Abu'l-Fath Yanis
{{short description|Armenian military slave}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Abu'l-Fath Yanis
| birth_name = Abu'-Fatḥ Nāṣir al-Juyūsh Sayf al-Islām Sharaf al-Islām Yānis al-Rūmī al-Armanī al-Ḥāfiẓī
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| office1 = Vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate
| term1 = 1131-1132
| predecessor1 = Kutayfat
| successor1 = Sulayman ibn al-Hafiz
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1132
| death_place =
| death_cause = Poisoning
| spouse =
| children = 2+
}}
Abu'-Fatḥ Nāṣir (or Amīr) al-Juyūsh Sayf al-Islām Sharaf al-Islām Yānis al-Rūmī al-Armanī al-Ḥāfiẓī, commonly simply known by his given name Yānis (i.e., John), was an Armenian military slave who served as vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate for nine months in 1131–1132.
Life
A Christian of Armenian origin, he became a military slave (mamlūk) of al-Afdal Shahanshah,{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=281}}{{sfn|al-Imad|1990|p=192}} the vizier (and de facto ruler) of the Fatimid Caliphate from 1094 to 1121.{{sfn|al-Imad|1990|pp=190–191}} In 1122/3, Yanis was promoted to head of the ṣibyān al-khāṣṣ—a special corps of young men being trained for military service{{sfn|Dedoyan|1997|p=136}}—and then to head of the treasury (ṣāḥib bayt al-mal) by the vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=281}} He rose further to head chamberlain (ṣāḥib al-bāb or ṣāḥib al-majlis), a rank almost equal to the vizierate,{{sfn|Halm|2014|p=186}} and commander-in-chief of the army.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=281}}
Following the death of Caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah on 17 October 1130, the army raised al-Afdal's son Kutayfat to the vizierate. He soon imprisoned the regent Abd al-Majid, deposed the Fatimid dynasty and Isma'ilism and imposed a Twelver Shi'a regime instead. This aroused the reaction of the old Fatimid elites, and members of al-Amir's ṣibyān al-khāṣṣ murdered Kutayfat on 8 December 1131. Abd al-Majid was released and reinstated, initially as regent, but in February 1132 he was raised to the caliphate as al-Hafiz li-Din Allah.{{sfn|Stern|1960|p=216}}{{sfn|Dedoyan|1997|pp=142–143}}{{sfn|Halm|2014|p=181}} Yanis emerged as the new strong man, and was named vizier.{{sfn|Halm|2014|p=186}} This has been seen by some modern historians as a reward for assisting in the murder of Kutayfat and the restoration of the dynasty.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|pp=281–282}} On the other hand, among his first moves was the elimination of about 300 of the approximately 500 ṣibyān, exactly the same corps that had been responsible for Kutayfat's murder.{{sfn|Halm|2014|p=186}}
This severity was a hallmark of Yanis, a strong personality and disciplinarian who tried to discipline the unruly army by tough measures.{{sfn|al-Imad|1990|p=192}}{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=282}} At the same time, he relied on a privately raised regiment of military slaves, which was known after him as Yānisiyya.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=282}} Yanis' efforts to impose control over the state extended to the administration as well, leading to the imprisonment of several prominent officials.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=282}} His growing power alarmed al-Hafiz, and after nine months in power, he had the vizier's ablution water poisoned.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=282}} After Yanis' death, the Caliph did not appoint another vizier, and for a time took governance into his own hands. It was not until 1134 that a new vizier was appointed, in the person of al-Hafiz's son and designated heir Sulayman.{{sfn|Halm|2014|p=186}}
During his tenure, Yanis began constructing two mosques, the Masjid al-Fath and the Masjid Yanis, which were completed by his two sons, whom al-Hafiz took under his protection.{{sfn|Dedoyan|2002|p=282}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Sources
{{Portal|Fatimid Caliphate}}
- {{cite book | last = al-Imad | first = Leila S. | title = The Fatimid Vizierate (979-1172) | location = Berlin | publisher = Klaus Schwarz Verlag | year = 1990 | isbn = 3-922968-82-1 }}
- {{cite book | last = Dedoyan | first = Seta B. | authorlink = | title = The Fatimid Armenians: Cultural and Political Interaction in the Near East | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden, New York, and Köln | year = 1997 | isbn = 90-04-10816-5 | url = {{Google Books|X47Ceh4ig9YC|plainurl=yes}} }}
- {{EI2 | last = Dedoyan | first = Seta B. | authorlink = | title = Yānis | volume = 11 | pages = 281–282 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_7980}}
- {{cite book | last = Halm | first = Heinz | authorlink = Heinz Halm | title = Kalifen und Assassinen: Ägypten und der vordere Orient zur Zeit der ersten Kreuzzüge, 1074–1171 | trans-title = Caliphs and Assassins: Egypt and the Near East at the Time of the First Crusades, 1074–1171 | language = German | publisher = C.H. Beck | location = Munich | year = 2014 | isbn = 978-3-406-66163-1 }}
- {{EI2 | last = Stern | first = S. M. | authorlink = | title = al-Afḍal, Abū ʿAlī Aḥmad, surnamed Kutayfāt | volume = 1 | page = 216 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_0339}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=Kutayfat}}
{{s-ttl|title=Vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate|years=1131–1132}}
{{s-vac|next=Sulayman ibn al-Hafiz}}
{{s-end}}
{{Fatimid Caliphate topics}}
Category:12th-century Armenian people
Category:12th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate
Category:Generals of the Fatimid Caliphate