[June 13] Ali az-Zahir, caliph of the Fatimid Empire

The Fatimid Empire in the years preceding Ali's reign

True Name:  الظاهر بالله‎
Parents: Abu 'Ali Mansur Tariqu I-Hakim, caliph of the Fatimid Empire

Date of Birth: 20 June 1005

House: Fatimid

Predecessor: Al-Hakim

Reign: 1021 – 1036

Summary: The Fatimid Empire was a Sevener Shi'a dynasty that arose in Egypt in rebellion against the Sunni Caliphate of the Abbasids. When Ali az-Zahir first became caliph of the Fatimids in 1021, he was still young and his sister, Sitt al-Mulk, ruled until her death in 1023. Her favorites took control thereafter leaving Ali a pawn of Fatimid politics.

Under his poor management, the Fatimid Caliphate fell into disorder, with famine and plague in Egypt leading to chaos throughout the empire. Palestine and Syria broke out in a full-scale revolt led by the Bedouins, a Sunni Islam group of Arabian nomads. One-by-one, Fatimid General Anushtegin ad-Dizbiri was able to separate and defeat the rebels, once again centralizing Fatimid control. In 1028, 'Ali ibn Ahmad Jarjarai killed his colleagues and took the position of grand vizier in a hostile takeover. He retained his post long into the term of Ali's successor. Ali sought good diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire despite disagreements over Aleppo in Syria. He also approved the rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem which had been destroyed ten years earlier. He died in 1036 with a record of being fairly ineffectual, and his son succeeded him without dispute.

Date of Death: 13 June 1036

Successor: Al-Mustansir

Other Monarch Deaths:

Ludwig II, king of Bavaria (1866)

Khalid, king of Saudi Arabia (1982)