Fatimid conquest of Egypt.
The Fatimid conquest of Egypt took place in 969, as the troops of the Fatimid Caliphate under the general Jawhar captured Egypt, then ruled by the autonomous Ikhshidid dynasty in the name of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Fatimids had launched repeated unsuccessful invasions of Egypt soon after coming to power in Ifriqiya in 909. By the 960s, the collapse of the Ikhshidid regime, and an economic crisis and factional infighting in Egypt, allowed Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz (coin pictured) to organize a large expedition to conquer the country, aided by the activity of a network of Fatimid agents there. When the Fatimid invasion came, the Ikhshidid elites negotiated a peaceful surrender, and the brief resistance of the Ikhshidid soldiery was overcome. Jawhar took control of Fustat, the Egyptian capital, on 6 July. Jawhar served as viceroy of Egypt until 973, when al-Mu'izz arrived and took up residence in a new capital, Cairo, which became the seat of the Fatimid Caliphate.
