were defeated by the main force of the Abbasid army, which rushed to help, and in 915 the Fatimid army withdrew from Egypt and returned to Ifrikiyah.
Prior to the evacuation, Qayim gave a large public speech in Alexandria, creating a better image of the Fatimid caliphate.
On the surface, the crusade to Egypt was a failed military operation, but there were many reasons for its failure, one of which was the internal political struggle of the early Fatimids.
As a result, the military operation was ill-prepared, and this lack of preparation became even more pronounced in the course of the attack on Egypt proper.
In 919 AD, the Fatimids sent an army to Egypt for the second time, with Crown Prince Qa'im still in command.
However, unlike the relatively smooth march of the First Crusade, this time the Fatimid army was strongly resisted by the Abbasid army, and not only on land, but even engaged in a naval battle of a certain scale off the coast of Alexandria.
In addition, an outbreak of a plague within the Crusade led to a significant decline in the army's combat effectiveness, so the Second Crusade ended in a hasty defeat for the Fatimids.
In 936 A.D., the newly succeeded caliph al-Qa'im attempted to make a career when he sent his army to Egypt for the third time as he was the commander of the first two crusades.
In terms of the number and quality of the army, there was not much difference between this crusade and the previous two times, but the changes in the international environment seemed to tilt the balance in favor of the Fatimids.
After ensuring the stability of the external environment, the Fatimids marched eastward by land and water, and the siege of Alexandria was carried out smoothly in the early days of the march, followed by the Fatimid army marching on the Egyptian capital of Fustat.
However, in 935, Muhammad ibn Touré entered Egypt with only his own troops, quickly consolidating the large and small forces in Egypt, and the Turkic army that Touré only possessed was much higher in technical and tactical skills than the Berber army of the Fatimids.
In November 936, Tourch's brother Ubaydra led an army to defeat the main Fatimid army near Fustat, and then marched north to regain the city of Alexandria, expelling the Fatimid army.
The tragedy was that there was a large-scale rebellion in Sicily at this time, and the Fatimid navy lost a considerable number of ships.
At the same time, due to the suppression of the rebellion, the main forces of the Fatimid navy had to be concentrated in the Sicilian region, which seriously interfered with the logistical supply of the expeditionary force, which led to the fact that the army had to retreat from Egypt.
It was only after the defeat of the Fatimid army that Muhammad bin Touré founded the semi-independent Ikhshid dynasty in Egypt. For 30 years, the Fatimids' eastward expansion was contained.
On the other hand, due to the revival of the Later Umayyad dynasty and the rebellion of the Berbers in the country, the Fatimids temporarily lost their desire to develop eastward until the Fourth Crusade in 969.
2. The expansion of the Fatimids in Sicily and the Maghreb
Southern Italy was an important result of the Fatimids' development to the north, especially Sicily, which was the core territory of a region, and in contrast to the pattern of modern Italy, Sicily was one of the richest regions in Italy in the 10th century.
Sicily, located at the midpoint of the Mediterranean maritime trade routes, has flourished in commerce since ancient times, and is rich in natural and mineral resources.
The ash emitted by Mount Etna gives Sicily fertile land, and the island's forests are ideal for making ships, making it a valuable strategic resource.
In 910 AD, just one year after the establishment of the Fatimids, they sent an army to Sicily.
At this time, the remnants of the Aghleb dynasty controlled most of Sicily, and with little resistance, the Fatimids took Sicily, with Hassan bin Khazar as the first governor of Sicily.
In 913, a large-scale rebellion broke out in Sicily, initiated by the island's Sunni Muslims, who were said to have the support of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Although the rebellion was widespread, the intensity of the damage was not high, and the impact on the island was small, but the rebellion led to the loss of a large number of ships by the Fatimid navy, which led to problems with the logistical supply of the army fighting in Egypt, which indirectly led to the failure of the military operation.
Under the double blow of defeat in the crusade and naval losses, it was not until 916 that the Fatimids resent troops to Sicily to quell the rebellion.
However, Fatimid rule in Sicily was not successful, and small rebellions occurred from time to time, and in 937, large rebellions broke out again, which were finally put down after four years of war.
With the strong rise of the Fatimids in the Central Mediterranean, the strategic pattern of the Mediterranean region has also begun to change, and a new situation has emerged that has never been seen before.
In 949 CE, there was an unprecedented friendship between the Later Umayyad and the Byzantine Empire, with envoys and gifts exchanged, and an agreement was reached to contain the Fatimids.
In 951, a war broke out between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire in East and West Cily, which lasted for a year, resulting in a defeat for both sides, culminating in an unconditional peace.
In 955, war broke out again over Sicily, which lasted for four years, and both Sicily and Tunisia were attacked.
Even many parts of the city of Mahdia were burned by the Byzantines, and the Fatimid governor in Sicily was killed on the battlefield by the Byzantine Empire.
However, the Byzantine Empire also suffered heavy losses, so the two sides were forced to negotiate peace, and a peace treaty was reached for about five years. In 960, when the Byzantine Empire occupied Crete, the Muslims of Crete appealed to Muyiz for help, and war broke out again.
The war lasted nearly seven years and was unprecedented in scale, with the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phocas conquering Sicily in 964 but suffered a great defeat.
In 967, peace was negotiated, Sicily was completely ceded to the Fatimids, and the war with the Byzantine Empire finally came to an end. The Moroccan region was a key target for the Fatimids' westward expansion.
During the time of 'Ubaidullah, dynastic armies were active in the region, and in 917 A.D., the Idris dynasty was forced to submit to itself, but the situation in the region became complicated by the time of 'Ubaidullah's son Caliph al-Qa'im.
After the accession to the throne of Abd al-Rahman III of the Later Umayyad dynasty, he quelled the rebellion in the country, eliminated the bandits in the mountains, quelled the unrest of the Christians in the south with the policy of gentleness, and at the same time attacked the Christian countries in the north.
Eventually, the country was united, and the monarch was renamed the Caliphate, which later became known as the Caliphate of Córdoba.
The revived post-Umayyad dynasty returned to its expansion, waging war against the Asturian kingdom in the north and using its influence among the Berbers to rallied against the Fatimids in the south.
In 927, the Fatimid dynasty conquered the Idris dynasty again, and in order to contain the Fatimids, the Later Umayyad dynasty crossed the sea to conquer Melilla, which was the first armed conflict between the two sides.
In 931, the capture of Ceuta on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar and the post-Umayyad dynasty in 943 supported the rebellion of the Zanata Berbers, which exacerbated tensions between the two sides.
At this time, the Maghreb Berbers were mainly divided into two major tribal alliances, namely the Sinhaja Tribal Union and the Zanata who decided to raise an army against the Fatimids with the support of the Later Umayyad dynasty.
In 943 A.D., Abu Yazid raised his army, and the Fatimids were caught off guard and routed on all fronts.
In October of the following year, Kairouan was conquered and the city of Mahdia, the capital of the Fatimids, was besieged, and the Fatimids were in danger of losing their country, and even Caliph al-Qa'im died of illness during the siege.
However, Abu Yazid's army continued the Berber tradition of indiscipline and burned and looted along the way, which led to the emergence of armed groups against Abu Yazid, and the Fatimid army fought back, and the rebellion was put down in 947.
After the succession of Caliph al-Muyiz, the contradictions between the Fatimids and the post-Uumayad dynasty intensified, and conflicts broke out directly between the two sides, and the spread of Shiites in the Andalusian region was the reason for the intensification of the contradictions between the two sides.
In 955, the Later Umayyad navy hijacked a ship belonging to the caliph al-Muyiz himself in the Central Mediterranean, which directly angered al-Muyid.
In the same year, a large naval fleet set out from Mansouriya, the capital of the Fatimids, to attack the post-Umayyad military port in Eastern Iberia, the port of Almeria, and inflicted great damage on the city.
The following year, the Later Umayyad dynasty launched a counterattack, attacking several Fatimid coastal cities in the Tunisian region.
In 958, in retaliation for the third large-scale western expedition of the Fatimids in retaliation for the Umayyad dynasty, Muyiz appointed his secretary Chohail Suikili as commander.
The results of this expedition were enormous, as the Fatimids regained control of the Western Maghreb, expelled the Later Umayyad power in North Africa, and regrouped the dynastic army, demonstrating the authority of the caliphate.
The results of the western expedition shocked the Later Umayyad dynasty, and the Cordoban authorities sent envoys to Mansouriya, hoping to form an alliance with the Fatimids against the Byzantine Empire,
Despite the incomprehension of Córdoba's request, the two sides signed a peace treaty, which laid the groundwork for the Fatimid expedition to Egypt.
summary
From 909 A.D., when Abu Abdullah led his army to the west to relieve 'Ubaidullah, to 969, when Muyyiz conquered Egypt.
The Fatimids were guided by the policy of "expansion on all sides" for 60 years, and the Fatimids became a great power in the Mediterranean.
bibliography
[1] Ha Quan'an, History of the Middle East 610-2000, Tianjin People's Publishing House, 2010.
[2] Ha Quan'an, History of Middle Eastern Countries 610-2000 History of Egypt, Tianjin People's Publishing House, 2016.
[3] Harzen'an: "The History of the Harli Nation," Tianjin People's Publishing House, 2016 edition.
[4] 陈志强: 《History of the Imperial Fortune Garden》, Shang 务印书馆, 2017 edition.
[5] 陈志强: "The Imperial History of the Imperial Garden", Shanghai Social Science Publishing House, 2013 edition.
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