Al-Hakim I (; full name: '', Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Ḥākim bi-amr Allāh ibn Abi 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Abu Bakr''; c. 1247 – 19 January 1302) was the second

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

whose seat was 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 ...

and who was subservient to the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

. He reigned between 1262 and 1302.

Life

Al-Hakim I held the position of the Caliph of Cairo from 1262 to 1302. He was an alleged great-great-great grandson of the Abbasid caliph

al-Mustarshid Abu Mansur al-Faḍl ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir (; 1092 – 29 August 1135) better known by his regnal name Al-Mustarshid Billah () was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1118 to 1135. He was son of his predecessor, caliph al-Mustazhir. He succeeded ...

( r. 1118–1135), who had died in 1135. When Baghdad fell to the Mongols in 1258, al-Hakim I escaped to

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 ...

where he befriended the Arab tribal chief 'Isa ibn al-Muhanna, who tried to set him up as caliph, but in the confusion surrounding the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1259–1260, he ended up in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, where he was proclaimed. However, the much closer and probably genuine uncle of the last Abbasid caliph

al-Musta'sim Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir bi'llah (), better known by his laqab, regnal title Al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh (; 1213 – 20 February 1258), was the 37th and last caliph from the Abbasid dynasty ruling from Baghdad. He held the title from 12 ...

, Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad al-Mustansir, was proclaimed caliph in Cairo in 1261. Al-Hakim I joined Ahmad al-Mustansir's invasion of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, also submitting to Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad as caliph, but the latter was slain with most of the invaders near

Hīt Hit or Heet (, ''Hīt'') is a city in Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq. Situated on the banks of the Euphrates River, it lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital. The city is administrative capital for Hit District. A major city in the cent ...

by the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

. Only about fifty troops escaped with al-Hakim, who, making his way back to Cairo and after a careful scrutiny of his genealogical claim to be an Abbasid, was proclaimed caliph in succession to al-Mustansir in 1262. Since al-Hakim's connection with the Abbasids is distant and faint, it cannot now be determined whether he was really from that family as he claimed or not. In any case, al-Hakim I had no further adventures, served as a legitimating and ceremonial functionary for the Mamluk sultans in Cairo, reigned for thirty-nine years, and became the progenitor of all the subsequent Caliphs of Cairo, whether he was really an Abbasid or not. Although he was kept in office after 1262, the Mamluk sultans kept him as a virtual prisoner in the citadel, until Sultan

Lajin Lajin (), full royal name al-Malik al-Mansur Hussam al-Din Lajin al-Mansuri (; d. January 16, 1299, Cairo) was a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 1296 to 1299. Early career Lajin was initially a '' mamluk'' of Al-Mansur Ali, then he was bought by ...

released him in December 1296, allowing him to live in a house in the city and giving him a bigger financial emolument.

Family tree

Al-Hakim traced his roots back to ''Al-Mustarshid'' in the following line: Abu 'Ali al-Hasan, the son of ''Abu Bakr'', the son of ''al-Hasan'', the son of 'Ali, son of ''al-Mustarshid''. His relation with the dynasty was distant and faint.

References

Bibliography

*Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. ''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War 1260-1281''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. 58–59, 61–63. * *Glubb, John Bagot. ''Soldiers of Fortune: The Story of the Mamlukes''. New York: Dorset Press, 1988. Pp. 77, 80, 171. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hakim 01 13th-century births 1302 deaths Cairo-era Abbasid caliphs 13th-century Abbasid caliphs