Fatimid Egyptian

Historical Overview Section

The Fatimids entered Egypt in the late 900s, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and founding a new capital at al-QÄhirat (Cairo) in 969. After Egypt, the Fatimids continued to conquer the surrounding areas from the Seljuk Turks until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria - they even crossed over into Sicily and southern Italy. Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz

The Fatimids fought the Early Crusaders from the moment the First Crusade invaded Fatimid territory and started the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099. Soon after, the Early Crusaders stormed and captured the city, setting off a war between the newly established Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and Fatimid Egypt. Al-Afdal Shahanshah mounted a series of invasions against the Early Crusader kingdom from 1100 to 1107 but they were ultimately unsuccessful. After this, the viziers contented themselves with launching frequent raids on Early Crusader territory from the coastal fortress of Ascalon. To protect against the raids from Ascalon, the Crusaders began encircling the strategic port with a ring of castles built between 1136 and 1149, eventually leading to the the fall of Ascalon.

This rather emasculated Egypt which ceased to be a threat to the Crusader states until the rise of Saladin, as the Fatimid regime broke apart into warring factions. From 1163 to 1169, Egypt became the prize of a struggle between King Amalric of Jerusalem and Nur ed-Din of the Syrian States as the Fatimid factions invited one side or the other to intervene in their civil war. In 1169, Nur ed-Din's general, Shirkuh seized Cairo for the last time and proclaimed himself ruler of Egypt before dying suddenly two months later. Nur ed-Din appointed Shirkuh's young nephew Saladin as his successor. As directed by his sponsor, Saladin ruthlessly stamped out Shi'ite Islam in Egypt, which had flourished under the Fatimids but instead of acting as Nur ed-Din's vassal, Saladin consolidated power in his own hands and deposed the last Fatimid caliph in 1171.

Egyptian armies of the period historically relied on masses of Sudanese bowmen supported by Arab and Berber cavalry. Since the archers were on foot and the horsemen awaited attack with lance and sword, a Fatimid army provided exactly the sort of immobile target that the Early Crusader heavy cavalry excelled in attacking. Except for the third battle of Ramleh in 1105, when Toghtekin of Damascus sent a contingent of Seljuk Turk Ghilmen to help the Egyptians, the Fatimids generally did not use loads of horse archers.

Whereas the Crusaders developed a healthy respect for the harass and surround tactics of the Turkish horse archers, they tended to discount the effectiveness of the Egyptian armies. While overconfidence led to a Crusader disaster at the second battle of Ramleh, the more frequent result was a Fatimid defeat. "The Franks never, until the reign of Saladin, feared the Egyptian as they did the armies from Muslim Syria and Mesopotamia."

Fatimids in Sicily A Fatimid Emirate existed for a time on Sicily when Fatimid caliph Ismail al-Mansur appointed Hassan al-Kalbi (948–964) as Emir. He successfully managed to control the continuously revolting Thematic Byzantines and founded the Kalbid dynasty, launching raids into Southern well into the 11th century. In 982 the Early Medieval Germans under Otto II tried to stop these raids but were defeated near Crotone in Calabria. Dynastic conflict under subsequent Emirs saw factions within the ruling family allying themselves variously with the Nikephorian Byzantine Empire and the Early North African Dynasties of the Zirids. By the time of Emir Hasan as-Samsam (1040-1053) the island had fragmented into several small fiefdoms.

Using the army in ADLG

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Useful Links

User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:

• Building a viable list for this army : A Madaxeman.com Podcast, discussion starts at 1 hour 2 minutes
• Fatimid Army usage statistics from the ADLG ranking site
• Fatimid Army usage statistics from the ADLG ranking site
• Painting Guides from Brendan Moyle's site
• Army lists from Nik Gaukrogers site.
• downloadable generic Arab flags to print out and add to your figures
• 15mm Blog painting from Dux Homunculorum
• Fatimid Egyptians DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
• Fatimids DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
• TNE Army notes and history
• Fatimid Soldiers & Hunters, 10th - 12th Centuries or Fatimid Soldiers & Hunters, 10th - 12th Centuries
• Fatimid-Zirid Plate with a Battle Scene or Fatimid-Zirid Plate with a Battle Scene
• Fatimid Horseman from Ifriqiyah on a Plate, 10th to 12th Centuries or Fatimid Horseman from Ifriqiyah on a Plate, 10th to 12th Centuries
• Fatimid Ivory Plaque of Two Soldiers, 10th century or Fatimid Ivory Plaque of Two Soldiers, 10th century
• Fatimid Rider and Four Warriors on Coptic Textile, 11th Century or Fatimid Rider and Four Warriors on Coptic Textile, 11th Century
• Fatimid Wood Carving of Hunters, 11th Century or Fatimid Wood Carving of Hunters, 11th Century
• Fatimid Carved Panel with Soldier, 11th Century or Fatimid Carved Panel with Soldier, 11th Century
• Fatimid Ceramic Wall-Plaque with Warriors from the Sabra Palace, 11th century or Fatimid Ceramic Wall-Plaque with Warriors from the Sabra Palace, 11th century
• Fatimid Ceramic Wall-Plaque of Archer from the Sabra Palace, 11th century or Fatimid Ceramic Wall-Plaque of Archer from the Sabra Palace, 11th century
• Fragment of a Fatimid Bowl Depicting a Mounted Warrior, 11th century or Fragment of a Fatimid Bowl Depicting a Mounted Warrior, 11th century
• Plaque with a running man and his dog, Fatimid Egypt, 11th Century or Plaque with a running man and his dog, Fatimid Egypt, 11th Century
• Fatimid Rectangular piece of wood with swordsmen or Fatimid Rectangular piece of wood with swordsmen
• Fatimid wooden plank with carved lion hunt, 11th century or Fatimid wooden plank with carved lion hunt, 11th century
• Fatimid wooden plank with mounted hunter with lance, 11th century or Fatimid wooden plank with mounted hunter with lance, 11th century
• Hunter on an 11th century ivory drinking horn probably made in Muslim Sicily or Southern Italy or Hunter on an 11th century ivory drinking horn probably made in Muslim Sicily or Southern Italy
• Fatimid bowl with a drinker, 11th century or Fatimid bowl with a drinker, 11th century
• Shields on the Bab al-Nasr (Gate of Victory), Cairo, 1087 or Shields on the Bab al-Nasr (Gate of Victory), Cairo, 1087
• Frieze of Hunters over the door of the Church of San Bernadetto, Brindisi, late 11th Century or Frieze of Hunters over the door of the Church of San Bernadetto, Brindisi, late 11th Century
• Fatimid Turban on Manuscript Fragment, 11th-12th Centuries or Fatimid Turban on Manuscript Fragment, 11th-12th Centuries
• Morgan Casket, Southern Italy, 11th-12th century or Morgan Casket, Southern Italy, 11th-12th century
• Four ivory panels with hunters and revellers, 11th-12th century or Four ivory panels with hunters and revellers, 11th-12th century
• Detail of carved ivory horn or 'oliphant' from Sicily or Detail of carved ivory horn or 'oliphant' from Sicily
• Ivory casket with Lion Hunt, Fatimid Sicily or Southern Italy, 11th-12th Centuries or Ivory casket with Lion Hunt, Fatimid Sicily or Southern Italy, 11th-12th Centuries
• Fatimid Manuscript with Two Soldiers, 11th-12th Centuries or Fatimid Manuscript with Two Soldiers, 11th-12th Centuries
• Fatimid Carved Ivory Panel with Hunters, 11th-12th Centuries or Fatimid Carved Ivory Panel with Hunters, 11th-12th Centuries
• Carved Ivory Plaque of Lion Hunt, Fatimid Egypt or Iraq, 11th-12th Century or Carved Ivory Plaque of Lion Hunt, Fatimid Egypt or Iraq, 11th-12th Century
• Fatimid Infantryman on a Plate, 12th Century or Fatimid Infantryman on a Plate, 12th Century
• Fatimid Warrior on Plate Fragment, 12th Century or Fatimid Warrior on Plate Fragment, 12th Century
• Islamic Sicilian Ivory Casket with Horsemen, 12th Century or Islamic Sicilian Ivory Casket with Horsemen, 12th Century
• A Fatimid Nobleman or Officer on a lustre-ware plate, 12th Century or A Fatimid Nobleman or Officer on a lustre-ware plate, 12th Century
• Fatimid plate with mounted hunter, 12th century or Fatimid plate with mounted hunter, 12th century
• Sicilian ivory pyxis, 12th century or Sicilian ivory pyxis, 12th century
• Fatimid Manuscript Fragment, Fustat, 12th Century or Fatimid Manuscript Fragment, Fustat, 12th Century
• Fatimid bowl with a hunter on horse or Fatimid bowl with a hunter on horse
• Illustrations from a Coptic Gospel, Damietta, Egypt, 1179-80 or Illustrations from a Coptic Gospel, Damietta, Egypt, 1179-80
• Fatimid Manuscript with 'Jazrafil who rides an Elephant', c. 1200 AD or Fatimid Manuscript with 'Jazrafil who rides an Elephant', c. 1200 AD

Army Lists

1-Dayer 2023 Reading
Brilliant
1 A'Bid Al Sherah ½ Medium spearmen ½ Bowmen ----
2 Arabian Lancers Heavy Cavalry Impact ------
2 Al Sirayah Pikemen Pikemen Mediocre
1 Mamluks Heavy Cavalry Bow Elite
1 Mamluks Heavy Cavalry Bow ------
1 A'bid Archer Light Infantry Bow ----
1 A'bid Archer Bowmen Mediocre
1 Bedouins Light Cavalry Impact ----
==
Brilliant
2 Dailami Medium Swordsmen Impact Elite
1 A'bid Al Sherer Clubmen Medium Swordsmen 2HW ----
2 A'Bid Al Sherah ½ Medium spearmen ½ Bowmen ----
1 Bedouin Lancer Medium Cavalry Impact ----
1 A'Bid Guard Medium Swordsmen Elite
2 A'Bid Al Sherah Heavy Spearmen Support ----
==
Ordinary Included
1 Mamluks Heavy Cavalry Bow ------
1 Mamluks* Heavy Cavalry Bow Elite
1 Bedouins Light Cavalry Impact ------

Sample army lists for this army
Podcast Lockdown #11
Tamsin's List
4 Mamluks Elite
2 Syrian Lancers Elite
2 Turkomans Elite LH Bow
Brilliant
==
2 Armenians MF Bow
3 A'bid Mixed
2 LH Impact
Competent
==
Syrian Ally, Included, Allied, Competent
2 Syrian Lancers HC Impact Elite
1 Turkic Ghulam Elite
2 LH Bow Turkomans Elite

Tim's List
Brilliant
2 A'bid Mixed
2 Mamluks Elite
2 Syrian Lancers HC
2 Armenian Bw
==
Competent Included
2 Bedouins MCv Impact
2 Mamluks HC Bow Elite
1 Arabian Lancers HC
1 Bedouin LH Impact
==
Competent
2 Mamluks Ordinary
1 Turkoman LH Elite
1 Mamluks & General Elite

200 Points

• 3 of these
• 4 of these
• etc
• etc