The Ikhshidid dynasty (, ) was a Turkic dynasty of governors of

mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

origin, who governed

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and parts of the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

from 935 to 969 on behalf of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

. The dynasty carried the Arabic title "

Wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim world (including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divis ...

" reflecting their position as governors on behalf of the

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...

. The Ikhshidids came to an end when 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 ...

army

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...

in 969.

Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ṭughj ibn Juff ibn Yiltakīn ibn Fūrān ibn Fūrī ibn Khāqān (8 February 882 – 24 July 946), better known by the title al-Ikhshīd () after 939, was an Abbasid commander and governor who became the autonomous ru ...

, a Turkic mamluk soldier, was appointed governor by the Abbasid Caliph

al-Radi Abu'l-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Muqtadir (; 1 January 909 – 23 December 940), usually simply known by his regnal name al-Radi bi'llah (), was the twentieth Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from 934 to his death. He died on 23 Decemb ...

. The Ikhshidid family tomb was in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Max Van Berchem Edmond Maximilien Berthout van Berchem (16 March 1863, Geneva – 7 March 1921, Vaumarcus) commonly known as Max van Berchem, was a Swiss philologist, epigraphist and historian. Best known as the founder of Arabic epigraphy in the Western worl ...

, MIFAO 44 - Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Part 2 Syrie du Sud T.2 Jérusalem Haram (1927), p13-14 (no.146): “L’émir Muhammad mourut à Damas en 334 (946) et son corps fut transporté et inhumé à Jérusalem. L’émir Unūdjūr mourut en 349 (960) et son corps fut porté à Jérusalem et inhumé à côté de celui de son père. L’émir ‘Ali mourut en 355 (966) et son corps fut transporté à Jérusalem et inhumé à côté de ceux de son père et de son frère. Enfin l'ustādh Kāfūr mourut en 357 (968) et son corps fut transporté et inhumé à Jérusalem, sans doute auprès de ceux de ses maîtres. Ainsi les Ikhshidides avaient leur caveau funéraire à Jérusalem. Bien plus, un auteur contemporain précise que «l'émir Ali fut transporté dans un cercueil à Jérusalem et enterré, avec son frère et son père, ce tout près du Bāb al-asbāt ou porte des Tribus (1). Ce nom désignait et désigne encore la porte du Haram désigne encore la porte du Haram qui s'ouvre dans l'angle nord-est de l'esplanade (2), et précisément derrière le n° 146, à l'intérieur du mur d’enceinte.”

History

Origin of the name

The name "Ikhshidid" comes from the Central Asian dynastic name ''

Ikhshid ( Persian: اخشید; from , ) was the princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. The title is of Iranian origin; scholars have derived it variously ...

'', a nobiliary title whose prestige in Central Asia remained high as late as the 10th century. It was adopted by the Turkic commander and ruler of

Muhammad ibn Tughj Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

, whose grandfather had come from

Ferghana Fergana ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Fargʻona, Фарғона, ), () or Ferghana, also Farghana is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 320 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km southwest of ...

. After this title, the short-lived dynasty founded by Muhammad al-Ikhshid is known as the Ikhshidid dynasty.

Founding

The creation of the Ikhshidid state was part of the wider disintegration and decentralisation of the

after the

Anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

Samarra Samarra (, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The modern city of Samarra was founded in 836 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and mi ...

, whereupon government became more decentralised. The founder,

, possessed some form of military power and was on friendly relations with

Mu'nis al-Muzaffar Abū'l-Ḥasan Mu'nis al-Qushuri (; 845/6–933), also commonly known by the surnames al-Muẓaffar (; ) and al-Khadim (; 'the Eunuch'), was the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid army from 908 to his death in 933 CE, and virtual dictator and king ...

, a powerful military leader. Before he was appointed to Fustat he held the post of governor 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 ...

. He was first appointed to the post of Governor of Egypt in 933 but did not enter it during the first stint. In 935 he was appointed a second time to the governorship whilst the country was in a state of war with multiple factions. He launched a campaign to conquer Egypt by land and sea, the naval forces taking

Tinnis Tennis or Tinnīs (, ) was a medieval city in Egypt which no longer exists. It was most prosperous from the 9th century to the 11th century until its abandonment. It was located at 31°12′N 32°14′E, on an island in Lake Manzala, southwest ...

and able to outflank

Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh () was an Abbasid military officer of Turkic origin who served as governor in Syria and Egypt. He was ousted as governor of Egypt by Muhammad ibn Tughj in 935. Life In November 903 he participated in the victorious Battle ...

, the main opponent, forcing his retreat and facilitating ibn Tughj's subsequent entry to Fustat in August. The Fatimids were a major threat at the time and considerable effort was put into repelling them, culminating in their defeat by Ubayd Allah, ibn Tughj's brother, by November 936. There was remarkable stability in the early years, with an absence of economic chaos and Bedouin raids, coupled with prohibition of looting, which helped pacify Egypt. Ibn Tughj sought the honorific title (laqab) of Al-Ikhshīd, which means "King of the Farghanians", from the Abbasids and official designation arrived in July 939.

Consolidation

Muhammad ibn Ra'iq Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ra'iq (died 13 February 942), usually simply known as Ibn Ra'iq, was a senior official of the Abbasid Caliphate, who exploited the caliphal government's weakness to become the first ''amir al-umara'' ("commander of commander ...

took over Syria in 939, which threatened Egypt. Enraged, ibn Tughj threatened to recognise the Fatimids, the Abbasids' enemy as the Abbasid caliph did not formally declare for ibn Tughj, the de jure governor. Nonetheless, his simple goals resulted in mainly defensive actions and eventually came to terms with ibn Ra'iq where ibn Tughj would continue to have Egypt and the same for ibn Ra'iq in Syria, partitioned along Ramla-Tiberias. In 944, the governorships of Egypt, Syria and Hijaz were awarded for 30 years to ibn Tughj's family, and these posts would pass to his son, Abu'l-Qasim. In 942 he began striking coins in his own name, and the changes of power in Baghdad meant less central authority. In 945 he defeated

Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (, ), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, ...

, another adversary who took over Damascus, which resulted in a truce until his death in 946. Abu'l-Qasim inherited the conflict with Sayf al-Dawla and fought him at Damascus, and al-Dawla soon occupied Aleppo in 947. There was a simultaneous revolt by Ghabun, governor of Middle Egypt, who managed to occupy Fustat before his death in the same year. Nonetheless, Kafur's continuation of the appeasement policy managed to negotiate a settlement between the Ikhshidids and the

Hamdanids The Hamdanid dynasty () was a Islam, Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled modern day Northern Mesopotamia and Bilad al-Sham , Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib tribe of Mesopotamia and Arabia. History Origin ...

where Damascus became Egyptian again and the tribute to the Hamdanids stopped, with borders largely in line with ''status quo ante bellum''. This peace practically settled the Ikhshidid borders and left the Fatimids again as the main threat, with the Byzantines now the responsibility of the Hamdanids. Kafur wielded real authority following ibn Tughj's death in 946 and was highly regarded among contemporaries.

Troubles, decline and conquest by Fatimids

Nubian incursions occurred in 950 and a more serious invasion took place in 965, when Aswan was pillaged. This coincided with the famine of 963–968 while Berbers, Bedouins and Qarmatians all took advantage of the weakened state. In 966 Kafur took over after

Abu'l-Hasan Abu Al-Hasan (), also transliterated Abu'l Hasan, is an Arabic Kunya (Arabic), ''kunya'' ('teknonym'). It may refer to: Notable people Politics and military * Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib (600–661), the fourth caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate * ...

's death, which further increased uncertainty due to his status as a eunuch. Nonetheless, he received the title 'Ustādh,' meaning "master", from Baghdad, which gave him some legitimacy. Ibn Killis, Kafur's vizier, was arrested following Kafur's death in 968 and following his release traveled to Fatimid

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

and provided vital information to them. In 934 a Fatimid invasion led by the eunuch Raydan managed to capture Alexandria but was repulsed. Only a later attempt by the Fatimid general

Jawhar al-Siqilli Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah (, better known as Jawhar al Siqilli, al-Qaid al-Siqilli, "The Sicilian General", or al-Saqlabi, "The Slav"; born in the Byzantine Empire and died 28 April 992) was a Sunni Fatimid general who led the conquest of Maghre ...

managed to conquer Egypt in 969.

Ubayd Allah Ubayd Allah (), also spelled or transliterated Obaidullah, Obaydullah, Obeidallah, or Ubaydullah, is a male Arabic given name that means "little servant of God". Given name Obaidullah * Obaidullah (detainee), an Afghan detainee held in Guantanamo ...

, brother of Muhammad ibn Tughj, held out in Syria until March 970, when he was defeated and taken prisoner by Ja'far ibn Fallah, signalling the end of the Ikhshidid dynasty as a ruling power.

Ikhshidid rulers

* 935–946

(محمد بن طغج الإخشيد) * 946–961

Abu'l-Qasim Unujur ibn al-Ikhshid Abu'l-Qasim Unujur ibn al-Ikhshid () was the second ruler of the Ikhshidid dynasty, which ruled Egypt, Syria and the Hejaz under the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate but ''de facto'' autonomous. Unujur ruled from 946 to 960, but much of the ac ...

(أبو القاسم أنوجور بن الإخشيد) * 961–966

Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Ikhshid Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Ikhshid () was the third ruler of the autonomous Ikhshidid dynasty, which ruled Medieval Egypt, Egypt, Bilad al-Sham, Syria and the Hejaz for the Abbasid Caliphate. He reigned for six years, between 960-966 CE. He was a you ...

(أبو الحسن علي بن الإخشيد) * 966–968

Abu'l-Misk Kafur Abu al-Misk Kafur () (905–968), also called al-Laithi, al-Suri, al-Labi was a dominant personality of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria."Kāfūr, Abu'l Misk al-Ikhsidi." ''E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936''. Edited by: M. Th. Ho ...

(أبو المسك كافور) * 968–969 Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad ibn Ali ibn al-Ikhshid (أبو الفوارس أحمد بن علي بن الإخشيد)

Family tree

Military

Like the

Fatimids 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 ...

after them, the Ikhshidids made use of Black slave troops. The practice began with the

Tulunids The Tulunid State, also known as the Tulunid Emirate or The State of Banu Tulun, and popularly referred to as the Tulunids () was a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin who was the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt in the Middle ...

in 870 AD, where the Africans were used as infantrymen, and continued by the Ikhshidids due to financial reasons, as they were cheaper than Turkic military slaves which were used as cavalry.

Coinage

Only gold coins are common, with coppers being extremely rare. Dinars were mainly struck at Misr (Fustat) and Filastin (al-Ramla), and dirhams were usually struck at Filastin, and less often at Tabariya, Dimashq, and Hims. Other mints for dirhams are quite rare. Dinars from Misr are often well struck, while the Filastin dinars are more crude. Dirhams are usually crudely struck and often are illegible on half of the coin.Album, Stephen. ''A Checklist of Islamic Coins'', Second Edition, January 1998, Santa Rosa, Calif.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Your Egypt
{{Authority control 10th century in Egypt African dynasties Middle Eastern dynasties Hejaz under the Abbasid Caliphate History of the Abbasid Caliphate 935 establishments States and territories established in the 930s 969 disestablishments States and territories disestablished in the 960s