Jawhar ibn Abdallah was a Fatimid general who led the conquest of Maghreb, and subsequenly the conquest of Egypt, for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah. He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country and laying the foundations for the city ofCairo. After that, he retired from public life until his death. He is variously known with the nisbas al-Siqilli, al-Saqlabi, al-Rumi ; and with the titles al-Katib and al-Qa'id.
Biography
The birth date of Jawhar is not known, but as he died in 992, and the peak of his career was between 950 and 975, he cannot have been born earlier than the 900s. He was of Slavic origin. His father, Abdallah, was a slave, but Jawhar himself is attested in the sources only as a freedman. Jawhar is first mentioned as a page and possibly a secretary, to the third Fatimid caliph, al-Mansur Billah. In 958, al-Mansur's son and successor, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah chose Jawhar to lead a campaign to restore Fatimid control over the central and western parts of North Africa. In this campaign, Jawhar first gave proof of his exceptional military talents. He first led the Fatimid armies to victory over the Zenata, a Berber tribe that had allied with the Fatimids' rivals, the Umayyads of the Caliphate of Cordoba, defeating and killing their leader, Ya'la ibn Muhammad al-Yafrani. He then turned southeast towards Sijilmasa, capturing and killing its ruler Muhammad ibn al-Fath ibn Maymun ibn Midrar. It was not until a year later, in October 960, that he moved north towards Fez, taking the city by storm on 13 November and capturing its Umayyad governor, Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Judhami. With this victory, all of the Maghreb, apart from Tangier and Ceuta, came under Fatimid control, or recognized Fatimid suzerainty. As token of his victory, Jawhar is said to have sent jars filled with live fish from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caliph in Ifriqiya. After the Western borders had been secured, Jawhar as-Siqilli pushed towards Egypt and occupied the land around the Nile in 969 from the Ikhshidids after a siege at Giza. The conquest was prepared by a treaty with the Ikhshidid vizier Abu'l-Fadl Ja'far ibn al-Fadl, so the Fatimids encountered little resistance. Afterwards Jawhar ruled Egypt until 972 as viceroy. Although Palestine was occupied after the conquest of Egypt, Syria could not be overcome, following a defeat at the hands of the Qarmatians at Damascus. However, when the Qarmatians overran Egypt, Jawhar was able to defeat them north of Cairo on 22 December 970, although the struggle continued until 974. To secure the southern border of Egypt a legation was sent to the Christian land of Nubia. After the establishment of the residence at Cairo, Jawhar fell into disfavour with al-Muizz. Under his successor al-Aziz however, in whose accession to the throne Jawhar played an important role, he was rehabilitated. He was regent again until 979, but was finally stripped of power after a campaign against Syria was once again defeated near Damascus. Jawhar died on 28 April 992.
