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The Unleashing of Egypt's Slaves in al-Fustat, 411

بسط عبيد مصر في الفسطاط ٤١١

c. February 1021 CE · Shawwal 411 AH

Al-Fustat

On a Tuesday, two nights before the end of Shawwal 411, a written placard appeared in Egypt, with slips scattered along the lanes asking the state to unleash the slaves in Egypt for three days. Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah feared it, as did the commanders and soothsayers, that they would burn Egypt, kill and plunder. So they let the slaves of Egypt take their camp, and the sultans' women pressed it until it weakened. The fighting lasted three days. People cried out to the slaves, saying that if their aims were achieved, nothing mighty or humble would remain unhumbled. Women, children and the city's notables gathered, crying out to the slaves, and [the spoils] were sold in the seized markets. Then al-Hakim went out himself, rode, halted before a line of them and called out 'Ya Aghatiyy', and they turned back. He had burned a third of Egypt, and a third of it had gone to plunder 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Egypt & Nile
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

101010201030 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

Civil wars and revoltsSlavery and freedomWomen

Summary

In Shawwal of the year 411 one of the most violent moments of the reign of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah occurred in Egypt. Notes circulated in the lanes of Egypt asking that the slaves be given free rein in the city for three days. When al-Hakim saw them and feared what they implied, he ordered his commanders and the quarter-heads (ʿurafāʾ) to burn Fustat, plunder it and kill its people. The fighting went on for three days before he rode out himself and turned the troops back. 1

The notes and the request

Ibn al-Jawzi reports that the slaves wrote on slips of paper and threw them into the lanes, asking the state for free rein in Egypt. People were so afraid of the slaves that they said: if they got what they wanted, no one, mighty or humble, would be left without humiliation. 2

Three days of fighting

The two sides fought for three days. Women, children and the city's notables cried out against the slaves. Women and boys were gathered from their houses until captives taken as booty were sold in the markets, and the nobles and elders gathered up the copies of the Qur'an. 3

The caliph between the two lines

Then al-Hakim rode out himself and stood before one line of the slaves and cried out to them, "Yā Aghnāṭī!", and they turned back. By then a third of Fustat had burned and another third had been plundered. Ibn al-Jawzi describes how, when the slaves saw him opposing them, they understood that his aim was their destruction. 4

Connections

Explore the connections

Occurred at
Al-Fustat
Had participant
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Mansur ibn al-Aziz

People and things also explored

The Death of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and His Sister's Concealment, 411· Dar al-Anmat· The Dar al-Hikma of Cairo· the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As· Ending the Ubaydid Khutba and Restoring the Abbasid Khutba in Egypt· The Revolt of Abu Rakwa al-Umawi against al-Hakim· Amr's Dismissal and Ibn Abi Sarh's Sole Charge of Egypt· Conquest of Egypt and Alexandria

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.301-303
  2. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.301
  3. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.302-303
  4. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.303
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Unleashing of Egypt's Slaves in al-Fustat, 411”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/fustat-burning-411/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The Death of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and His Sister's Concealment, 411

Ibn al-Jawzi relates from the people of Egypt that Sitt al-Mulk, al-Hakim's sister, had a gathering with Ibn Dawwas seated by her. Al-Hakim feared him and said to Sitt al-Mulk, 'What have I to do with this man? He wants to bring me together with him.' Sitt al-Mulk arranged a link between them; Ibn Dawwas came back to her and charged her to bring him round to what she wanted. She returned to Ibn Dawwas, and that night he rode to al-Muqattam and climbed the mountain with two Maghribi slaves. At dawn the two slaves came carrying him back to Ibn Dawwas, who brought him to Sitt al-Mulk's assembly. She buried him there and kept it unknown, concealing the matter for three days, and she announced that he was absent for seven. She paid the rikabiyya (the mounted guard) to deal with anyone who opposed her affair. Then Ali ibn al-Hakim was pledged allegiance, the khutba was given in his name, and she set him up as heir apparent and crowned him with the crown of al-Mu'izz. She had Ibn Dawwas killed by the hand of Nasim, master of the curtain and the sword, after promising him kingship and wealth. She grieved, and put to death those among the slaves and servants who knew. It is said he died in Shawwal 411, aged thirty-seven, and that his caliphate lasted twenty-five years.