Person873–934
Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah
Abd Allah, born Sa'id ibn al-Husayn, head of the Isma'ili mission based at Salamiya in Syria and founder of the Fatimid caliphate (909/910–934). Hunted by the Abbasids, he fled to Sijilmasa, where he lived disguised as a merchant until the Kutama army of Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i freed him in 909; proclaimed caliph at Raqqada in January 910, he had Abu Abdallah killed, built the fortress-capital of Mahdia and twice tried in vain to conquer Egypt. Sunni authors called him by the diminutive Ubayd Allah, whence the hostile name ‘Ubaydids’ for the dynasty.
- Dates
- between 873 and 874 – 4 March 934
- Events
- 1 event
- Regions
- Africa
- In the threads
- Africa (6th–10th c.)
Events
- The Fatimid revolution in Ifriqiya and the founding of Mahdia18 March 909 – 20 February 921 · Africa