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The Fatimids. The Fatimid Caliphate was a Ismaili Shia Islamic state that ruled over a vast swath of North Africa and the Middle East from 909 CE to 1171 CE. Claiming direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima, they aggressively challenged the religious authority of the Sunni Abbasids in Baghdad. They are incredibly significant because they founded the spectacular city of Cairo, turning it into one of the most culturally vibrant and intellectually advanced capitals in the medieval world. They also established Al-Azhar University, which remains one of the oldest and most prestigious centers of Islamic learning today.
Their empire grew wildly wealthy by dominating the highly lucrative Red Sea trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. However, their reliance on powerful foreign mercenary armies, particularly Turkic and Sudanese soldiers, gradually eroded the actual power of the caliphs. Internal court intrigues and disastrous famines eventually crippled the state, leaving them vulnerable to outside pressures. The caliphate finally collapsed when the famous Kurdish general Saladin abolished the Fatimid government in 1171 CE, forcefully returning Egypt to the Sunni fold under his new Ayyubid dynasty.