Gone Medieval - Fatimid Dynasty: Descendants of Prophet Muhammad

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

How did the Fatimids build one of Islam's most powerful medieval empires? What can the rise of this dynasty reveal about power, culture, tolerance, and women’s authority?Stretching across North Africa, Egypt, and parts of Sicily, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, the Fatimids created an empire renowned for prosperity, cultural brilliance and relative tolerance, one in which women were promoted to positions rarely seen elsewhere.Matt Lewis and Dr. Delia Cortese explore the Fatimid's remarkable origin story.MOREHow Islam came to IranListen on AppleListen on SpotifyProphet MuhammadListen on AppleListen on SpotifyGone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From long-loss Viking ships and kings buried in unexpected places to tales of murder, power, faith, and the lives of ordinary people across medieval Europe and beyond. Join me, Matt Lewis, Dr. Eleanor Jarniger, and some of the world's leading historians as we bring history's most fascinating stories to life, only on history hit. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries

with a brand-new release every week exploring everything from the ancient world, to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings to popes to the crusades. We cross centuries and continents to delve into rebellions, plots and murders to find the stories big and small that tell us how we got here.

Find out who we really were. We've gone medieval. From the deserts of North Africa to the glittering heat of Cairo, from whispered prophecies to imperial triumph, from sacred lineage to political fracture. The story of the Fatimids is one of the most fascinating and contested in medieval history. They emerged in an age of upheaval when the Islamic. The Islamic world was already vast, powerful and deeply divided. While the Abbasid ruled from Baghdad, claiming the mantle of universal leadership, old certainties were beginning to crack. A revolutionary movement began to take shape, one built not only on political ambition, but on faith,

secrecy and the electrifying promise of legitimacy. The Fatimids didn't simply seek power. They claimed destiny. They said they were descended from Fatimids. the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, and from Ali, his cousin and son-in-law. In that claim lay the seed of both their strength and the storm that would follow them. To their followers, they were the rightful imams, divinely guided leaders, heirs, not merely to a throne, but to sacred authority itself. To their enemies, they were dangerous usurpers, rebels, cloaked in theology. But whether they were seen as visionaries or impostors, one thing,

was undeniable. The Fatimids would change the medieval world. Their rise began far from the old centres of Islamic power in the harsh frontier lands of what's now Tunisia and parts of North Africa. But expanding west and east, they built a state of remarkable ambition and sophistication. Their emergence is the story of hiding, biding time, careful missionary work that was disguised in the complex and bustling world of merchants. They were never safe, but always ready for their moment to arrive. The Fatimid Empire was built on tensions that never fully disappeared, and the very ideological fire that had fuelled their rise couldn't always hold together the vast and complicated empire they'd built. In just over two centuries, it was all over. To find out more about this

remarkable, an often underrated dynastic empire's rise, I'm joined. by Dr. Dalia Cretese, Senior Research Fellow at Middlesex University, an author of the recently published The Fatimids, Portrait of a dynasty. Welcome to Gone Medieval, Dahlia. It's fantastic to have you with us. Thank you very much for inviting me. So we're going to be talking today about the Fatimid Empire. So just to give us a really quick overview, can you tell us about when in time they're ruling

and where in the world we're going to be looking at? Okay. The Fatimid dynasty came to part. from the year 909 till 1171. So we have an empire that from 909 will encompass an area that goes from North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Arabian Peninsula, and for a brief moment as far as Baghdad. And what do we know about the origins of the Fatimids? Because as I understand it, they trace their lineage back to the Prophet Muhammad as one of the branches of Islam. Is that correct?

Yes. The name Fatimid is derived from Fatima. Fatima was the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and his first wife, Khadija. Her date of birth is not absolutely clear, but let's say she was born at the very beginning of the 7th century. So to understand how this connection between the name of a dynasty and the name of this daughter of the Prophet,

how did it come about, I think I need to give you a bit of background of the tensions that prevailed soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in relation to who should be considered worthy of ruling spiritually and politically the Muslim community. So one side who became known as the Sunnis maintained that the leader of the community should be by choice, by election, by council, a council. should elect this ruler. This vision was contrasted by a party, a Shia in Arabic, a party that sustained that the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad in terms of guiding spiritually and politically, the Muslim community, should be someone from his family. So there should be a

genealogical descent from the Prophet. And the person that was considered to be the best person qualified in that respect was Ali, his cousin. This was not just any cousin. This was the first cousin born of Abu Talib, the fundamental figure in the life of the Prophet, Mohammed, in that Abu Talib took care of the Prophet when he remained, orphaned at the very age. And therefore, these were close cousins. So this Shia of Ali, this party of Ali, supported the idea that he should be the one to succeed him. In time, the other group prevailed. They became known as the Sunni.

To this day, the majority group within Islam. But the Shiah persisted in this campaign to have the Prophet's genealogical lineage being placed in a position of leadership of the community. They called these leaders imams. Imams not as prayer leaders, but as divinely appointed leaders of the community. deemed to be infallible on genealogical ground due to the closeness of the Prophet Muhammad.

Now, within this Shia group, of course, in time there were divisions and the claims and counterclaims who should be even genealogically the most close to the Prophet Muhammad. And it was the one group decided that the best genealogy was the one that derived from Ali, but also from Fatima because this Ali married the daughter of the Prophet. Oh, so is this like the perfect genealogical couple? Yes, Ali and

Fatima had their progeny and the Shia branch of Islam supported the imams the leaders should be from that line. Right, so I suppose inevitably there's going to be some more division going on despite all of this. Yes, because

the progeny of this couple at some point there was division in following which descendants should be followed and considered to be these leaders. There is a crucial point when one of these imams, Jafar, al-Saddik, he has a number of sons and one group follows the descent and the lineage of Ismail, whereas others follow another son of this Imam Jafar, and they become Imamishis, let's say. So the Muslims who follow Ishmael become the Ishmaelies? Yes, and this is really the point where we take the lineage that eventually will lead to the identification of some individuals with the lineage in that line and then the foundation of the Fatimid dynasty.

And as I understand it as well, the early imams are often referred to as hidden imams. Does that mean that they were literally having to keep their identity secret? Was it a dangerous position to hold? Yes. As you can imagine, we are now at a stage where we have a domic. group, the Sunnis. Meanwhile, the Sunnis recognized as their leaders, and this was almost generally accepted among the Sunni community, which the first leaders were by election, and then we have dynasties. We have the Umayyads in Syria, in Damascus, and then the Abbasic Caliphate.

So these caliphs become widely recognized as the formal leaders of the Muslim community worldwide. But this Shia branch of Islam, though a minority, was persistent and gathering momentum in certain areas, and they attracted persecution on the part of the Abbasids, who saw their power possibly threatened or eroded in particular parts of the world. And alongside all of that, we've got that parallel strand descending from Ishmael. So what direction are the Ishmaelis' tale? So we are around the year 765 and Ismail dies and his successor is his son Mohammed. And this is a moment of rapture because this son Mohammed, to some he died as well.

But to others, he didn't die but went into concealment, went into occultation. So this is a very interesting document. internal innovation that is introduced here. The idea that these imams don't die but going to hiding for protection, for safety, for concealing their identity, not only they don't die but they hide, but they will return at an appointed time. So there is a kind of messianic element that really becomes fundamental in the doctrines of all the Shia groups. The idea of imam hiding and waiting for his return becomes a very core belief within all the Shia groups. And in the specific case, these mayas as well.

So we've got an imam in hiding. So what happens? How is it possible for them to keep his presence kind of alive and active? And how does that lead us on to a Fatimid dynasty? So the imam is in hiding, but there is an organization. There is a network of propagandists that keep his guidance effective. This propaganda network is called the Dawa. They act in the name of the hidden man, and they act secretly because let's not forget

that the Abbasids are watching what happens in their territories, and therefore they are not comfortable at all that there is such a subversive propaganda. that ultimately is aimed at the appointed time installed the imams as the true leader of the Muslim community and therefore uproot them. These propagandists as a subterfuge, they pass themselves as traders, as merchants, and they operate in markets and caravan routes.

And markets are very important because in that way, in that contest, they can talk to people, gather information, but also test the ground as to whether they are confident and comfortable to start spreading their message about the Imam they are campaigning for. The secret teachings from early on, the Ismaili teachings are very much imbued with esoteric knowledge, which needs to be shared gradually with very trusted initiates that are introduced into the doctrine on a very careful and staggered way. We have this organization, these networks,

that on the surface, these are traders of textiles. Textiles from early on have a very important role to play for the Fatimins, even before the actual foundation of the dynasty. And then by the 9th century, we have a figure that to all intents and people, purposes, he is one of these traders. In fact, he's a missionary. He's one of these covert propagandist for the cause of the hidden imam. And the hidden imam at this point is still Mohammed, the son of Ishmael, as far as the Ismailis are concerned. Yes. But now there's

a trader that's coming forward. And his name is known as Abdallah the elder. And the He was born in Iran, but then his cover was blown. So he escaped to Iraq in Baghdad, and then his cover was blown again, and then he eventually turned up in Syria, in a small town in a city, it's now a city, but then a small town of Salamia, a trading post. There he bought properties, he established his trading activities, and with his front was able to operate as a propagandist for the cause of the hidden mum.

His son continued in that way. His grandson continued in that way. A group of people were, of course, around him and following him and knew his true identity or what they thought was his true identity. So in this way, Syria, that region becomes very much. a base of propaganda activity with major consequences. And then something happens in the year 899. A figure appears on the scene called Abdallah,

and he makes a very bold, grand, astonishing revelation. Okay, so is Abdullah then claiming to be the hidden Imam? Yes. he says that he is the imam. Not only that, he reveals that Abdullah the elder, who everybody thought was, first of all, a merchant, his close allies and supporters thought that he was a missionary, actually he was a son of that Muhammad, son of Ismail.

So he was an imam hiding in plain sight. Not only that his son was also an imam. Imam and saw his grandson. So therefore, this Abdallah in 899, says, I am the Imam descendant from this line of imams that were supposedly in hiding, but in fact, they were not. And not only that through this lineage, I can claim to be direct descendant all the way back to Ali and Fatima. So I'm very genealogical descendant of Muhammad through Ali and Fatima, all the way to Ismail and his son Muhammad. And the lineage has continued via Abdallah, the elder,

and then his descendants up to him. This Abdullah even says, you have always known me with another name, its name by which he was known was a Saeed. But in fact, my real name is Abdallah and I'm the Imam. Revelation, it must have come as a shock for those who thought Abdullah was just one of these propagandists who was going about spreading the word. So how do the Abbasids who were ruling in Baghdad at the time react to his claim? Yes, the Abbasids found out about this

revelation somehow and therefore started persecuting him. Others were enthusiastic about this revelation and even demonstrated their enthusiasm very publicly. So much so that it is at this point that in the sources describing these events, we find for the first time this group of people who were so enthusiastic about Abdallah making himself known as to be from the line of Fatima and Ali that these detractors started to call the people. who supported him, Fatim Iy Yun. It is the first time that we find this Fatimid expression found in sources. They call you Fatim I Yun, which means those who follow the people who believe to be descendant of Fatima.

It's fascinating that they managed to live for so long hidden, but I guess that begs the question. How do we move from a position where they are a minority forced to live in hiding to the point where they begin an empire? How do they rise to power from the position that they're in? Yes, this is really phenomenal sort of progression. And first of all, they were acting in hiding and moving in hiding and secretly. But let's not forget that these trading activities that they conducted brought them money.

So they were real merchants in that sense. And therefore, we hear about them buying houses and establishments, etc., and being wealthy. So there is money circulating there. This is a time also where there were various descends across various regions for various political motivations. So the propaganda tapped people who were maybe dissatisfied with the regional or overall government

of ruling of the Muslim community. There was the messianic appeal of waiting for a leader who one day will bring justice and peace. Interestingly, they operate in markets, and there are many references to how women were instrumental in facilitating the spreading of the Ismaili propaganda because the frequenters of markets were women, especially with textiles, and therefore they really worked as,

maybe unwittingly, as filters of the religious political propaganda that this ismaili activists were negotiating. How do we move on from this in a formal way to create the foundations of an empire? So we have now, this Abdullah who has announced himself to be the imam in Syria, in Salamia. His enemies are after him. His cover is blown.

He has to escape. He has to run away. He has to leave Syria. So that's what he does. with a small group of very trusted followers and members of his family. He leaves some others to look after his affairs in Syria, but very much in secret. So where is he going next? He's somewhat unclear at the start.

The first idea is for him to go to, and this group to go to Yemen. The Ismaili propaganda had been effective in Yemen for some time, again in the name or guided by this Abdallah, the elder, who wasn't a propagandist, but was actually the imamas, we find out from what Abdullah reveals. So we have this propaganda in Yemen, which had been effectively working and had recruited quite the following,

while still secretly conducted. But then there are hints of other people wanting to claim to be the imams themselves. So he changes his mind. mind and therefore takes the direction west, first escaping towards Egypt, then Libya, always chased and somehow in hiding, until eventually he reaches what is today Morocco and settles in Sigilmasa. Sigilmasa is an ideal place because it's one of the most important trading centers for trans-Saharan trade. So if you want to pass yourself as a lot of

as a rich merchant, Sigilmasa is a good place to go and pretend to be or act as a merchant while still conducting your propaganda and waiting for the right moment to take leadership. And why is this happening in Sigel Massa? Why North Africa? The news that came from that region was that there was a propagandist, a missionary, a daik, called Abu Abdallah al-Shii, who had been very successful operating there. He had been an Ismaili activist with his brother Abu Abbas from the early days

and he had been sent to propagate his mission in the name of the Imam. Initially, his intention was to go and carry his propaganda in Egypt because his brother was there. His brother, this Abu Abbas, knew the true identity of Abdullah, knew the Imam, because he was with him in Salamia

when this was revealed and he was part of the small group of people who Abdullah took with him on his escape from Salamia all the way by Egypt, Libya, and then Tunisia, Morocco, and finally Salamia. His brother, this Abu Laban,

was active now in Egypt on behalf of the Imam, and Abu Abdallah, she wanted to join him. Except that when he was performing his pilgrimage in Mecca, while there he met a group of Berbers. And these Berbers liked him very much, and they invited him to go back with them to Morocco, to the Atlas Mountains. So that's what he does.

He changes his course, his direction, and goes to join the Berber tribes in Morocco and these in the Atlas Mountains and these Berbers, particularly the Qutama tribe of this community, really adhere very much to his preaching. Was there something about that region then that meant that people were particularly open to the messages that were being spread? That part of North Africa, or Ifrichia, as it was called then,

was under the rule of the region of the people, of the Aglabid dynasty. This Aglabid dynasty was a Sunni dynasty and they ruled over that region on behalf of the Abbasids of Baghdad. These aglabids were Arabs

and somehow these Berbers felt somehow sidelined or neglected felt marginalized by these Arabs. So when missionary like Abu al-Lashi comes forward with a message,

of the Imam revealing himself, and then he will bring peace and joy and order, and will bring about the true way in which Islam should be practice and so on. These Berber tribes, they really adhere to this message. So they are disenchanted by the Aglabids. They have their proposed an alternative. What the appeal here is that Abu Abd al-Shii brings not only a religious message, but a militant message as well that empowers this Kutama. What he gets is more than probably he bargained for because suddenly it finds himself with

an army. They rally around him, they form an army, and within a relatively short time, this army starts to conquer territories that were once under Aglabid rule, and until the Aglabids give up. The Aglabid regime falls apart and the Aglabid Amir leaves. So this is a very quick, fast conquest with limited opposition. We are now in the year 9909. This is a moment where we have the Imam in Sijid Masa. We have the territories. We have an army. We have the aglabids who have left their capital, taking all the golden stuff with them as they escaped. So this is the right moment to announce the formal enthronement of the imam who is in Sijin Massa and bring him to what was the former capital of the Aglabits that this militia of Kutamas, etc.,

have conquered for the imam. The city is Kaira I, one of the most beautiful cities and ancient cities in Tunisia today. From the base in the Kairan, this delegation headed by Abu Abdallah. She goes to free Abdallah in Sigilmasa. I say free because by now also the cover of Abdallah in Sigilmasa becomes untenable. People are working out that this is not the person they thought it was originally. So things are happening. Abu Abdallah, she has to act fast. He needs to go and fetch Abdallah, the imam to bring him to Cairohuan in order for him to be formally presented as

the imam and thrown him as ruler. Abou Abdallah has one problem. He doesn't know what this Abdallah look like. He knows that he's in Sigil Masa, but he doesn't know what he looks like. So when he arrives in Sigimasa, he has to ask a child who happened to know through his father the identity of Abdallah to show him who is this Abdullah. He didn't want to get him wrong or he didn't want to liberate the wrong person. So this is how this meeting between, he who had campaigned for years in the name of this Imam, finally physically meets the Imam Abdallah. So if I've got this right, he doesn't actually announce himself as the hidden imam, but he's given this title of al-Mahdi.

Why is that? So al-Mahdi is a very important choice of title because Mahdi is a title used in messianic context, specifically in Shi Islam. And it means that they're rightly guided by God, with the kind of messianic meaning within this connotation. And with this title, on the ground of him being recognized as a direct descendant from Fatima and Ali, we had the actual beginning of what becomes known as the Fatimid rule. So Fatimid is designated in the sources as the beginning of the Fatimid rule.

Are they openly calling themselves the fatomids at this point? Is that a name that they give themselves? The fatimids, not just at the beginning, but also afterwards, never actually called themselves fatimids. They called themselves the Daula Talhak, the Daula, the regime of the tooth, or the truthful regime. Fatimid was mainly used by people outside, observers, sympathizer, or detractors of these rulers. who called them Fatimid because of this claim of descent from Fatima. But the moniker stuck and then it became used, whether by detractors or supporters of the dynasty, as a way to call and denominate this dynasty, these rulers.

But themselves, they call themselves Daulat al-Hak. Yeah, interesting. How do the Fatimids go about then cementing their authority, given that they're a minority, so they're effectively going to have to be a minority ruling the majority Sunni population, how difficult do they find that and how do they balance relations with other Muslim powers? Yes. Throughout all the rule, the Fatimis will remain a minority regime ruling over Shia Ismaili regime, ruling over a majority Sunni population with other Shi groups as well and also non-Muslims. minorities. Okay, first of all, in a very practical sense, the moment the Fatimid rule is inaugurated

in North Africa, they have no experience of administration or management, not to that scale. These new rulers inherit a vast territory that comprises parts of Algeria, parts of Libya, parts of Tunisia, very vast territories, Sicily comes under Fatimid rule. The Aglabids had conquered Sicily in 827, and it had remained under Muslim rule all the time, and then when the Fatimids arrive, they find themselves having control of Sicily as well. And you go from what you said before, being a covert operation into one that has to take care, of what is becoming and building into an empire, vast territories. First of all, the first thing they do is to issue an Aman document.

The Amman is a safe conduct. So to pacify and reach out to the local population, basically say you can continue to practice what you want and do, what you like in terms of your faith, etc., as long as you recognize us as a new leader. and they also use the administrative structure that the Aglabit has left behind. Aglabid administrators and high officials, they didn't have much of a choice. Either you serve the new masters or disappear physically or otherwise,

and therefore they were encouraged to go and work for the new regime. There isn't very much a sense that major repression was going on, was obviously some, but not to the extent of heavy involvement in suppressing local population. It was something that even if they wanted to, they could not afford, because we have a majority population that is not sheer, let alone is Miley, and they would not be able to join the MISMILI cause even if they wanted to, because to be initiated into the MISMILI brand of Islam, it's a very carefully vetted process, and therefore, the secrecy of the esoteric doctrines made it sure that only those who were particularly suitable

and really committed could advance in acquiring this knowledge. How do they do it then? The fact that there was from the start successful economy impacting positively in the area, that certainly was an inviting reassuring element. the army, the Berbers, were stationed in position of control. Some dissent, of course, happened and it was suppressed. But I think it was also a time when the rulers were very keen on demonstrating that righteousness. They were very careful in imposing the right taxes.

They were very careful in ensuring that the army was paid. There are episodes where the Kutama went on rampage, started looting places and the regime punished them and made them return what they had taken. So this idea that this imam would bring order and justice was witnessed most of the time by the population, therefore, was kind of reassuring. It didn't attract enthusiasm, was at least reassuring in that sense. And then local governors were placed in strategic parts of these territories to look after the affair of the regime. But anyway, the presence in Kyrawan was temporary because then in the year

921, Almadi moved to new capital that he had funded in Tunisia along the coast, the city of Almagdia. And this opens new ventures for the dynasty. It was a very significant move and a very significant statement. The fact that this ruler builds, it doesn't just use the old capital on the old regime, but it's confident enough and shows vision in building a new capital along the coast. So Maglia is completed in 921 and this is where we find now this regime. So how does one Fatimid ruler secure or begin to establish a kind of Fatimid dynasty. What he does, he announces his son, Abul Qasim, as his successor. According to Ismaili rules, the incumbent imam is the one who appoints publicly his successor. He announces that

his son, Abul Qasim, will be his successor. It will happen at some point. This Abul Qasim will take the ruling name title of Al Qaim. Again, another title, which as very eschatological messianic flavor. And therefore, in a sense, we can technically say that at the moment Almadi announces that his son will succeed him as Al-Qaim, he technically begins the Fatim not just as a rule, but as a dynasty. So there is a dynastic project that begins here. I did want to just talk about the establishment of that capital at Mardia. moving it to the coast seems like a really loud signal to other powers

that the Fatimids are planning to be a major force in the area. You know, they're not going to sit inland at an old capital that the Aglabids had had. They're moving to the coast, which positions them on the Mediterranean, able to move about the sea and also threaten other powers. They must have looked like something that the Abbasids and the Byzantines and everybody else might need to keep a really close eye, might need to be a bit worried about? Was that part of the idea of moving there

to kind of announce themselves on the international stage? Yes, absolutely. The Fatimids become a naval force both in military terms and in commercial terms. So it's a statement to say, we are here to partake into the commercial and military opportunities that the Mediterranean Sea has to offer. And they also have the equipment,

and the resources to build a navy, Sicily here becomes a very important part of the growing Fatimid Empire because it is from Sicily that the Fatimids acquired wood to build the boats and the best place where they have the arsenal, etc. The site of Maria was from ancient time. It has a very prominent place as a point of reference in maritime trade. The Fatimids built a bespoke capital, rich with symbolism, also in terms of the shape of the fortress and the famous mosque of Mathia, the way it is positioned in relation to it. At this point, the Fatimids announced himself with this move as competitors with the Umayans of Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula.

we have the other Sunni dynasty that had taken control of Alandalous and very prominent players in Mediterranean trade. They announced themselves as contenders against the Abbasids who occupied the Eastern Mediterranean and the Byzantine Empire as well. Let's not forget the Byzantine force. In fact, the Navy, the move to Mahdiya, it sends such powerful message that the King Simeon of Bulgaria, who had aimed at challenging the Byzantine advance, the Soviet Christian king, Simeon of Bulgaria, who has issues against the Byzantine. And at some point he sends a voice to Al-Paghdi in Magdia to seek an alliance, wanting the maritime force of the Fatimids to join the Bulgarian king in order to fight against

the Byzantine. The agreement was reached and then it fell apart, but it used a sense of how this signal that the Fatimits sent was really noted and received by all the major players, geopolitical players at the time. But Magdiya and the base on the Mediterranean in that sense had another sent also another message, and the message was that in the vision of Almagdi, the conquest of North Africa, etc., was only a stepping stone towards major conquest, major achievements. The ultimate goal of this dynasty was to uproot the Abbasids in Baghdad. So having a naval base in Mahdiya served as a way to expand eastwards, the territories, eventually conquering Syrian Palestine, and after that, eventually reach Baghdad. Well, unfortunately, we've run out of time because this has been fascinating, but having got the Fatimids established there, we need another episode, I think, on their actual rule and what happened in the empire.

But this has been an absolutely fascinating exploration of how this minority religion managed to establish itself as an empire. And we definitely have to come back and revisit the Fatimids, I think, to see what they get up to now that they're established and now that they're in power. But thank you so much for joining us for this day. It's been fascinating. Thank you very much for inviting me. I hope you've enjoyed this overview of the rise of the Fatimid Empire. You can find episodes about Saladin, the Assassins and the Crusades in our Bars. back catalogue if you'd like to follow their story on a little bit further. There are new installments of Gone Medieval every Tuesday and Friday, so please come back to

join Eleanor and I for more from the greatest millennium in human history. And don't forget to subscribe or follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and tell all of your friends and family that you've gone medieval. You can sign up to HistoryHit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a new release every single week at historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. Anyway, I'll better let you go. I've been Matt Lewis, and we've just gone medieval with history hits.