Aziz al-Dawla

ʿAzīz al-Dawla Abu Shuja' Fātik al-Waḥīdī
Fatimid Governor of Aleppo
In office October 1016 – 6 July 1022
Appointed by	Al-Hakim
Lieutenant	Abu'l-Najm Badr (governor of citadel)
Preceded by	Fath al-Qal'i
Succeeded by	Abu'l-Najm Badr

ʿAzīz al-Dawla Abū Shujāʿ Fātik al-Waḥīdī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Rūmī, better known simply as Aziz al-Dawla (d. 1022), was the first Fatimid governor of Aleppo in 1016/17–1022. An ethnic Armenian, Aziz al-Dawla started his political career as a trusted ghulam (military slave) of Manjutakin al-Azizi, the Fatimid governor of Damascus during the reign of Caliph al-Hakim (996–1021). The latter appointed Aziz al-Dawla governor of Aleppo, which experienced prosperity during his rule.

By 1020, Aziz al-Dawla was acting independent of al-Hakim's authority by issuing coins in his name and having his political sovereignty declared in Friday prayers. When al-Hakim sent an army to force Aziz al-Dawla into submission, the latter appealed for Byzantine support, but canceled the appeal when al-Hakim mysteriously disappeared in early 1021. Afterward, the Fatimid court attempted to reconcile with Aziz al-Dawla, who nonetheless moved to secure his rule by building a well-fortified palace at the foot of the Aleppo's citadel. In July 1022, Aziz al-Dawla was murdered in his sleep by one of his ghulams (slave soldier) in a plot devised by another of his ghulams, Abu'l-Najm Badr, with likely backing from al-Hakim's virtual successor, Sitt al-Mulk. Badr briefly succeeded Aziz al-Dawla as governor, but was arrested three months later.

Aziz al-Dawla was an ethnic Armenian and a ghulam (military slave) of Manjutakin al-Azizi, the Fatimid governor of Damascus, during the reign of Caliph al-Hakim (r. 996–1021). The 12th-century historian Ibn al-Adim wrote that Manjutakin highly favored Aziz al-Dawla and described him as wise, courageous and generous. Aziz al-Dawla was a Muslim, and the 15th-century historian al-Maqrizi described Aziz al-Dawla as "intelligent and pious".

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