Фатима әмірі Әл-Афдал Шаханшах: Өмірбаяны мен саясаты

Fatimid Vizier from 1094 to 1121

Al Afdal Shahanshah (الأفضل شاهنشاه; Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al Jamali, was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a later biographical encyclopedia, he was surnamed al Malik al Afdal ("the excellent king"), but this is not supported by contemporary sources.

He was born in Acre, the son of Badr al Jamali, an Armenian mamluk who became Muslim. Badr was vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his death in 1094, when al Afdal succeeded him. Caliph Al Mustansir Billah died soon afterwards, and al Afdal appointed as caliph al Musta'li, a child, instead of al Mustali's much older brother Nizar ibn al Mustansir. Nizar revolted and was defeated in 1095; which led to tension between Al Afdal and Nizar’s supporters, mainly Hassan i Sabbah, and his Nizari Isma'ili group known also as the order of Assassins. At this time Fatimid power in Palestine had been reduced by the arrival of the Seljuk Turks. In 1097 he captured Tyre from the Seljuks, and in 1098 he took Jerusalem, expelling its Artuqid governor Ilghazi and installing in his place the Fatimid official Iftikhar al Dawla. Al Afdal restored most of Palestine to Fatimid control, at least temporarily. Al Afdal The large vizieral palace ( that was built on the shore of the Nile, outside the city walls of Cairo, has also disappeared without a trace. Under al Afdal, the caliphs were confined in their palace, away from public view, and even bereft of their ceremonial functions, which al Afdal arrogated to himself. The vizier even moved the setting for most public ceremonies and the celebration of festivals away from the caliphal palace to his own palace, the , which he built in 1106–1108 outside the city walls of Cairo.