Mustansirite Hardship

The Mustansirite Hardship (Arabic: الشِّدَّةُ المُسْتَنْصِرِيَّة‎, romanized: Ash-shiddatu l-Mustanṣiriyyah) was a political crisis in Fatimid Egypt which resulted in a seven-year famine that occurred between 1064 and 1071 CE. Around 40,000 people are estimated to have starved to death during that period.[1] The crisis occurred during the reign of Caliph al-Mustansir Billah, after whom it is named.

Causes

For several years before the crisis, the Nile failed to flood as was required for crop irrigation, which lowered agricultural outputs.[2][3]: 98  In 1066, a quarrel between Turkish Mamluk slave-mercenaries and Sudanese African slaves escalated into a full-blown civil war, with both sides vying for control over the weak Caliph al-Mustansir.[a][5]: 335  The Caliph's mother, being an African slave herself, used her influence in favor of the African faction.[2][6]: 273  The Turks were led by the general Nasir al-Dawla ibn Hamdan.[6]: 273  Military engagement between the Turkish and African factions, including a siege of Cairo, led to further food shortages. Eventually, Nasir al-Dawla was able to rout the African forces and thus took control of the viziership of Egypt.[6]: 273 

Famine

A market run on wheat and bread caused rapid inflation and the complete depletion of Fatimid state coffers. Soon enough, food became too expensive, if not unobtainable, for the average Egyptian.[3]: 98  The 14th-century Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi relates some of the desperate measures taken by the starving masses during this time—cannibalism became commonplace, and some even resorted to kidnapping passersby by use of hooks dangled from the roof of buildings, upon which the kidnappers would eat the victim.[1][2][5]: 337  The corpses of executed criminals were also eaten.[3]: 99  Dogs were sold at 5 silver dirhams each, which eventually caused a shortage of dogs.[3]: 98  Al-Maqrizi also relates the story of a woman who had strips of flesh cut from her thighs by hungry kidnappers.[5]: 337  Several cities were completely depopulated as a result of the famine, including al-Askar and al-Qata'i, and other cities such as Fustat saw the majority of their populations perish.[2]

Some Arab historians likened this famine to Egypt's seven-year famine described in Judeo-Christian and Islamic tradition.[3]: 100 

Notes

  1. ^ Much like eunuchs in East Asia, some slaves exerted political and court influence in state affairs during this period of Egyptian history.[4]: 62–63 

References

  1. ^ a b Davis, Lee Allyn (2010). Natural Disasters. Infobase Publishing. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9781438118789.
  2. ^ a b c d Baynes, Thomas Spencer; Smith, William Robertson, eds. (1878). "Egypt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 752.
  3. ^ a b c d e Al-Maqrīzī, Aḥmad ibn 'Alī (1403). Ighāthat al-Ummah bi-Kashf al-Ghummah [The Salvation of the Nation Through the Lifting of the Hardship] (in Arabic).
  4. ^ Lewis, Bernard (1990). Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505326-5. OL 7386556M.
  5. ^ a b c Al-Maqrīzī, Aḥmad ibn 'Alī. al-Mawāʻiẓ wa-al-Iʻtibār bi-Dhikr al-Khiṭaṭ wa-al-Āthār [The Examples and Lessons of the Tales of the Historical Ruins of Egypt] (in Arabic). Vol. 1.
  6. ^ a b c Al-Maqrīzī, Aḥmad ibn 'Alī. Itti'āz al-Ḥunafā' bi-Akhbār al-A'immah al-Fāṭimīyīn al-Khulafā [The Preaching of the Pious on the History of the Fatimid Caliphs] (in Arabic). Vol. 2.