Zengid forces under Shīrkūh (with Saladin as a senior commander) fought King Amalric I’s Crusader army and its Egyptian allies near Giza. The battle prevented Amalric from decisively dominating Egypt and pushed the campaign toward Alexandria, exposing Fatimid dependence on outside military actors.
During the 1167 campaign, Saladin held Alexandria on Shīrkūh’s behalf while Amalric I led a siege. The eventual negotiated settlement underscored Egypt’s vulnerability and the Fatimid regime’s weakening control over key coastal cities.
Amalric I launched a renewed invasion of Egypt, sacking Bilbays and threatening Cairo. The attack shattered any remaining stability in Fatimid–Crusader arrangements and helped trigger an emergency appeal for Syrian (Zengid) intervention.
With the Crusader threat approaching Cairo, the Fatimid vizier Shawar ordered the evacuation and burning of Fusṭāṭ to deny it to Amalric. The destruction inflicted major economic and social damage and dramatized the regime’s desperation and loss of control.
After the Crusaders withdrew and Syrian forces entered Cairo, Shīrkūh was appointed vizier, displacing Shawar. The appointment marked a decisive shift of effective power in Egypt toward Nur al-Din’s military commanders and away from Fatimid court factions.
Shawar was killed shortly after Shīrkūh’s assumption of the vizierate, ending his role as the principal broker between Fatimid, Crusader, and Syrian interests. His death removed a key political counterweight and accelerated the collapse of Fatimid autonomy.
Shīrkūh died after only a brief tenure as vizier. His sudden death opened a succession crisis among Syrian commanders and Fatimid elites, creating the conditions for Saladin to emerge as the compromise choice for the vizierate.
Saladin was formally appointed vizier in Cairo, positioning a Sunni military leader at the head of an Ismaʿili Shiʿi caliphal state. This appointment was the institutional turning point that enabled Saladin to dismantle Fatimid power from within.
Pro-Fatimid elements and Black African Fatimid troops revolted in Cairo, and Saladin’s forces defeated them after intense street fighting. The suppression removed the Fatimids’ most important remaining military base in the capital and tightened Saladin’s control over the caliphal court.
Amalric I and Byzantine forces besieged Damietta but ultimately withdrew, failing to reverse the Syrian-backed takeover of Egypt. The failure reduced the immediate external threat to Saladin and allowed him greater freedom to restructure Egypt’s institutions.
After consolidating security, Saladin moved against Fatimid religious-legal infrastructure: Ismaʿili public teaching was curtailed and Sunni personnel replaced Ismaʿili officials in key judicial posts, preparing the ground for a formal break with the Fatimid caliphate.
In a decisive symbolic act, the Friday sermon (khutba) in Cairo was proclaimed in the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Mustaḍī instead of the Fatimid caliph al-ʿĀḍid. This publicly ended Fatimid caliphal legitimacy in Egypt and realigned the state under Abbasid suzerainty.
Al-ʿĀḍid, the last Fatimid caliph, died in Cairo days after the khutba change. His death eliminated any remaining possibility of restoring effective Fatimid rule and finalized Saladin’s transition from vizier under a Shiʿi caliph to founder of a new Sunni regime.
Decline and Fall of the Fatimid Caliphate and Saladin's Takeover (1167–1171)
