639-969 - Arab Conquest
Perhaps the most important event to occur in Egypt since the unification of the Two Lands by King Menes was the Arab conquest of Egypt. The conquest of the country by the armies of Islam under the command of the Muslim hero, Amr ibn al As, transformed Egypt from a predominantly Christian country to a Muslim country in which the Arabic language and culture were adopted even by those who clung to their Christian or Jewish faiths.
The conquest of Egypt was part of the Arab/Islamic expansion that began when the Prophet Muhammad died and Arab tribes began to move out of the Arabian Peninsula into Iraq and Syria. Amr ibn al As, who led the Arab army into Egypt, was made a military commander by the Prophet himself.
Amr crossed into Egypt on December 12, 639, at Al Arish with an army of about 4,000 men on horseback, armed with lances, swords, and bows. The army's objective was the fortress of Babylon (Bab al Yun) opposite the island of Rawdah in the Nile at the apex of the Delta. The fortress was the key to the conquest of Egypt because an advance up the Delta to Alexandria could not be risked until the fortress was taken.
In June 640, reinforcements for the Arab army arrived, increasing Amr's forces to between 8,000 and 12,000 men. In July the Arab and Byzantine armies met on the plains of Heliopolis. Although the Byzantine army was routed, the results were inconclusive because the Byzantine troops fled to Babylon. Finally, after a six-month siege, the fortress fell to the Arabs on April 9, 641.
The Arab army then marched to Alexandria, which was not prepared to resist despite its well fortified condition. Consequently, the governor of Alexandria agreed to surrender, and a treaty was signed in November 641. The following year, the Byzantines broke the treaty and attempted unsuccessfully to retake the city.
Muslim conquerors gave the people they defeated three alternatives: converting to Islam, retaining their religion with freedom of worship in return for the payment of the poll tax, or war. In surrendering to the Arab armies, the Byzantines agreed to the second option. The Arab conquerors treated the Egyptian Copts well. During the battle for Egypt, the Copts had either remained neutral or had actively supported the Arabs. After the surrender, the Coptic patriarch was reinstated, exiled bishops were called home, and churches that had been forcibly turned over to the Byzantines were returned to the Copts. Amr allowed Copts who held office to retain their positions and appointed Copts to other offices. Amr moved the capital south to a new city called Al Fustat (present-day Old Cairo). The mosque he built there bears his name and still stands, although it has been much rebuilt.
For two centuries after the conquest, Egypt was a province ruled by a line of governors appointed by the caliphs in the east. Egypt provided abundant grain and tax revenue. In time most of the people accepted the Muslim faith, and the Arabic language became the language of government, culture, and commerce. The Arabization of the country was aided by the continued settlement of Arab tribes in Egypt.
From the time of the conquest onward, Egypt's history was intertwined with the history of the Arab world. Thus, in the eighth century, Egypt felt the effects of the Arab civil war that resulted in the defeat of the Umayyad Dynasty, the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the transfer of the capital of the empire from Damascus to Baghdad. For Egypt, the transfer of the capital farther east meant a weakening of control by the central government. When the Abbasid Caliphate began to decline in the ninth century, local autonomous dynasties arose to control the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the country.
The next autonomous dynasty in Egypt, the Ikhshidid, was founded by Muhammad ibn Tughj, who arrived as governor in 935. The dynasty's name comes from the title of Ikhshid given to Tughj by the caliph. This dynasty ruled Egypt until the Fatimid conquest of 969. The Tulinids and the Ikhshidids brought Egypt peace and prosperity by pursuing wise agrarian policies that increased yields, by eliminating tax abuses, and by reforming the administration. Neither the Tulinids nor the Ikhshidids sought to withdraw Egypt from the Islamic empire headed by the caliph in Baghdad. Ahmad ibn Tulun and his successors were orthodox Sunni Muslims, loyal to the principle of Islamic unity. Their purpose was to carve out an autonomous and hereditary principality under loose caliphal authority.
Tulunids
Egypt remained under the rule of the Truly Guided Caliphs, the Umayyads and the Abbasids a colony ruled by a governor appointed by the caliph. With the advent of the Tolonian kingdom things had changed.
Ahmed Ibn Tolon was appointed a ruler in Egypt in 254H/868AC. Ibn Tolon succeeded in turning the rule in Egypt into a kingdom for the first time in Egypt after the Islamic conquest. Tolonian kingdom was semi-independent from the Abbasids. A new era began in Egypt with the arrival in Al Fustat in 868 of Ahmad ibn Tulun as governor on behalf of his stepfather, Bayakbah, a chamberlain in Baghdad to whom Caliph Al Mutazz had granted Egypt as a fief. Ahmad ibn Tulun inaugurated the autonomy of Egypt and, with the succession of his son, Khumarawayh, to power, established the principle of locally based hereditary rule. Autonomy greatly benefited Egypt because the local dynasty halted or reduced the drain of revenue from the country to Baghdad.
Ahmed Ibn Tolon and his sons ruled Egypt for 38 years as follows:
- Ahmed Ibn Tolon, from Ramadan 254H/August 868AC to Zel Queida 270H/May 884AC,
- Abu al-Gaysh Khmaraweih Ibn Ahmed Ibn Tolon, from Zel Queida 270H/May884AC to Zel Queida 282H/January 896AC, when he was killed.
- Abu Al-Assaker Gaysh Ibn Khmaraweih Ibn Ahmed Ibn Tolon, from Zel Queida 282H/January 896AC to Gomadi al-Akhera 283H/July 896AC,
- Haroun Ibn Khmaraweih Ibn Ahmed Ibn Tolon, from Gomada al-Akhera 283H/July 896AC to Safer 292H/December 904AC.
- Sheiban Ahmed Ibn Tolon (Abu al-Manaquib) in Safer 292H/December 904AC for few days.
The fall of the Tolonian Kingdom:
The Tulinid state ended in 905 when imperial troops entered Al Fustat. The Tolonian Kingdom collapsed at the hands of the Abbasids’ army. Their capital, al-Quata’ei, was set ablaze. Thus, Egypt returned to be under the Abbassids once again. For the next thirty years, Egypt was again under the direct control of the central government in Baghdad.
The Abbassids appointed the following rulers:
- Eissa al-Noushari, from Gomadi al-Akhera 292H/April 905AC to Sha’ban 297H/April 910AC.
- Ga’far Ibn Ahmed al-Mo’tadid, well-known as al-Moqtader Bellah, succeeded al-Moktafy
Bellah in Zel Queida 295H and he appointed the following rulers:
- Abu Mansour Tekin, from Shawwal 297 H/June 910AC to Zel Queida 203 H/May 915AC.
- Zaka Al-A’war, from Safer 303H/August 915AC to Rabei Akhar 307H/919AC.
- Abu Mansour Tekin, for the second time, from Sha’ban 307H/January 920AC to Rabei Awwal 309H/921AC.
- Hilal Ibn Badr, from Rabei Akhar 309H/August 921AC to Rabei Akhar 311H/July 923AC.
- Ahmed Ibn Keghlegh, from Ragab 311 H/October 923AC to Zel Queida 311 H/February 924AC.
- Abu al-Mansour Tekin, for the third time, from Zel Queida 311 H/February 924AC to Rabei Awwal 321 H/March 933AC.
- Al-Moqtader Bellah Ibn Al-Mo’tadid was killed in Shawwal 320 H/October 932AC and Abu al-Mansour al-Quahier Bellah Ibn al-Mo’tadid took over.
He appointed the following rulers:
- Mohammed Ibn Toghg, from Ramadan 321H/August 923AC to Shawwal 321H/September 923AC, namely 32 days. He did not even come to Egypt.
- Ahmed Ibn Keghlagh, for the second time, in Shawwal 321 H/September 923AC.
- Mohammed Ibn Tekin, in Rabei Awwal 322 H/June 934AC. However Ahmed Ibn Keghlagh regained the rule through fighting in Ragab 322H/June 934AC To Ramadan 323h/August 935ac. Al-Qaher Bellah was dethroned and Abu Al-Abbass al-Radi Bellah Ibn Al-Moqtadir succeeded him in GomadA Al-Aula 322 H/April 934AC.
Eksheeds
After the fall of the Tulunide state on the hands of the Abbaside, leader Mohamed Ben Soliman Al-Kateb in 905AD, Egypt became an Abbaside affiliate. At that time, the Abbaside state was passing through a critical period of unrest and instability.
Therefore, the caliphs decided that through the continuous change of the governors of Egypt, they will be able to control the country. During the thirty years between the fall of the Tulunide state and the Ekshed’s power-taking, eleven rulers governed Egypt.
El-Ekhsheid’s real name is Abu Bakr Mohamed Ben Tagh and he was one of the leaders of the Abbaside army who faced Fatimide invasion. The Abbaside caliph “Al-Mutaki” made him governor of Egypt and gave him the title “Eksheid” mening viceroy.
Eksheid and his sons ruled Egypt till 969AD when the last ruler was an eleven-year boy and so the country was infested with chaos. The Fatimides took the chance and sent an army which succeeded in controlling Egypt.
The governors of Egypt in the Ekshedite period are as follows:
- Abu Bakr Mohamed Ben Tagh (935–946AD)
- Abu Al-Kasim Anougor Ben El-Eksheid (946–961AD)
- Abu Al-Hassan Ali Ben El-Eksheid (961-966AD)
- Abu Al-Misk Kaphor (servant of El-Ekhsheid) (966-968AD)
- Abu Al-Fawares Ahmed Ben Ali Ben El-Eksheid (968-969AD)
Gawhar El-Sakali led the army of the Fatimide caliph Al-Muezz and occupied Cairo in 969 AD.
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