Barjuwan

Abū'l-Futūh Barjawān al-Ustādh (died March/April 1000) was a eunuch palace official who became the prime minister (wāsiṭa) and de facto regent of the Fatimid Caliphate in October 997, and held the position until his assassination. Of obscure origin, Barjawan became the tutor of heir-apparent al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who became caliph in 996 with the death of al-Aziz Billah. On al-Hakim's coronation, power was seized by the Kutama Berbers, who tried to monopolize government and clashed with their rivals, the Turkish slave-soldiers. Allied with disaffected Berber leaders, Barjawan was able to seize the reins of government for himself in 997. His tenure was marked by a successful balancing act between the Berbers and the Turks, as well as the rise of men of diverse backgrounds, promoted under his patronage. Militarily, Barjawan was successful in restoring order to the Fatimids' restive Levantine and Libyan provinces, and set the stage for an enduring truce with the Byzantine Empire. The concentration of power in his hands and his overbearing attitude alienated al-Hakim, however, who ordered him assassinated and thereafter assumed the governance of the caliphate himself.

Barjawan's origin is obscure: in his biographical dictionary, Ibn Khallikan records him as a Black African, whereas the historians Ibn al-Qalanisi and al-Maqrizi assert that he was white, with al-Maqrizi further specifying that he was either a Sicilian (Siqillī) or a Slav (Saqlabī), as both versions appear in the manuscripts of his work. A eunuch, he was brought up as a slave in the court of Caliph al-Aziz Billah (r. 975–996), under whom he became court intendant. Already before the death of al-Aziz, Barjawan was appointed tutor of the Caliph's son and heir Mansur, the future al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, whence he is also mentioned with the title of ustādh, "master", often born by eunuch preceptors of princes. In 996, Bajarwan accompanied his charge to Bilbays, where al-Aziz, in the midst of preparing an expedition against the Byzantine Empire, had fallen ill and was approaching death. According to the chroniclers, upon al-Aziz's death, Bajarwan rushed to find his pupil. Finding him playing in a tree, he placed a jewelled turban on his head, and kissed the ground before him while saluting him as "Commander of the Faithful".

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