El-Mansuriya
المنصورية | |
|---|---|
  El-Mansuriya | |
| Coordinates: 35°39′29″N 10°06′50″E / 35.65806°N 10.11389°E | |
| Country | Ifriqiya |
| Founded by | Ismail al-Mansur |
El-Mansuriya[a] or Mansuriya (Arabic: المنصورية), also known as Sabra or Sabra al-Mansuriyya,[2][3] near Kairouan, Tunisia, was the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate during the rule of the Ismaili Imams al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah (r. 946–953) and al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (r. 953–975).
Built between 946 and 972, el-Mansuriya was a walled city holding elaborate palaces surrounded by gardens, artificial pools and water channels. It was briefly the centre of a powerful state that encompassed most of North Africa and Sicily. It continued to serve as provincial capital of the Zirids until 1057, when it was destroyed by the invading Banu Hilal tribes. Any useful objects or relics were scavenged during the centuries that followed. Today, only faint traces remain.
- ^ Tracy 2000, p. 234.
- ^ Talbi, M. (1995). "Ṣabra or al-Manṣūriyya". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VIII: Ned–Sam. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 688–689. ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
- ^ Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. (1987). A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-521-33767-0.
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