Al-Awhad () was the eldest son of the

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

and quasi-

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Badr al-Jamali Abu'l-Najm Badr ibn Abdallah al-Jamali al-Mustansiri, better known as Badr al-Jamali () or by his eventual title as Amir al-Juyush (, ), was a military commander and statesman for the Fatimid Caliphate under Caliph al-Mustansir. Of Armenian origi ...

(). When his father left

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

in 1073 to take power in Egypt, al-Awhad with his mother and siblings were left behind in the city, which shortly after fell to a Turkoman chieftain, Şöglü. While the Turkoman ruler of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Atsiz ibn Uwaq Atsiz ibn Uwaq al-Khwarizmi, also known as al-Aqsis, Atsiz ibn Uvaq, Atsiz ibn Oq and Atsiz ibn Abaq (died October 1079), was a Turkoman mercenary commander who established a principality in Palestine and southern Syria after seizing these from t ...

, demanded their handover, Şöglü, aiming to secure Badr's favour in his rivalry with Atsiz, eventually sent them to Egypt. Soon after his arrival in Egypt, al-Awhad was appointed governor of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, being in office by 1076. Removed from his father's court in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, al-Awhad fell under the influence of an officer whose relatives had been killed during Badr's purges while the latter consolidated his power over Egypt. Al-Awhad's behaviour awoke his father's distrust, and envoys, including his half-brother al-Afdal, were sent to Alexandria to persuade him to change his stance. These attempts failed, leading to the siege of Alexandria by Badr's forces in spring 1084. The city capitulated and al-Awhad surrendered to his father, who took him with him to Cairo. Badr also appointed his younger son al-Afdal in al-Awhad's place as heir apparent. Soon new rumours reached Badr that al-Awhad was conspiring to assassinate him; al-Awhad was imprisoned and the rest of his co-conspirators executed. Finally, on 29 August 1087 al-Awhad was executed by strangulation, possibly to prevent another plot that aimed to liberate him.

References

Sources

* {{authority control 1087 deaths 11th-century Armenian people 11th-century births 11th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate Fatimid governors of Alexandria People executed by the Fatimid Caliphate Deaths by strangulation 11th-century executions 11th-century rebels Heirs apparent who never acceded