Fatimid (Civ3)/Civilopedia

The Fatimids were Arabs who claimed descent from Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and Ali, his son-in-law. They promoted the Shi’i sect of Islam and considered themselves the Prophet’s rightful heirs. After establishing a base of power in Tunisia among the Berbers, Ubayd Allah proclaimed himself the first Fatimid caliph in 909 CE. He was theologically opposed to the Abbasid caliph (then in Baghdad), who represented the Sunni sect and most of the Islamic world.
The Fatimids needed a commercial base stronger than what Tunisia offered if they were to achieve political success against the Baghdad caliph. They invaded Egypt several times, but it was not until 969 CE that the Fatimids conquered Egypt under their fourth caliph, al-Muiz. To celebrate this victory and to make Egypt their center of power, al-Muiz began the construction of a new capital city close by the Nile. The planet al-Qahir (Mars) was governing the sky at the time, so they named the new city al-Qahirah (Cairo). Cairo was built to a plan made by al-Muiz and it grew to become a literary center featuring the great al-Azhar mosque, university and libraries.
With Egypt under their control, the Fatimids could compete commercially with Baghdad. They developed the Red Sea route as an alternative to the Persian Gulf route for trade with Asia. They also expanded their territory north into Palestine and southeast to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and they sent missionaries farther abroad to help spread Shi’i Islam. However, they neglected their original base of power in Tunisia and lost control of it to independent dynasties.
Cairo prospered but the Fatimid Caliphate weakened, and most of the Egyptian population remained Sunni Muslim. After the Second Crusade in the middle of the 12th century, Christians and Muslims fought for control of Egypt’s wealth. The Kurdish general Salah ad Din (Saladin), fighting under Syrian rule, took the position of vizier in Egypt around this time in defense of Egypt. He was widely praised by Muslims and Christians. Salah ad Din replaced the Fatimid Caliphate with his own Ayyubid Sultanate after the death of Caliph al-Adid in 1171, putting fellow Kurds in positions of power and allying Egypt once again with the Abbasid Caliphate.