The political situation in the Cyrenaica region during the Fatimid era

Abstract

After the Fatimids established a Shiite caliphate in Africa, they wanted to extend their influence eastward to seize Egypt, the Levant, and the Hejaz and then eliminate the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.

The Fatimids annexed Cyrenaica in the year 301 AH after it had been a state belonging to the Abbasids, in order to use it as a base for sending campaigns to conquer Egypt. Cyrenaica remained under Fatimid vassalage, and the Fatimids appointed a number of governors to it, whom they sent from Africa, and provided them with military garrisons. However, the people of Cyrenaica faced these campaigns with hostility and hatred. The Fatimids were able to annex Egypt to their state, and moved their seat of rule to it, but the position of the Cyrenaica people towards the Fatimids did not change and they continued their hostility towards them.  The Fatimids did not rule the Cyrenaica region directly, but rather assigned that task to some of the leaders of the Banu Qurra. However, most of the Banu Qurra were against the Fatimids, and Cyrenaica became a refuge for those fleeing from Fatimid control. From all of this, it is clear that the position of the Barqis towards the Fatimids was openly hostile from the beginning.