Al-Mansuriya
|
El-Mansuriya المنصورية |
|
|---|---|
 El-Mansuriya
|
|
| Coordinates: 35°39′29″N 10°06′50″E / 35.65806°N 10.11389°ECoordinates: 35°39′29″N 10°06′50″E / 35.65806°N 10.11389°E | |
| Country | Ifriqiya |
| Province | Tunisia |
| Founded by | Ismail al-Mansur |
El-Mansuriya or Mansuriya (Arabic: المنصورية ), near Kairouan, Tunisia, was the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate during the rules of the Ismaili Shia Muslim Imams al-Mansur Billah (r. 946–953) and al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (r. 953–975).
Built between 946 and 972, el-Mansuriya was a walled city holding elaborate palaces surrounded by gardens, artificial pools and water channels. For a short period el-Mansuriya was the center of a powerful state encompassing most of North Africa and Sicily. It continued to serve as provincial capital of the Zirids until 1057, when it was destroyed by the invading Banu Hilal tribes. Any useful objects or relics were scavenged during the centuries that followed. Today only faint traces remain.
The Fatimid Caliphate originated in an Ismaili Shia movement launched in Syria by Abd Allah al-Akbar. He claimed descent through Ismail, the seventh Shia imam, from the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. The Fatimid Dynasty is named after Fatimah. In 899 Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah became leader of the movement. He fled from his enemies to Sijilmasa in Morocco, where he proselytized under the guise of being a merchant. El-Mahdi was supported by a noble man named Abu Abdullah al-Shi'i, who organized a Berber uprising that overthrew the Tunisian Aghlabid dynasty, and then invited el-Mahdi to assume the position of imam and caliph. A new capital was established at Mahdia. The Fatimid Caliphate grew to include Sicily and to stretch across North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to Libya.
...
Wikipedia