THE EARLY FATIMITES The invitation to the Mandi was premature, for Ziyadatallah had sent a powerful army to oppose al-Shi`i, which, making Constantine its headquarters, had driven al-Shi`i into the moun tains: after six months al-Shi'i secured an opportunity for attacking it, and won a complete victory. Early in 906 an other army was sent to deal with al-Shi'i, and an earnest appeal came from the caliph Muqtafi (Mokt afi ), addressed to all the Muslims of Africa, to aid Ziyadatallah against the usurper.
The operations of the Aghlabite prince were unproductive of any decided result, and by September 906 al-Shi'i had got possession of the important fortress Tubna and some others. Further forces were immediately sent to the front by Ziyadatallah, but these were defeated by al-Shi'i and his officers, to whom other towns capitulated, till Ziyadatallah found it prudent to retire from Al Urbus or Laribus, which had been his headquarters, and entrench himself in Raqqada, one of the two capitals of his kingdom, Kairawan being the other.
By March 909 Raqqada had become untenable, and Ziyadat allah resolved to flee from his kingdom; he made for Egypt, and thence to 'Irak: his final fate is uncertain. The cities Raqqada and Kairawan were immediately occupied by al-Shi`i, who pro ceeded to send governors to the other places of importance in what had been the Aghlabite kingdom, and to strike new coins, which, however, bore no sovereign's name. Orders were given that the Shiite peculiarities should be introduced into public worship.
The chief command was now assumed by 'Obaidallah, who took the title "al-Mandi, Commander of the Faithful," thereby claim ing the headship of the whole Muslim world : Raqqada was at the first made the seat of the court, and the Shiite doctrines were enforced on the inhabitants, not without encountering some opposition. Revolts which arose in different parts of the Aghlabite kingdom were, however, speedily quelled.
The course followed by 'Obaidallah in governing independently of al-Shi'i soon led to dissatisfaction on the part of the latter, who, urged on it is said by his brother, decided to dethrone their Mandi, and on the occasion of an expedition to Tenes, which al-Shi`i commanded, organized a conspiracy with that end. The conspiracy was betrayed to 'Obaidallah, who took steps to defeat it, and on the last day of July 911 contrived to assassinate both al-Shi'i and his brother. Thus the procedure which had char acterized the accession of the 'Abbasid dynasty was repeated. It has been conjectured that these assassinations lost the Fatimites the support of the organization that continued to exist in the East, whence the Carmathians figure as an independent and even hostile community, though they appear to have been amenable to the influence of the African caliph.
After defeating internal enemies 'Obaidallah turned his atten tion to the remaining 'Abbasid possessions in Africa, and his general Habasah b. Yusuf in the year 913 advanced along the northern coast, taking various places, including the important town of Barca. He then advanced towards Egypt, and towards the end of July 914, being reinforced by Abu'l-Qasim, afterwards al-Qa'im, entered Alexandria. The danger led to measures of unusual energy being taken by the Bagdad caliph Moqtadir, an army being sent to Egypt under Mu'nis, and a special post being organized between that country and Bagdad to convey messages uninterruptedly. The Fatimite forces were defeated, partly owing to the insubordination of the general Habasah, in the winter of 914, and returned to Barca and Kairawan with great loss.
A second expedition was undertaken against Egypt in the year 919, and on July 1 o Alexandria was entered by Abu'l-Qasim, who then advanced southward, seizing the Fayum and Ushmunain (Eshmunain) . He was presently reinforced by a fleet, which, however, was defeated at Rosetta in March of the year Sao by a fleet despatched from Tarsus by the 'Abbasid caliph Moqtadir, most of the vessels being burned. Through the energetic measures of the caliph, who sent repeated reinforcements to Fostat, Abu'l Qasim was compelled in the spring of 921 to evacuate the places which he had seized, and return to the west with the remains of his army, which had suffered much from plague as well as defeat on the field. On his return he found that the court had migrated from Raqqada to the new capital Mandia (q.v.). Meanwhile other expeditions had been despatched by 'Obaidallah towards the west, and Nekor (Nakur) and Fez had been forced to acknowl edge his sovereignty. The remaining years of 'Obaidallah's reign were largely spent in dealing with uprisings in various parts of his dominions, the success of which at times reduced the territory in which he was recognized to a small area.
The later years of the reign of Qa'im were troubled by the up rising of Abu Yazid Makhlad al-Zenati, a leader who during the former reign had acquired a following among the tribes inhabit ing the Jebel Aures, including adherents of the 'Ibadi sect. After having fled for a time to Mecca, this person returned in 937 to Tauzar (Touzer), the original seat of his operations, and was imprisoned by Qa'im's orders. His sons, aided by the powerful tribe Zenata, succeeded in forcing the prison, and releasing their father, who continued to organize a conspiracy on a vast scale, and by the end of 943 was strong enough to take the field against the Fatimite sovereign, whom he drove out of Kairawan. Abu Yazid proclaimed himself a champion of Sunni doctrine against the Shi'is, and ordered the legal system of Malik to be restored in place of that introduced by the * Fatimites. Apparently the doctrines of the latter had as yet won little popularity, and Abu Yazid won an enormous following, except among the who remained faithful to Qa'im.