Iftikhar al-Dawla
Iftikhar al-Dawla (Arabic: إفتخار الدولة, lit. 'pride of the dynasty') was the Fatimid governor of Jerusalem during the siege of 1099. On 15 July, he surrendered Jerusalem to Raymond of Saint-Gilles in the Tower of David and was escorted out of the city with his bodyguard.
Iftikhar al-Dawla | |
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إفتخار الدولة | |
Nationality | Fatimid |
Known for | Being the governor of Jerusalem during the 1099 siege of the city |
Little is known about Iftikhar al-Dawla, although he is mentioned as governor of Ascalon following the fall of Jerusalem, which suggests he was Fatimid governor of the whole of Palestine. The Syrian chronicler Bar-Hebraeus refers to him as an Egyptian man. Usama ibn Munqidh's autobiography mentions an emir of the local castles of Abu Qubays, Qadmus and al-Kaf called Iftikhar al-Dawla whose sister was married to Ibn Munqidh's uncle, the ruler of Shayzar.
Tasso, The Liberation of Jerusalem, canto 3.60 says that he met Godfrey of Bouillon “in the high court of France where I came as Egypt’s envoy long ago.” (Max Wickert translation.