Iftikhar ad-Daula

Who is Iftikhar ad-Daula?

Iftikhar ad-Daula 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.

Little is known about Iftikhar ad-Daula, 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 "a man from the quarter of the Egyptians," which could indicate that he was of Nubian or Sudanese origin as men of Arab or Turkish origin were generally specified as such. Usamah ibn Munqidh's autobiography mentions an emir of the local castles of Abu Qubays Qadmus and al-Kaf called Iftikhar ad-Daula whose sister was married to Usamah's uncle, the ruler of Shayzar.