Fâtımî Devlet Adamı Üstâz Cevzer es-Sıkıllî (ö. 362/973)
Fāṭimid Statesman Ustādh Jawdhar al-Ṣıkıllî (d. 362/973)

Summary/Abstract: One of the states that left important traces in Islamic history was the Fāṭimids (297-567/909- 1171), who belonged to the Shiite-Ismā‘il̄ī understanding. The Fāṭimids, who were founded in 297 (909) in Ifrīqiya, located in the east of the Maghrib, made important political and military developments during the approximately sixty-five-year period they ruled here. During the reign of the first four caliphs (Mahdī, Qāim, Mansūr, Mu’izz) covering the Maghrib period (297-362/909-973), the Fāṭimids had to fight against many rebellions against the rule of the Sunn̄ī and Kharijite tribes in the region and successfully suppressed these rebellions. The Fāṭimids, who captured middle Maghrib and far Maghrib during the reign of the fourth Fāṭimid Caliph Mu’izz, captured a wide geography from the west of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean. During this period, the Byzantine Empire, one of the most important powers of the period, was fought over Sicily and Southern Italy and with the strengthening of the navy, especially during the Mansūr and Mu’izz periods, dominance was established over Sicily and superiority was gained in the Western Mediterranean. Undoubtedly, the most important event that took place during the Maghrib period of the Fāṭimids was the state's capture of Egypt in 358 (969). During the reign of Caliph Mu’izz, under the influence of the socio-political and socio-economic conditions in Egypt, the region was captured after a planned preparation, thus paving the way for the state to expand to the east. During the same caliphate period, the Fāṭimid Empire became one of the most powerful states of the period, with the capture of the Syria lands and the sermons in the Hid̲j̲āz beginning to be recited in the name of the Fāṭimid Caliphs. Of course, this success achieved by the Fāṭimids in the Maghrib period is only due to the intelligence, administrative and military ability, etc., of those who sat on the Fāṭimid throne. It was not realized thanks to talents. Statesmen who provided outstanding services after their affiliation to the Fāṭimid State also had an important share in this success. Slavic slaves were able to find a ground where they could prove themselves as the Fāṭimids started to employ many Slavic slaves who had been working in the service of the Aghlebids, whom they eliminated, in the state cadres from the very first moment. The life of Ustādh Jawdhar, one of them, deserves to be examined from this perspective. His biography, Sīrat al-Ustādh Jawdhar, describes the important works and activities of Ustādh Jawdhar, who had the honor of being the number three statesman in the Fāṭimids after the caliph and the crown prince, from the time he was recruited into the state service during the reign of the first Caliph Ubaydullāh alMahdī until the fourth Caliph Mu’izz moved the center of the caliphate from Mansūriyah to Cairo. The work titled Sirat al-Ustādh Jawdhar, which describes the biography of Ustādh Jawdhar, con-tains first-hand information on administrative, military and financial issues concerning the Maghrib period of the Fāṭimids, and as such, it is a rich and valuable source of the medieval Islamic world. The work also brings together oral testimonies and archival materials from the periods of the first four Fāṭimid imams/caliphs, tracing the stages of Ustādh Jawdhar’s life from his entry into the service of the Fāṭimids to the last days of the reign of Mu’izz, the last Fāṭimid imam/caliph to reign in Ifrīqiya. Ustādh Jawdhar’s rapid advancement in the state ranks and his service to the Fāṭimid State are described in first-hand detail. All these are among the reasons that reveal the importance of the research. As for the target of the research, we will try to trace how Ustādh Jawdhar became a highranking bureaucrat in the Fāṭimids of the Maghrib period. In this sense, his recruitment to the state service, his relationship with the Fāṭimid imams/caliphs, his progress in the state staff, the services he provided and the importance of these services for the Fāṭimids will be discussed. One of the objectives of this study will be to examine some of the administrative, military and financial events that took place in the Maghrib period of the Fāṭimids, which is less known compared to the Egyptian period, through a contemporary source work, Sirat al-Ustādh Jawdhar, and thus to present the evaluations. Additionally, it will be discussed whether Ustâdh Jawdhar, whom some researchers refer to as the vizier of the Maghrib period of the Fāṭimids, actually assumed the duty of vizier. In this sense, it can be understood whether the mission of Ustādh Jawdhar, who played the role of a statesman after the caliph and crown prince during the Maghrib period of the Fāṭimids, had an impact on the vizierate, which was established as an official institution in Egypt. In the first part of the study, which will be discussed in two parts, Ustādh Jawdhar’s activities within the state during the Caliph Mahdī and Qāim periods will be examined, and in the second part, his activities within the state during the Caliph Mansûr and Mu’izz periods will be examined.

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