KAFUR, ABU AL-MISK

died AD 968 Ethiopian slave who, as vizier under the Ikshidid dynasty, was de facto ruler of Egypt from 946 to 966 and de jure ruler from then until his death. Kafur was originally a slave belonging to the founder of the Ikshidid dynasty, Muhammad ibn Tughj. Muhammad recognized Kafur's talent, made him tutor to his children, and promoted him to an officer. Kafur showed outstanding military abilities in the campaigns he conducted in Syria and the Hejaz. On his deathbed Muhammad appointed Kafur guardian of one of his two sons, and thus Kafur became the real ruler of Egypt during the reign of Unujur (946961) and his brother and successor, Ali (961966). Kafur ruled in his own name thereafter, but soon after his death in 968, Ikshidid power in Egypt was overturned by the Fatimids. The luxury and magnificence of Kafur's court became legendary, but it accorded poorly with the general condition of Egypt, which had suffered from plague, famine, and a major earthquake during his rule. Kafur was a genuine scholar, however, and a patron of the greatest Arabic poet of the time, al-Mutanabbi, whose friend he was for a time.