Ismail al-Mansur

Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr (913-953) ( _ar. إسماعيل المنصور) was the third Caliph of the Fatimids in Ifriqiya (r. 946-953).

Ismāʿīl was born in 913 in Raqqada near Kairouan and succeeded his father Abū l-Qāṣim al-Qā'im (934-946) in 946. The Fatimid realm found itself deep in crisis due to the revolt of Abū Yazīd (943-947). However, after the unity of the rebels began to crack, Ismāʿīl managed to put down the revolt with the help of the Berber Zirids. Following this victory he took the epithet al-Mansur, and built a new residence at al-Manṣūriyyah near Kairouan.

Al-Manṣūr concerned himself with the reorganisation of the Fatimid state until the end of his reign. He resumed the struggle with the Umayyads of Córdoba in Morocco, and reoccupied Sicily, from where raids into Italy were recommenced. Rule in Sicily was reinforced through the installation of the Kalbids as Emirs.

Al-Manṣūr died after a severe illness on 19 March 953 and left his realm to his son al-Mu‘izz (r. 953-975).